Fellow
Shannon Creek neighbors, Jason and Donna Jacobs, have in recent months
installed a professional grade basketball goal at the intersection of Laramie
Lane and Stillwater Drive, where Laramie Lane dead ends into a paved extension
leading to the Shannon Creek Nature Preserve (located at the Northeast side of
the neighborhood). The Jacobs family has made this basketball goal available to
all residents in the community as a means of encouraging family-oriented
outdoor activity and community amongst residents, and it has quickly become a
staple within our neighborhood for youth and adults alike.
The City of
Burleson (“City”) has recently indicated to the Jacobs family that they are
required to remove the basketball goal from this location in the coming days,
as it is considered parkland owned by the City. The City has indicated that
irrigation work will soon be completed in this area, and at some undetermined
point in the future, a disc golf course may be installed in the Shannon Creek
Nature Preserve as an alternative.
We, the
residents of Shannon Creek, are requesting that the City include in their Parks
Master Plan (“Master Plan”) update the installation of a basketball court (full
or half pad) in the development of the Shannon Creek Nature Preserve. We are
requesting that during the interim period as we await finalization and
implementation of the Master Plan, the City accept the generous donation of the
Jacobs family to take ownership of the currently installed basketball goal and maintain
it in its current location for continued use by residents of the community.
Furthermore, as the City finalizes its Master Plan, we request that the City give thoughtful, deliberate consideration to the development of the Shannon Creek Nature Preserve to provide healthy outdoor recreational accommodations, which, in addition to a basketball court, may include access to nature trails and/or imaginative playground equipment that will align with the natural appeal and scope of the land, while maintaining passive areas for undefined uses (which we do not believe a disc golf course would allow).
The kids in the neighborhood enjoy this basketball goal. It encourages the kids to put down the devices and engage in outdoor activity and socialize with other kids. If the city takes this goal away from them, I believe you owe these kids an explanation as to why. Thank You for your consideration.