The City of Fort Lauderdale had approached Harbour Inlet a few months ago about a potential neighborhood park to be located at 2121 SE 21st Ave. The Fort Lauderdale Parks Bond funds were being allocated for acquiring parcels of land for neighborhoods that did not have a park. The city policy is that all residents should be within a ten-minute walk of a park, and obviously that is not the case in Harbour Inlet. There are strong opinions on both sides of this issue and many have been expressed recently.
An informational meeting was held on November 13th for the residents and many attended. Phil Thornburg, Director of Parks and Recreation for the City of Fort Lauderdale discussed the process for new neighborhood parks and answered questions from the residents. He asked the neighborhood to get back to him with recommended next steps by mid-January and were subsequently asked to move this up to mid-December. Since that meeting information was learned about other requirements that the city has in order to spend money on a park for a neighborhood.
A committee of the Harbour Inlet Association board members met and discussed options for next steps. It was agreed that the neighborhood would be unable to meet the requirements of the city and thus we should not take this any further at this time. The city has been informed of this decision and thanked them for their generous offer. It was also requested to keep the option of a neighborhood park open, if other parcels of land become available.