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Kennedy Park parking and farmers market spark extended debate; no final location decision
Summary
Residents and committee members raised safety and parking capacity concerns at Kennedy Park, where the farmers market and tournaments have increased demand. The committee discussed short-term mitigations and longer-term master-plan implications and agreed to return the topic to a future meeting.
Residents and committee members at the June 22 Parks & Recreation meeting raised persistent concerns about parking, traffic, and pedestrian safety around Kennedy Park after the farmers market moved to that site.
Anne Zimmerman, a nearby resident, told the committee she has ongoing problems with parked cars blocking sight lines at the dead-end streets around the park and asked when the master-plan infrastructure improvements (sidewalks, the large parking stall identified in phasing) would occur. "I'm concerned about parking, in the area of Kennedy Park...cars were having to creep out into the intersection to see where they're going," Zimmerman said.
Jimmy Wilson, who runs tournaments at Kennedy Park, reported the recent tournament was the largest hosted there (20 teams; organizers estimated about 1,000 attendees) and said the event will donate roughly $17,235 to the community foundation. That fundraising and an earlier $500,000 donation for fields were cited by members as reasons the park has already seen major investments even as some supporting infrastructure (notably larger parking lots and sidewalks) remains incomplete.
A committee member with detailed counts said the Camp Phillips site previously used for the farmers market offered roughly 201 parking spaces (with 50 taken by vendors), while immediate marked stalls at Kennedy Park total about 74, a shortfall for peak market/multi-event days. Committee members and staff discussed short-term mitigation such as cones and temporary signage, and longer-term options including phasing parking construction under the master plan or exploring alternative sites. Some members urged keeping project momentum rather than pausing the master plan, while others suggested a subcommittee review to reassess goals and fundraising strategy.
The committee did not take a final vote on the market's permanent location and agreed to revisit the issue at the next meeting with additional information from the survey and updated master-plan considerations.
Next steps: the committee will bring further analysis and potential mitigation measures to a future meeting and prepare a recommendation to the Village Board if a permanent change is proposed.
