× Expand Dawn O’Kroley The shaded area shows where some of the proposed parking would go.

The future of James Madison Park hangs in the balance as the public comment period for the James Madison Park Master Plan draws to a close.

Known for its large stretches of grassy field along the shores of Lake Mendota, James Madison Park serves as a popular respite a few blocks from the Capitol. In the summer, its lawns are filled with sunbathers and scrimmages; in the winter, cross-country skiers comb trails around snow-capped fields heading out onto the lake. When asked what the public would like to change about the park for the master plan, many respondents said they would like the park to remain largely unchanged, with the exception of a new or updated shelter — the large concrete structure next to the boathouse — increased shoreline access, and greater investment in maintenance, public safety, stormwater runoff management, and water quality. Respondents also indicated that preserving green space was a top priority.

The city is instead proposing an ambitious overhaul of the park’s current design, which includes relocating the playground, basketball, and volleyball courts, designating an area for a future historic residence, and moving and expanding the parking lot. The city’s Board of Park Commissioners will be voting on the final design Dec. 12, at Warner Park Community Recreation Center (1625 Northport Drive at 6:30 p.m.).

The proposed parking lot has arguably generated the most public backlash, and as a local resident who walks the park daily, I’m pretty peeved at the prospect of more pavement.

Expected to run parallel to Gorham Street, the lot will convert 20,600 square feet of green space to pavement — nearly doubling the current parking lot footprint. This will translate into roughly two and a half blocks of continuous road and parking lot, with entrances and exits cutting through the Gorham Street bike lane. According to the city’s park tree removal assessment, eight trees would be removed to accommodate the lot, including five trees over 50 years old, and the only two that support a hammock.

The parks division has underscored that the new lot design will expand the amount of contiguous green space — despite reducing overall green space. In a recent Channel3000 segment, Sarah Lerner, landscape architect and project manager on the plan, argues that the parking lot will help ensure access. "No one likes to have a parking lot within the park property,” she said. “As a landscape architect I value the environment and know this is something that we are really not proponents of, but we are also trying to make sure that the entire community has access to the great amenities in James Madison Park.”

The leading reason offered for the new lot design in the public engagement documents appears to be public safety, with a need for greater visibility and reduced loitering around the basketball courts.

You’d think the city could identify ways to address these concerns without expanding and moving the parking lot, but it’s hard to evaluate alternatives when none were offered in the three final concept proposals shared with the public — the proposed parking lot was in all of them.

James Madison Park is surrounded by public street parking, and is a short distance from public parking garages, including Capitol Square North Garage, which has more than 600 parking spaces and is approximately 750 feet from the park. Moreover, nearby city parks that recently underwent renovations do not offer parking, including Breese Stevens Field and McPike (Central) Park.

As a frequent park goer, I regularly see large stretches of open public parking along Gorham Street, which runs along the park — even during peak season. Parking availability rarely seems to be an issue. What I don’t see are flashing lights at crosswalks and an effort to invest in much-needed pedestrian and biker safety along the street. That immediately struck me as a better use of funds when I saw the early design proposals. Reducing green space also seems at odds with the city’s environmental and sustainability goals. You’d think after the historic floods this summer the city would want to preserve as much green space as possible.

In September, I joined local residents to survey park users on the city’s final design proposal. Residents strung orange ribbon around the area slated for parking to highlight the amount of green space that would be converted to concrete. We received more than 100 signatures from people opposed to the parking lot and conducted 40 interviews over the course of three hours. Responders overwhelmingly rejected the proposed new parking space, as well as several leading changes in the city’s proposed Master Plan design. By comparison, the city’s design team conducted a total of 16 interviews in the park over the 10-month public engagement period between December 2017 and June 2018; and during the city’s “pop-up event” in the park to solicit feedback on the three final designs, the city collected 10 responses.

Perhaps most disconcerting is what seems an effort to rush through a design at odds with the wishes of local residents and park goers, while inundating the process with paperwork. This past Friday, the city published a 200-page draft report on the project, which if you have time to sift through, has some pretty glaring information gaps.

In the Tenney-Lapham Neighborhood Plan, adopted in 2008, six goals were identified for parks and open spaces. The fourth goal was to “protect parks and green space from encroachment by public infrastructure such as parking lots and paved areas.” In the draft report, this fourth goal was noticeably absent from the list.

Despite concerns voiced by stakeholders and park users, the city continues to move the design forward through the approval process. After the parks commission votes on the final design Wednesday night, the commission will advance individual projects that will proceed through an additional review process.

Eric Knepp, Madison parks superintendent, says in a statement that he is looking forward to the discussion at the parks commission. The James Madison Park Master Plan, he adds, “sets a vision for the future of this iconic park. If adopted and implemented, I am confident that this treasured community park will continue to be loved and enjoyed by community members citywide.”

If you envision a different future for James Madison Park, you should consider attending tomorrow’s meeting.

I know I’ll be there.

You can also email the parks commission prior to the meeting at pacommission@cityofmadison.com and District 2 Alder, Ledell Zellers, at district2@cityofmadison.com.

Abigail Barnes is a local attorney, entrepreneur, and resident of the Tenney-Lapham neighborhood.