Healthy art wall
EDITOR: I am responding to the recent letter titled “Unhealthy Graffiti.” Adding the Art Wall was a big consideration by the volunteers/city planner/city council who got the Sk8park/Garden for Sebastopol. We were concerned that our Sk8park would get graffiti and we had Analy High School students tell the city council that allowing the art on the wall (graffiti) would keep it out of the skating area.
We came up with rules and regs and it has worked ever since, we even put a trial time on it. Painting over other art work on the wall was part of the plan.
I support our graffiti artists. The art has been incredible. If you have never seen it, you should go to the Sk8park/Garden (Laguna Skategarden) on Laguna Park Way in downtown Sebastopol and check it out.
Regarding harmful vapors … hmmmm what can be done for this? If you feel they are harmful for your child to breathe, maybe they should not be there during the time of creating art.
Allowing another wall to be built was because of the gun club that sits on the other side of the wall. The water drainage system … I’m hoping the paint stays on the wall, if it’s not, that can be an issue. Playing loud rap music, smoking, drinking is prohibited in the park and fortunately that’s why we have our Sebastopol police visiting the park.
If there is a problem with empty or not empty paint cans, brushes and caps, I would suggest a group of volunteer parents come together and figure out how to manage that. For an example, one can always ask the people who are painting to take their trash with them.
As volunteers, we worked very hard to get this park together for our young people, young men and young women, whether it’s skateboarding, roller blades, gardening, or expressing their art on the wall, it’s the most used park in Sebastopol.
Remember, no bikes allowed or scooters, they could be dangerous.
There are volunteers that clean up trash, lock the park every evening, lock the bathroom every evening so it’s open till 10 p.m. To the community and parents; please get involved wherever you can to keep our park as pleasant as it has been.
Debra Capria, formerly with West County Skate Park
Sebastopol
Dream big
EDITOR: Thank you for considering the plight of the bicyclist and pedestrian in Sonoma County. While Caltrans, the county and the cities are under mandate to treat alternative modes of transportation as equals to the car, we know that change is difficult and often very slow. Our local farsighted vision to undertake the (sometimes arduous) preservation measures of the last 30 years within Sonoma County has yielded much of the bounty of beauty and respite that we enjoy today. We are so proud of our community.
We recently attended the county Regional Parks public meeting in Sebastopol to review this project, which appears to be headed for a quick county approval. We remain convinced that while the route along Highway 116 and Stony Point Road may be the most expedient in terms of currently available right-of-way, and possibly less hostile property owners, it is not in the best interest of most potential future users.
Now is the time to dream of our future; a chance to work toward the exceptional. The two main roads along the route, Highway 116 and Stony Point Road, will never be a pleasant experience or accessible to our youth or our elders. We and our friends are fairly serious walkers averaging approximately 50 miles each week and have also biked all over our county.
Juxtaposing non-car travelers next to those high speed roads will not be an enjoyable experience. It will not provide the connection to nature and tranquility that are experienced on our few existing trails/bike paths.
We sometimes walk from Sebastopol to Forestville, and there is no comparison between the section of Highway 116, known as the Andy’s Market section, (similar and nicer than much of what is being proposed), as well as the existing trail sections on the old railroad right of way. The Andy’s Market section is loud and unpleasant and must be endured.
Why would you select a project simply based upon ease of acquisition? This project is so many years away as to allow us to dream big. We understand that there are vocal, threatening neighbors and owners on the old parcels that the county sold off years ago. Nonetheless, constituents (of supervisors Lynda Hopkins and David Rabbit, the Sebastopol and Petaluma city councils) are counting on you to fight for our best interests, to take a stand for our children.
Marsha Sue Lustig and John Eder
Sebastopol
(Eder is a former Sebastopol city councilmember and Lustig is a former member of the board of the Palm Drive Health Care District)
No more video rental
EDITOR: I was saddened to learn the last video rental store in west county has now closed. Could it be that most people really do have their head up their app?
Peter Naughton
Sebastopol
