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To the Editor,
NORWALK, Conn. – I hear that Mayor Moccia and Parks Director Mocciae are gloating over increased use of Calf Pasture Beach by out-of-towners. I call that BS! City residents shouldn't have to vie with non-residents for the use of municipal facilities operated with taxpayer money!
$20 gets 2 people into a 2-hour movie, but it gets a whole carload of folks into our beach for a nice long weekend day. Can anyone out there think of any benefit that Norwalkers get from packing the beach with non-residents and then converting the lovely pastoral Taylor Farm south field into a parking lot?
Comments (6)
Personally I feel very strongly that the city needs a venue for all the things is wants people to come here & pay to do. Our parks should be primarily for the residents to use. The fee could stay the same that way because we wouldnt be competeing with all the things currently going on, not only at the beach but also Vets park. East Norwalks parks should be considered neighborhood parks just like the parks in other areas of the city. If we need to host a dozen ball games a week lets build a place for it, if we want to have big festivals to generate money for the city lets build a place for them. If we want to let people who care to swim & sunbathe at our beach do so for a fee thats fine, but the traffic & crowding are not generally from actual beach use as much as from other activities that go on there. I live here on a small street off Gregory & to be blunt the summertime stinks due to the inconsiderate abuse of our parks & the traffic generated. I hate to beat a dead horse but we have stagnant undeveloped cleared areas in great proximity to highways, the Maritime center & other Norwalk attractions just sitting there waiting to make a couple people wealthier. How nice it would be for ALL of Norwalk to take that land on West Ave and build a venue for sports & festivals that wouldnt have the negative impact of our neighborhoods. Unlike the beach & Vets its not in a residential neighborhood, yet it still has easy access to the water for our kayak parties etc. Something to think about, for those who actually care about the quality of life for people who live in East Norwalk. Its NOT all about money raised, its a quality of life issue.
Michael Hunt
Just ignore lwitherspoon request for statistics as that is his reply to each and every post..If you show him statistics he will ask for more statistics. Its a game that his type plays..Also keep in mind tha t lwitherspoon has never once backed up one of his posts with any real statistics
This is strange at a time when Moccia the Moron has illegally banned residents and children of residents who are delinquent on there car taxes from using the beach. Keeping in mind that these same residents in many cases have paid tens of thousands in property taxes on their homes.
This illegal act by Moccia the Moron is in direct violation of the deed when the beach was gifted to Norwalk
NOTICE HOW THE CODE BOOK FOR THE CITY OF NORWALK STATES NOTHING ABOUT TAXES BEING PAID. THIS IS YET ANOTHER TIME WHERE MOCCIA HAS OVERSTEP HIS AUTHORITY. I WOULD SUGGEST THAT ANYONE WHO IS DENIED A STICKER BECAUSE OF PAST DUE TAX POINTS THIS OUT AND DEMANDS A STICKER...
MOCCIA CONTRARY TO HIS BELIEVE IS NOT KING BUT MAYOR.
CODE OF THE CITY OF NORWALK, CONNECTICUT, v177 Updated 02-15-2012
ORDINANCES
Chapter 74, PARKS AND RECREATION
ARTICLE I, EN Calf Pasture Beach and Other City ParksEN [Adopted 5-14-1957, effective 5-25-1957]
§ 74-1. Free admission for residents and property owners. [Amended 7-9-1996]
All vehicles of residents and property owners of the city shall be entitled to free admission to the Norwalk public park system, except as otherwise provided herein.
§ 74-2. Season ticket for residents and property owners of certain towns. [Amended 5-10-1977; 7-14-1981, effective 11-1-1981]
All vehicles of residents and property owners of the Towns of New Canaan, Wilton, Weston, Redding and Ridgefield shall be entitled to a season parking privilege ticket to Calf Pasture Park from May 23 to October 1 in each year for a sum to be set pursuant to § 74-24 of the Code of the City of Norwalk.
§ 74-3. Parking fees. [Amended 6-12-1973; 6-8-1976; 5-10-1977; 7-14-1981, effective 11-1-1981]
A.For all vehicles of persons other than those provided for in the two preceding sections, a parking fee of a sum to be set pursuant to § 74-24 of the Code of the City of Norwalk shall be charged from January 1 to December 31 in each year. [Amended 7-13-1982]
B.Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Common Council may from time to time, by resolution, change the parking fees set out herein or may waive their imposition during short periods of time for special occasions or events.
§ 74-4. Stickers for certain residents and property owners. [Amended 7-13-1982; 2-22-1983; 7-9-1996; 4-8-2003; 2-22-2005]
A.The City will provide a different color sticker for each of the following:
(1)Residents and property owners of the City.
(2)Residents of the surrounding towns named in § 74-2 of this Code.
B.The sticker shall be prominently and permanently displayed as required by the Recreation and Parks Department and shall be nontransferable. Failure to display said sticker in a prominent and permanent manner as required by the Recreation and Parks Department shall be grounds for refusal into Calf Pasture Park, unless the nonresident fee is paid.
C.No fee shall be charged to Norwalk residents or property owners for a park sticker.
§ 74-5. Waterfront parking. EN
No vehicles other than those owned by residents or property owners of the City shall park in the parking place along the waterfront.
If I had statistics I would've included them in my post. Last summer the Calf Pasture parking lot was completely full on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. You had to drive around in circles, searching (sometimes fruitlessly) for somebody who was leaving. This crowding was a marked change from previous years, and was accompanied at the time by the Mayor crowing about the wonderful increase in non-resident usage of our beach. Last week in the Hour, the Mayor and Parks Director repeated this boasting, I ask: What benefit do Norwalkers get from being crowded out of their own municipal facility?
Mr. Hunt,
I would expect that the vast majority of people using the beach are Norwalk residents. If you have statistics that show otherwise, though, I'd love to know what they are. I think I remember the article with the comments you're referring to about increased use of the beach by non-residents. The reason for that statement, as I read it, was to illustrate the point that the beach has become a more desirable destination over the past few years, which is true.
I agree with Testing123 that it wouldn't hurt to raise the fee for non-residents, I'd raise it to the same level that Westport charges, minus $5.
Agreed. The fee for out of town passes should at least be higher, and limit the crowds. Every day of the season, there is overflowing garbage and litter strewn everywhere. I have seen people unloading their own gas grills from minivans into the park. It's ridiculous.