Suffering South Natomas Park's Fate To Be Decided By City
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - The fate of Park Plaza will be decided in less than two days. The City of Sacramento has proposed to close the south Natomas park and replace it with a fire station.
"The population that's here usually is kind of nice and quiet," said Raea Patterson, who lives nearby.
The park is tucked away on West El Camino Drive between a shopping center on the corner of Truxel and the River Terrace apartment complex.
"It's more of a hangout, not for kids, that's for sure," said Marcos Diez.
He and his son walk by almost every day but don't visit because of the people that linger in the park.
"It's more of a hangout, not for kids, that's for sure," said Marcos Diez. He and his son walk by almost every day but don't visit because of the people that linger in the park.
According to the city, not enough residents have used the park and that's led to "significant calls for police service." The Park Plaza lot is 1.63 acres wide. About a mile away, on the corner of West El Camino and Grasslands Drive, is a 1.3-acre lot near Barandas Park.
The city plans to close Park Plaza and relocate it to the smaller lot. That way, the new fire station would have more vehicle circulation and more storage space for large, modern fire equipment.
"I think it's terrific, it's a great extension of what we have over here already," said Bill Cunningham about the new park location on the corner.
Aaron Oldham, a bartender at Cheers Sports Bar, is worried that the homeless population next door is bad for business.
"New customers, they don't know what to think when they just see homeless hanging out outside and there's not much we can do about it," he said.
From his perspective, a new fire station wouldn't be a bad idea.
"It seems better than the park just because I never see kids there, I see bums there or whatever," Oldham said.
Still, there are some who rely on the park as their retreat. Patterson worries that closing the park won't solve the problem and those police calls may just be transferred elsewhere.
"Opening a fire station here relocating the park, they're just gonna make people have to go to a different park," she said.
The city is set to decide at Tuesday's council meeting.
