Save Folk Memorial Park from Development!

We need to protect the land and the plants and animals who live there. Us humans have taken enough land for ourselves. It is extremely important that we protect this land for the future generations of people and animals.

I am a resident of District 3 living about 2,000 feet from the proposed project site. My family frequently visits Folk Memorial Park to enjoy the trail and playground. Unfortunately, we did not receive any formal notice of this proposal and only learned about it through a social media post. I understand that NCS desires "home" facilities to showcase their student talent on par with other schools. NCS currently uses Weiss Park, the existing Folk Park softball complex, and Hill Field baseball complex but faces scheduling rather than availability issues. I stand firmly against the destruction of our invaluable natural woodland to develop redundant facilities, which will only commit us to further resource consumption for the foreseeable future. Natural wooded areas provide immense benefits to Newark residents. They filter pollutants from our air, provide oxygen, absorb and sequester carbon to combat climate change, manage rainwater for our aquifers, prevent erosion, and support biodiversity by providing natural habitats. We must remember Newark's Sustainability Plan: Goal 1.4 aims to align sustainability efforts with GHG reduction targets; Goal 4.1 aims to enhance nature preservation and mitigate urban impacts; and Goal 4.3 targets increasing Newark's tree canopy to 34% by 2025 and 36% by 2030. Preserving our tree canopy and green corridors is becoming more critical as threats like Emerald Ash Borer and Bacterial Leaf Scorch continue to take their toll. I believe the City of Newark Planning and Development Department can collaborate with NCS to find solutions utilizing the Delaware model for "Complete Communities" Toolbox, developed by the University of Delaware's Institute for Public Administration, as outlined in Goal 2.1 of the Sustainability Plan. For instance, since NCS already uses the existing softball field at Folk Memorial Park and has $3 million available, they could lease and enhance the existing softball field from the city, gain naming rights

As highlighted by the Newark Post and many others who signed the petition, this project raises several concerns: 1. It contradicts Newark's commitment to increasing the city's tree canopy and preserving wooded areas. 2. The necessity for Newark Charter School to have its own fields is questionable, as there are already sufficient fields available for use, as others have noted. 3. If this project moves forward, it should be designed to benefit the entire Newark community, including all schools, rather than exclusively serving NCS.

I am against this proposal.

This needs to stay a community park with no loss of trees!!!

Delaware is way too small to have this rampant delevopment, we need all the natural spaces, wetlands. Are we going to wait until we have destroyed all our open spaces and other than squirrels the only animals that will be able to live here are at the zoo.

The park is used by more than just sports lovers. People use it for walking, exercise, bird watching, meeting friends for lunch, teaching kids to ride bikes or drive. Turning it into a sports park is not fair to all the animals that call it home as well. Lots of places can be turned into a place to play baseball that used to be building lots. Leave the green space alone.

This park is a serene and beautiful park for the local residents of Newark. It’s a hidden gem, please keep it that way!

Preserve Folk Memorial Park. It is much needed as City green/wetland/wildlife space. Do not sell our City's preserved space to the school for a ballpark. This is why we have a City Council: to protect the best interest of the whole City and its physical environment--not to try to raise money by selling off our preserved land.

Residents of Villa Belmont have concerns regarding the additional traffic on Welsh Tract Road. Already a problem with speeders and additional users as a short cut from Otts Chapel to 896.

I oppose this plan; it would destroy wild forest at a time when Newark has professed the goal of wanting to increase forest canopy cover. It would be destroying a public resource for private benefit. It also makes little sense because the location isn't even that close to Charter's campus. There is so much vacant and low-quality-usage land closer to Charter: a vacant lot in the adjacent industrial park, massive unused areas of the FMC campus across Elkton road, even farmland just across the MD border would be much closer and have less environment impact to build on. I am insulted that Sam Golden called this as a "win-win". I'm a voter and taxpayer, a homeowner in Newark and I consider this proposal a strong lose for me. I urge the council and all others to oppose this proposal, and to scrap it and send Charter back to find a mutually-more-beneficial location for their facilities, ideally one that could be developed on land that does not have any wild ecosystems on it, such as a parking lot, vacant lot, or mowed lawn, or cropland, areas which are in abundance much closer to their campus.

Do not do this as wildlife will have nowhere to go and the traffic impact will be unbearable. Leave our little family friendly park alone.

The city will lease it for $10/month for 50 years. It will be under Newark Charter School who may rent it out. City may use foe 30 hours a month. It will be secured and not accessible for residents, except for the walking path.

How much is NCS paying for the park and once they have it are local citizens allowed to use it?

I am not a Newark resident but live in nearby Maryland. It is outrageous that you would turn public property to a private entity, and allow the resulting damage to our environment and society.

I am against the newly construction of a baseball field. There are plenty fields they can play on. There is one right down the road from them. They do not need another one. We need to protect our environment with increasing housing being built everywhere. Our land is already being taken in every aspect. Please don’t take this away as well.

I hate to see a mature wooded area be cleared for another baseball field when there is an existent one right adjacent to the property.

Keep it untouched!

Where’s the public notice, Traffic impact study, and Environmental impact studies? Your parking lot will totally destroy a reforestation project that Parks & Rec has been undertaking for several years. The forest canopy is a protected space for flora and wildlife to survive.

Absolutely NO!