A solution may be at hand for issues and concerns about usage, traffic and amenities at Fort Thomas Highland Hills Park.
At the July council meeting, the room was packed with community members, many of whom came with concerns about the park.
Residents have asked for permanent pickleball courts in Fort Thomas for several months. The city agreed to develop a plan for adding them to Highland Hills Park. Yet, residents living on Mayfield Avenue, the main path for most traffic heading into the park, said their street was already at a tipping point for traffic, safety and related issues.
One reason for the increased traffic has been the addition of state and regional baseball tournaments. In 2019, a private group led by local attorney Joe Grimme, a former Highlands Bluebirds pitcher, raised funds to add artificial turf and other improvements to the park’s ballfield. The group realized their dream in 2020 at a cost of about $250,000.
They raised donations by selling bricks and reaching out to community donors to fund the project, but they borrowed the bulk of the funds from private investors. To pay off the debt, they sell ad space around the field to corporate sponsors and rent it out for state and regional tournaments. The tournaments bring hundreds of visitors, resulting in increased traffic and a squeeze for parking.
After a long and intense discussion, Andy Ellison, a council member on the city’s Recreation Committee, made a motion to consider a plan for the city to step in and pay the balance of what the ballfield group owes to private investors so that the field can be restricted to city use only, significantly cutting down on outside traffic.
Ending the tournaments
Ending tournaments is not a simple prospect, Ellison said. There was no formal agreement between the city and the investors on the baseball field improvements, so the city would have to vote on providing funds to help support that purely private investment in the public park.
Ellison said he has spoken to Grimme about the field and the proposal.
“I believe that the traffic that has caused Mayfield to boil over is due to the need to repay these investors,” Ellison said.
As of now, Ellison said Grimme had paid back the investors $185,000 of the $250,000 originally lent. So, Ellison proposed that the city pay off the remaining $65,000 balance, ending the need to host the crowded regional tournaments, which he said are a large cause of the traffic on Mayfield.
Ellison said that once the interest is paid off, additional income could be held in escrow for maintenance and future improvements to the field. He noted that Grimme was interested in the proposal. After all, Ellison said, “This group has done this for the baseball field out of love of baseball. That’s it.”
“So with that, zero outside baseball tournaments. The only thing that could go there is Highlands baseball and our city’s youth baseball,” Ellison said.
Addressing James Avenue concerns
James Avenue is another road entrance to the park off Highland Avenue that swings by the Fort Thomas Swim Club. Discussion has revolved around ways to move traffic from Mayfield onto James as an alternative route into the park. As a part of that, an old idea resurfaced to create a connector between the two streets.
A group of 101 residents from the surrounding neighborhood signed a letter asking the city to drop any discussion of a possible connector road off James Avenue. The idea had come up before but was rejected due to costs and other concerns.
Dennis Pompilio, a resident of Kathy Lane, presented the groups’ concerns to the council.
“We believe that that proposal, as outlined in the comprehensive plan, or any version of that plan will not only be financially and logistically not viable, but there are many alternatives that we would like council to consider first,” Pompilio said. “We sympathize with the residents of Mayfield simply because we also deal with high levels of traffic on a daily basis.
“Not to make this an us versus them argument, but a connector road unnecessarily diverts traffic to our cross section and directly onto our streets.” Pompilio continued. “We believe that if council is intentional about the type of amenity at the lower fill area and provides enough parking and wayfinding to support that amenity, users will use James Avenue to access it — not Mayfield.”
Ellison’s motion directly addresses the neighbors’ concerns by taking away any further consideration of the connector road. The plan also calls for improved parking and better pedestrian access, which could, as Pompilio and his neighbors suggest, go far to encourage the use of James Avenue and reduce traffic on Mayfield while still providing space for potential pickleball courts.
The motion to consider the plan passed unanimously and garnered applause from an audience that, at times, had been at odds over how to address a long list of concerns.
Much would need to be explored and worked out, but the council agreed to move forward with the plan.
Pickleball and skateboarding
Discussion has been ongoing over the use of the 77-acre park but has intensified recently as community demand for permanent pickleball courts and other amenities in the city have increased.
Over the last several months, many pickleball enthusiasts have attended council and written the members asking for improved facilities and more places to play in the city.
Pickleball can be played on tennis courts with some temporary modifications. With agreement from tennis players in the community, the city provided a temporary solution allowing use of some tennis courts in Tower Park.
Along with that, the recreation committee recommended, and council agreed, to direct staff to design and implement a permanent home for pickleball at Highland Hills Park.
For Mayfield resident Krista Baioni, the traffic into the popular park was expected, but her concern was for the noise from active pickleball courts. At the last council meeting Ellison presented information on noise levels for pickleball. Overall, the game is less noisy than a playground, but council members said they would look into sound screening if the courts are added to the park.
At the meeting, council also heard from those who would like to see a skateboard park in the city. Tom Meyn spoke on the benefits of the sport. He has been working with the city on a grant application for funds to support the park. While a location is not set, Highland Hills and Tower Park have been discussed. The grantees ask for a specific location, but there is some time before the application is due, Meyn said.