Dear Neighbor,

I’m writing to you today to get your support to add low impact, senior friendly amenities to the Glebe Heights Future Community System Park located at 560 Loch Haven Drive, Mayo, MD 21106. The current plan for the park includes 71 parking spaces for a short list of amenities to include:

• Large and small dog parks
• A Nature trail
• One pavilions
• A Tot lot

With the success of the Loch Haven Park's new Dog Park, the county has decided to forgo the dog park at the Glebe Heights Future Park. With this change, I propose 2 new amenities that would provide additional activities for the seniors in the area. I suggest that both these amenities be for daytime use only (no nighttime lighting).

My first proposed amenity would be 2 bocce courts, measuring 13 feet wide by 76 feet long each. This size is shorter than an official bocce court, but standard for club play. Currently, the mayo parks planning commission has suggested several amenities that don’t cater to the seniors in our communities (Frisbee golf, volleyball, baseball, multi-purpose fields, etc...). Adding bocce allows for those who may not be physically capable of high impact competitive games to still want to enjoy competition in our local parks. Construction also typically uses crushed oyster shells as the playing surface, a local resource of the Chesapeake Bay region. Assuming a standard parking space is 9 feet wide by 18 feet long, these bocce courts would take up the equivalent area of less than 10 parking spaces. While I propose this for the Glebe Heights Park, this could apply to any of the Mayo Peninsula Parks currently being planned.

Secondly, I propose the inclusion of an outdoor gym or fitness trail with both static and variable fitness equipment. Obesity is currently at epidemic levels in the United States. I feel that the inclusion of outdoor exercise equipment at our local parks encourages our community to practice proper physical fitness without the cost of joining a local gym. Outdoor gyms can be built to be handicap accessible allowing anyone to participate. They also provide both cardio and strength training opportunities as well as improve balance and flexibility. A large portion of the equipment is designed to be used by multiple people at once allowing a social function of exercise and can allow for a large number of activities in a small area. While I propose this for the Glebe Heights Park, this could apply to any of the Mayo Peninsula Parks currently being planned.

While Edgewater is a small community, it supports the need for senior oriented amenities as we have an assisted living facility (Brightview south river), a senior community (Victoria Park at Edgewater) and a 55+ community (The Hamlets at South river Colony).

If you agree with these changes please sign this petition.

Additional Links:

County Parks Planning website:

http://www.aacounty.org/departments/recreation-parks/parks/mayo-peninsula-parks/

For those unfamiliar with outdoor gyms please reference this company (to which I have no affiliation) who produces outdoor gym equipment and Fitness trail equipment (for reference):

http://gfoutdoorfitness.com/