Residents urge council to involve South Side community in Sheldon Park plan

Cindy Fleming, a Livonia resident speaking for the group Save Alfred Noble, told the Livonia City Council at its study meeting that a Sheldon Park proposal circulated within the Parks and Recreation Committee came as a surprise to many neighbors. "It was kind of a surprise to see this plan," Fleming said, and she asked the council to have Parks and Rec solicit citizen participation in any redesign.

Laura Janica, another South Side resident, said she attended the Parks and Rec meeting and was not provided the plans. "I couldn't see the plans because I wasn't offered the plans… it seemed like a shock to everybody on the committee what was on those plans," Janica said, and she urged more openness and community involvement.

The comments came during the meeting's public-comment period, before the council began its agenda. Fleming and Janica said the park is heavily used by youth teams and emphasized the importance of retaining space for small-children activities; Janica added that she saw no clear space in the plan for youth soccer and that the baseball diamond and dugouts shown would not suit the park's typical uses.

Council members acknowledged the concerns. The council president noted that items 7–9 were being removed from the agenda and that Parks and Rec would be asked to engage further; Councilwoman Keri Budzinski said she preferred following the engineering department's recommendation about any technical changes while remaining mindful of future public use. No formal action on the Sheldon Park plan was taken at the meeting.

The residents asked the council to direct Parks and Recreation to reopen public engagement and solicit community input prior to advancing park design or seeking funding.