Journal Staff
Parks and recreation staff will enforce the rules more diligently to prevent people from driving car on the grass at Canatara Park, their manager says.
The issue arose after a resident of Sandy Lane sent the city photos showing up to 19 vehicles parked around a picnic pavilion on Sept. 10.
The park wasn’t busy and there was plenty of space in designated parking areas, yet drivers had ventured into the off-limits interior, degrading turf and posing a risk to children running around the nearby play equipment, Tim Shortt said.
“I see variations on it whenever I go for a walk through the park on a summer weekend. It always disturbs me when I see the park being treated that way,” said Shortt, who contacted City Hall in July to first report the problem.
Parks and recreation director Rob Harwood said he has spoken with staff to ensure cars are restricted to roadways and parking lots in future.
“We need to keep the internal areas of the park vehicle-free for safety to patrons and preservation of our greenspace,” he said.
Vehicles are granted temporary access to events at which supplies must be delivered, but only for very short periods of time, he added.
“Staff at the site will need to be more diligent.”