City Park meeting pushed back
“In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks.” wrote John Muir, whose words sit on BREC’s website and now feel like an accidental explanation for the latest move over City-Brooks Community Park plan.
Why it matters: City-Brooks Community Park and the University Lakes are Baton Rouge’s most important public spaces. Giving people more time to weigh in should make for a better plan and, just as importantly, better politics.
What’s happening: BREC has pushed back the public meeting on the City-Brooks Community Park & Lakes Vision Plan from April 22 to June 11.
The official reason: Officials say community interest has been high, with feedback still coming in through a public survey that remains open until April 17. The original schedule also left little time to absorb that input before the April meeting.
What’s next:
- BREC plans to hold targeted listening sessions with stakeholder groups before June.
- The June 11 meeting will be the first public unveiling of early design concepts. Preliminary designs have been shown to a group of stakeholder.
- Residents can continue submitting feedback through Friday, April 17 via the public survey
The bottom line: This is an awkward spot for both planners and BREC, and the delay is likely to draw some side glances. Still, more time to listen before shaping the future of one of Baton Rouge’s most cherished public spaces is hard to argue with. Opinions can wait until there is actually a plan to judge.
