The loitering, overnight camping, drinking, drug use and vandalism that have become synonymous with Rotary Centennial Park could be mitigated through some drastic action, according to a crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) review.
Either upgrade the park, overhaul it in a redesign, or find an alternate use for the space, the report recommends.
The current design, which encloses the park in a residential area behind Safeway at 208 Street and Fraser Highway, is “not sustainable.”
These findings were presented to City of Langley council on Nov. 9, after the City allocated $5,000 from casino funds to commission the CPTED review by Liahona Security Consortium Inc.
There were three options recommended to council. The first, is to find a different use for the park, as the design is only encouraging “disorderly behaviour,” CAO Francis Cheung explained to council.
Should council decide to keep the park, the second option recommends a redesign, using CPTED principles. This includes removing the baseball diamond, relocating the playground, upgrading the washrooms, opening the park onto 56 Avenue, and even creating a community garden, dog walking area or formal soccer field.
The third option is to keep the space as a park and not do a redesign, but even that option requires several minor upgrades, Cheung said.
Among those, improvements to pedestrian access at 208 Street, 56 Avenue and Kinsmen Estates will need to be carried out, signs will need to be improved, landscaping will have to be cut back, washrooms will need vandal-proof fixtures and doors installed and further patrols by police and bylaw enforcement will be needed.
Given the options, City staff are recommending a redesign, Cheung said.
“Council believes that Rotary Centennial Park is one of the significant park systems,” he said.
“So staff will be making our recommendations to council to include a budget item in 2016 financial plan to do a park master plan for Rotary Centennial Park. Recognizing that this process may take a little while to seek funding approval from council to do the master plan, and also implement the master plan, I want to thank our park staff that have made some significant improvements to the park.”
So far, City staff have begun tackling the recommendations through landscape cleanups, installing a new wrought iron fence on the southeast side, fixing signage and installing timers on all park lights to turn off at 9 p.m.
The report was received by council, with councillor Dave Hall opposed.
The RCMP have also reviewed the report and concur with the findings, Cheung added.