Guerrero Park comprises city rights-of-way

Project Catalyst raised some eyebrows recently when the developers announced that they would need to cut a right of way through 11,000 square feet of Guerrero Park. After speaking on the matter before several commissions, Malcolm Yeatts decided to dig deeper into the rights of way through the parkland to find that the portion of green space Project Catalyst is appropriating for a roadway is not a unique case. Supported by engineering drawings from the 1980s and ’90s, Yeatts told the Parks and Recreation Board at its April 23 meeting, “It shows clearly that the Lakeshore Boulevard row extends east into Guerrero Park, crosses Country Club Creek and intersects with a north extension of Crossing Place Boulevard.” And it doesn’t stop there. “This drawing also shows a future spur of Lakeshore Boulevard connecting to Grove Boulevard by the ACC Campus.” In fact, a 1997 row amendment showed that, “There are more street row extensions of the other roads in Guerrero Park.” The implication of having these rights of way strewn through the park is that as the city grows and traffic congestion worsens, developers have the opportunity to open up arteries through the park to alleviate some of that traffic. To avoid this fate, Yeatts implored the board to recommend to Council that the city vacate all the street rows through Guerrero Park east of Wickersham Lane in exchange for granting the additional easement required by Project Catalyst.