Effort aims to protect parks

Apr. 24—Any future sale of park property would require a public vote under an ordinance proposed by a group of Clinton petitioners.

One of the petitioners, Lester Shields, discussed the proposal Tuesday night with the City Council and left with an arrangement to work toward consensus on an ordinance to protect park property with pair of Council members, Gregg Obren and Rhonda Kearns.

While the petition drive has the potential to put the ordinance on a public ballot, the Council could pre-empt that referendum by working with the citizen's group, according to City Attorney Patrick O'Donnell.

"If we don't pass an ordinance that satisfies the community, they have the ability to bring forward 1,500 signatures in their draft, and then we either have to approve that within 60 days or they can take that to a vote, and then that has to go on the next election," he said.

At Tuesday's meeting, the Council accepted affidavits from five Clinton residents noting they will be collecting petition signatures for the ordinance: Matt Brisch, Linda Chapman, Bradley Kaup, Diane Ohrt and Shields.

Shields added that number could easily grow.

The proposed ordinances reads: "The City of Clinton may not dispose of any City owned Public Parks or any portion thereof by gift, sale, or by long-term lease that would result in developing undeveloped City Park land nor act to alter the status of property designated as a park without first submitting the proposal to the qualified electors of Clinton, Iowa, and obtaining a majority vote in favor of the proposed sale, gift, or lease. This ordinance shall apply to existing public parks and to all property designated as public park space in the future."

The group has 180 days from the start of the petition drive on April 12 to collect 1,500 signatures from registered voters.

Shields urged the Council to read the entire text of the proposal to determine the intent of its authors and the petition signers. He said language in it can be changed to address concerns, such as the reference to long-term leasing of park property. However, he said the current language will not affect such leases.

"Long-term leases that currently exist for places like the Showboat, the riverfront baseball stadium — the Lumberking stadium — the marina, the Candlelight Restaurant; those leases do not change the character of the public park, nor do they permanently dispose of that property by gift, sale or long-term lease," he said. "If you really need to define long-term lease go ahead."

Shields' interpretation makes the ordinance less problematic regarding leases, said 0'Donnell, but there are still issues.

"Take for example that you want to put a pickle ball court in a park that has just timber on it currently," he said "That would probably be changing the character of that park."

Another example he gave was changing a baseball field to a soccer field.

Adding clarifying language allowing for changes consistent with "park-appropriate recreational use" could help make the ordinance into something the Council could support, he said.

"We just may want to consider working with the citizens on the proposed ordinance so that if it does come forward we don't end up having concerns about ... what we're going to pass," he said.

Although the petition effort grew from controversy regarding the city selling DeWitt Park to YWCA Clinton for construction of a supportive housing facility to aid people experiencing homelessness, Shields said the proposal is separate from that.

"I also need to be very clear for the Council persons, all those here in the audience and anybody watching online or viewing this later online that the proposed ordinance that is being circulated around Clinton has absolutely nothing to do with the sale that is already finalized of DeWitt Park," Shields said. "It has nothing to do with that. The proposed ordinance is for park property in the future."