Colt Park advocates urge ordinance to ban parking on lawns, citing tree damage and blocked emergency access

Donna Swar, a board member of the Colt Park Foundation, used the May 19 public hearing of the Hartford Court of Common Council to press the council to adopt proposed ordinance amendments that would prohibit parking on grass at city-owned parks and green spaces.

Swar said Colt Park “has suffered for years” from vehicles parking on lawns and “parking in non parking areas,” which she said creates deep ruts, destroys newly planted turf and damages trees. She stated that “a majority of trees' roots grow horizontally in just a few top feet of soil” and that parking on top of those roots kills them; she provided a per-tree replacement cost of $2,000, which she said includes the tree, planting and two years of maintenance. Swar said images documenting recent damage were included in a submitted document.

Public-safety concerns were a central theme of her remarks. Swar said interior roads intended for pedestrians, bicycles and park maintenance vehicles are frequently used by cars traveling at unsafe speeds. She described an incident when "a fire truck came into the park and was unable to get through that area. They had to continuously blast their horn to get people's attention to move their vehicles. Whomever required medical care did not receive it in a timely manner." Swar said illegal vending in the parking lot reduces available spaces and that parking congestion sometimes causes traffic to spill out onto Weathersfield Avenue.

Swar told the council that Colt Park can accommodate visitors in other nearby lots, including a lot between Colt Park and Dillon Stadium, and that the park drew between 2,000 and 4,000 people on a typical Sunday, citing Hartford Police Department figures. She said park organizers have repeatedly told leagues and permit holders to ask parents to use the parking lot rather than park on the grass, but those directions have been ignored.

Swar urged the council to adopt the proposed amendments and to provide enforcement so recent investments — including a refurbished pavilion, flat pavement and food-truck pads — are not destroyed by vehicles parked on turf. Councilman Alexander Thomas acknowledged her remarks and thanked her for her work on behalf of the park. The proposed ordinance was listed on the meeting agenda as item 2.2: amendments to ensure no vehicles park on the grass at city-owned parks and green spaces.

No formal action or vote occurred during the May 19 public hearing; the item remained in the public hearing stage.