Residents Express Concerns about Proposed Clam Bayou Park

 At the edge of Clam Bayou Tuesday night, St. Petersburg residents accused the city of not hearing their concerns about the proposed park. The city held the meeting at the Clam Bayou Nature Preserve Education Center, a converted house at the end of 34th Avenue South. At the meeting parks staff presented a concept plan for the park. Based on the concept citizens gave staff Tuesday night, staff could change the plans, Jack Adams, an engineer, said.

 Although staff tried to steer the conversation to talks about parking, paths, and facilities, locals instead repeatedly expressed concerns about crime in the area.

 "We're having quite a serious problem with crime... you go down there you see the condoms, the crack bags... this is city property. If this is city property it should be marked clearly no parking after dark," resident Schaun Weingart. Several residents echoed his concerns. Councilman Wengay Newton said increased traffic in the park would cut down in crime.

 "The trick is no witnesses. People who are doing wrong don't want to be seen," he said, adding that the Gulfport side of Clam Bayou saw lower crime one the city put in trails. "The crime went almost to zero." When one citizen started to disagree, he said, "I said almost."

 A handful of questions revolved around the water in the bayou. When Gulfport resident and Clam Bayou activist Al Davis asked about plans for water quality-related issues, staff told him that the city's stormwater officials would be at second meeting. The Gabber asked if the parks department would assume responsibility for cleaning the flotsam out of the new settling park; staff said that another department would handle that.

 When residents continued to ask the city to deal with crime and water contamination issues, councilman Newton told them he wanted to hear something different.

 "We keep hearing the same thing- crime!" he said.

Staff called it a low-impact design. Features include:
•Eight parking spaces, including two paved spots to meet the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) requirements. The park would have potential overflow parking access on shoulders
•A kayak/canoe launch at the end of 34th Avenue. The launch will be part of a roundabout so paddlers can drop off their boats and go park their vehicle. The city says it has no plans to allow commercial kayak/canoe activities "unless they call us to arrange it" on a case by case basis, Linda Seufert, Park Operations Manager said; staff also said that although  they felt the launch did not encourage boats with motors, it had no provisions for not allowing them. They also said the launch will not intrude upon the existing channel.
•Picnic shelter, observation deck, and restroom.
•A stone or shell path leading to raised boardwalks bridging canals and creeks
•Some lighting in the parking area

Other Concerns and Requests:
•Not enough parking
“It's a public park; six or eight spaces is not a very good return,” on the millions spent in the bayou, Mr. Davis said.
•Surveillance cameras
*The plan for the park does not address St. Petersburg’s contribution to point source contamination (such as fertilizer runoff from the golf course) and non-point source (runoff from automotive fluids)
 "What is good on this side has contributed to the destruction of the natural estuary,” Mr. Davis said. “It's going away because of St. Petersburg.”

 The city told attendees it would schedule another meeting in "at least 40 days,” at which time stormwater staff would be present. They also said that the water management district said the work in the bayou would be finished in April. This is a delay, they said, because they “had a blowout” in the estuary.

To read more about the water management district's explanation of the work in Clam Bayou, click here. To read