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• How will the plan change to account for how our use of public space has changed since the COVID-19 pandemic?

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• Why has there been no follow-up with the community to determine if the plan actually matches what people said they wanted — in 2019, let alone in 2022?

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• Hundreds of people have written to Parks and Rec, and many articles have been published, indicating an increasing amount of opposition to the Master Plan. Why is the plan moving forward so rapidly without addressing these concerns? 

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• What do you make of calls for a “People’s Plan for FDR Park”? Are you open to the idea of sitting down with community members and making amendments to the Master Plan, based on changing needs and priorities since 2019?

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• For Justin: Your profile for Greater and Greener says you are personally “leading the parks’ efforts to foster diversity, inclusion, and cross-cultural dialogue through the Master Plan”. How are you making adjustments to the Plan to account for the high percentage (80%) of white respondents on the community engagement survey — to include the input of people of color and non-English speakers?

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• Why are Parks and Rec and Fairmount Park Conservancy being so tight-lipped about the specific timeline for the destruction of the Meadows and other implementation of the Master Plan?

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• When the community engagement process was done in 2018-2019, the now beloved Meadows did not exist. Why isn’t the Master Plan adapting to this significant change in what people value about FDR Park?

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• Can you talk about the 40 foot soil mound scheduled to be dumped in the Meadows, what the timeline will be for redistributing the soil, and what that means for our ability to use the park in the meantime?

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• What will the destruction of the Meadows mean for the hundreds of animal species who have come to call it home?

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• If the wetlands project is meant to offset flooding from the airport’s new runway project, and it will take over a decade to complete, how do you justify or account for the additional flood risk to Eastwick in the short term?

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• What do you make of the analysis by the city’s former floodplain manager that the Wetlands project will not be sufficient to alleviate the flooding at FDR? Has there been any new assessment with respect to rising water levels due to climate change?

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• During the Master planning process, was an environmental impact statement or habitat loss analysis done? What were the results and can they be made public?​

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• FPC claims that athletic fields will only occupy 8% of the park, but a look at the master plan design suggest it will be much more than that. Does this figure account for the concessions stands, walkways, and other infrastructure supporting the fields?

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• Why was urban agriculture not considered as a part of the plan?

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• During the community engagement process, “Activity”, which includes sports, was prioritized the least, below both “Nature” and “Water”. So how did the planners conclude that people wanted 12 new athletic fields?

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• The cost of the Master Plan is $255M. $50M of that has been committed by the mayor over 5 years, but if the next administration has different fiscal priorities, where does that leave FDR Park?

• The Master Plan says “securing the capital for this project will likely take at least a decade”. Over such a long time line, isn’t there a risk of the plan being left in a half-finished state for many years? What will that mean for park users in the long term? 

• What guarantees can you offer that the need for private funding will not translate into private control of park resources?