Plans for pickleball courts at Snyder Park stir outrage among some in Fort Lauderdale
FORT LAUDERDALE -- Furious residents gathered at Parker Playhouse Tuesday evening to ask officials at the city commission meeting about the future of Snyder Park.
"Snyder Park was originally given to the city to be maintained as open space and wilderness for public enjoyment," said Kevin Cochrane. "As we've seen here before in the city of Fort Lauderdale, using a public-private partnership, we are once again giving away public land for private profit."
Cochrane is leading the effort to conserve the park after the city made a deal with a developer to build 42 pickleball courts on a portion of its grounds.
The deal was made official last year, but after 1,000 residents signed a petition city officials agreed to hear their concerns.
"We need green space, we need shade, we need trees, we need life other than just people," said resident Ann Wiley, who is with Save Snyder Park.
Residents who are opposed to the development plan say the pickleball court will harm wildlife, bring unwanted noise to the neighborhood and create traffic issues.
They also argue the original owner of the land made an agreement with the city mandating that it remain a greenspace.
"Snyder Park is the last remaining place where you can enjoy the quiet certitude of nature," Cochrane said.
Developers say the residents are misinformed about the project because of social media and say just a portion of the park that isn't currently used by the public will be developed.
"The part of the park that we're actually building in has actually been used as a seaweed storage, garbage transfer station and truck storage for the last 15 years," said developer Brad Tuckman. "There's about two or three acres of grass there. Yes, we're using that but the other seven acres hasn't been used or touched by the public in over 15 years."
The meeting lasted hours and tempers flared and both sides stuck to their guns.
"We're in a legally binding contract with the city and it's against (the) Florida constitution to actually pass an ordinance or law that would break an actual contract," Tuckman said.
"We need bird song. We need butterflies. We need that," Wiley said. "It's not something we just want, it's something we need."
CBS News Miami reached out to the city for comment about the Tuesday meeting and the future of Snyder Park.
In a written statement the city said in part: "An opportunity to be heard was given to proponents and opponents of the proposed ordinance. After public comment the City Commission discussed the matter and opted to take no action on the item upon the advice of the Interim City Attorney."