Glencliff Park Popularity Not a Hit With Neighbors

On Tuesday the Westchase Community Development District heard an earful from residents concerned about a measure to add coverings to the bleachers at Glencliff Park.

The majority of them came from the Glencliff neighborhood which is the closest subdivision to the park, located on Countryway Boulevard. The consensus was that by adding shelters to the already existing bleachers the CDD would create even more park goers to an already over populated park.

"We have a traffic problem already on Saturday and Sunday afternoon," said Nick Palomba, a Glencliff resident and voting member. "We can't get in and out of our driveways in a reasonable, safe fashion."

Creating more structures and allowing people to stay longer after a game would add to the problem, he said.

About 40 residents of Glencliff submitted a petition to the board to stop the shade structures from being approved.

"I don't know why we're trying to do something not standard in all Hillsborough County parks," Palomba said.

In the end the Westchase CDD voted to table the bleachers issue. But the discussion was multi-faceted.

While the CDD was considering bleachers, they were also considering renewing the Westchase Soccer League contract. Residents say the soccer league has added to the over-run park. In addition residents say while Glencliff was founded to be a neighborhood park, several people from around the county have begun using it as if it were a county run park.

The park has about 84 legitimate parking spaces, and 4 handicap. There have been about three vandalism incidents in the park over the past year, said field supervisor Doug Mays.

CDD supervisors weighed in on various sides of the issue and pointed to different steps toward a solution.

At least one CDD supervisor said the soccer league should be held more responsible for traffic and supervision of the park.

"I think if we’re going to continue to let Westchase soccer use the field, they’ve got to manage it," said Bill Casale, CDD supervisor. "They have to manage that and control people infringing on your lawn."

Westchase Soccer League board member Margot Pinheiro said the soccer league had already done its part by reducing the number of soccer participants. The league currently has about 450 players, down from 600, she said.

CDD chair Mark Ragusa disagreed with Westchase soccer being the culprit to the problem.

"We've spent a lot of time talking about over usage of the park by the WSA, that's not the problem," Ragusa said. "There are problems there with the current use, which is not the organized sports."

The CDD voted 4-to-1 to continue the Westchase Soccer Association's contract. Casale cast the dissenting vote.

The association will be required to meet with a CDD representative to discuss the parking issue prior to the season beginning.