A dispute over organized sports in Erlanger parks has come to an end after the enacting of a new ordinance.
The vote, during a special meeting Tuesday night, follows a prolonged dispute among city residents about organized sports in Elranger’s parks, specifically Flagship Park, which, until recently, served as the practice ground for the Blessed Sacrament cross-country team.
The ordinance passed unanimously.
“No athletic team shall practice or compete on any field or at any Erlanger Park without receiving a permit by the City of Erlanger and no athletic team shall receive a permit in any Erlanger Park that does not have the required field or facilities for the specific sport,” the new ordinance says.
In other words, if a team wishes to practice in an Erlanger park, the park must have an established field for the sport, like a soccer field or a basketball court, and the team must obtain a permit from the city clerk.
“I am encouraging my fellow council members to vote ‘yes’ on the parks ordinance,” said council member Jennifer Jasper-Lucas before casting her vote. “We’ve been working on revising this ordinance for almost a year and have had lengthy discussion and debate about it.”
Other council members made similar statements of support before casting their votes.
Even though the new ordinance applies to every park in the city, the debate surrounding the use of Flagship has inflected much of the conversation relating to the ordinance. No members of the cross-country team attended the meeting.
Although the new ordinance would allow Blessed Sacrament to practice at Flagship if they got a permit, the ordinance was not passed before the beginning of the cross-country season. Blessed Sacrament now practices at Pride Park in Taylor Mill.
Organized sports teams that wish to use Erlanger parks to practice moving forward should contact the city clerk, Sherry Hoffman, at (859)727-5663 to apply for a permit.