RECENT COMMENTS
Joel Cabot on Power Outage on the Hill
Eric S. Huffstutler on What is up with the Church Hill Post Office?
Eric S. Huffstutler on What is up with the Church Hill Post Office?
Yvette Cannon on What is up with the Church Hill Post Office?
crd on Power Outage on the Hill
Chimborazo Park needs some love
05/03/2015 7:44 AM by John M
A reader writes in:
After walking Chimborazo Park for the past few weeks, I am appalled at the conditions in the park. Litter is everywhere. There is an old leather-like sofa near the dog park. An invasive tree has taken over the hillsides blocking most of the view. The gutters at the curbs need the weeds cut and the leaves removed. Some of the roadway needs to jackhammered and replaced with asphalt.
— ∮∮∮ —
— ∮∮∮ —
— ∮∮∮ —
— ∮∮∮ —
I was glad to see these photos come in… I’ll definitely 2nd the invasive weed trees on the hill side issue. Every time I’m in Chimborazo I’m frustrated by how the trees block the view. It’s shameful compared to the condition of Libby Hill or Jefferson Park.
Yeah, cutting all the trees down is the way to go…
@Scotty – not the trees proper, but the scruffy weedy “Tree of Heaven” trees coming up the hillside
http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/pubs/midatlantic/aial.htm
I know Chimbo is a Fed Park but doesn’t this part of it belong to the city?
Is this park on the city’s “clean up before all the bike tourists come” list? Looks like we need a sickle or Agent Orange. Happy to help with cut down if someone will tie me off/spot me. Right now I’m trying to understand the city’s grass-cutting methodology. Sit mowers, but they never come back with a whacker to finish around trees. Jefferson Park looks super half-ass right now.
Katzenjaammer- The Fed only owns the piece of the land with the museum/HQ on it boarded by the road around it. The rest of the park is owned and maintained by the city.
Is there a Friends of Chimborazo organization? I am also curious about what the overall maintenance plan is. Is there a return it to wild plan? At most it seems only half mown both on the top and around the bottom. The poison ivy is going to get well established in the fields if they continue to mow only once a year or whatever is happening now. I also agree that those weed trees are should be addressed either to clear the hill or to try to encourage more ‘native’ species.
I’ve been walking that trail back behind the dog park with my dog, and recently it has gotten so bad I won’t be able to continue to walk it much longer. I’ve been wanting to contact somebody, it is overgrown and trees have fallen. It has been completely neglected.
The trees mentioned are “Ghetto Trees”. The worst thing you can do is cut them back like a group of well meaning ( but un-informed ) people did recently. This only encourages more vigerous growth as is now evident.
How about we bring the issue to HandsOn? I’ve been on plenty of clean up crews for parks in the fan district.
Jean , then how do they get rid of the trees?
I have been running the park group for a couple of years now and can tell you that the city is either non responsive to requests or makes promises that they rarely follow through with. I have been trying to organize several of the park groups together to better address the mowing and maintenance issues, along with bike race prep, but so far this is only at the beginning stages.
The tree stewards tried to tackle the trees of heaven (or ghetto palms) a couple of years ago, and this started out going gangbusters, then it fizzled as the project wound up being just 1 or 2 volunteers laboring away all weekend against the trees.
I am willing to hold meetings and discuss these issues if there is interest. I am open to ideas, but there needs to be enough commitment in the way of volunteer follow through to make this feasible. Just cleaining up the park on 1 day isnt enough. There needs to be an on going commitment to picking up litter, weeding, etc. Not just on organized work days, but on daily walks through the park.
-John Drew Clay, Chair
Friends of Chimborazo Park
@14…OK, I’m confused why we’re looking for an all out volunteer effort here. I completely understand the need to pick up litter, etc. on a daily basis but the issues here should and must be addressed by the city.
Over the years, the property tax base has grown exponentially in this part of Church Hill….services have never been worse. Do y’all see anything wrong with that?
Where are the services that we’re paying for?
The present conditions in Chimborazo Park are no less than embarrassing. Has anyone asked for a meeting with the Director of Parks and Rec and Public Works? Has anyone reached out to the Mayor? Are the tough questions being asked of the Maintenance Supervisors about why this park is in this condition and what’s the plan to get it snapped back?
I have brought up the mowing questions with our councilwoman and parks and rec, and gotten nowhere with either line of inquiry. Hence the effort to get the park groups to work together and expand our voice.
You forgot to mention Cynthia Newbille, Laura.
I’m sure she could get action done on this if she wanted to.
We filled out a SeeClickFix several days ago to remove the couch. The trash can on the big dog side of the park is overflowing.
@13
It seems the only effective method involves cutting, herbicide, and introduction of competitive vegetation and is a difficult and lengthy process.
http://news.psu.edu/story/186093/1999/06/14/penn-state-scientists-tree-heaven-really-isnt
Chimbo has always been the black sheep of City parks. I don’t know why, but the City plays favorites. I live front and center on the park and trust me, it’s care and maintenance is nowhere close to that of Libby Park (which some of us jokingly refer to as “God’s Park.”).
So dang this is like the snakeheads of the fish and hydrilla of the swift creek and Pamunkey river.
So basically… there’s nothing you can do except spray it with weed killer every year….. or mow it frequently, which actually makes the root system stronger?
And good gosh… it can grow up to 10 feet it one year? So Chimbo is screwed….
Oh, I forgot to mention that the park has a long history of loosing chunks of the hillside to erosion. The trees have a simple root system, but they still manage to shore up the hillside some. So, the the city is hesitant to remove these trees.
@17-Ray It’s sad to say but no, I didn’t forget Cynthia Newbille. In my book, she’s useless and NEVER responds to stuff like this…I just bypass her and go straight up the food chain.
eds
These trees require an all out chemical assault. They are so invasive that it is illegal to plant them.
#5, if you want to make like Zena Warrior Princess I have the rope. Bring your machete of choice.
In the interim I will go over with a trashbag and pick up some crud. Good talk, folks!
I’ve always wanted to clear out that nonsense. I have a truck. I can buy a few pickaxes if anybody wants to get em out by the roots.
We had trees of heaven/ghetto palms in the back yard. I just kept cutting them, which seemed to work fine. It reached a point where the suckers/clones were small enough to break/pull up by hand when they sprouted. I think after a summer or two we pretty much exhausted the root system. Of course, this was a much smaller area than what is being discussed.
Before anyone starts clearing the hillside they should check with the Dept of Parks and Rec and obtain permission. Otherwise, you could be fined.
And, let me restate the reason they are hesitant to clear the hillside….there is a history of major erosion dating back at least 100 years.
As recently as 15 years ago, there were cobblestone paths that worked their way up and down along the hill sides below the statue of liberty. These paths all washed away in a series of tropical storms and hurricanes.
As ugly as they are, the trees of heaven provide some erosion control.
Chimbo/John, thanks for your insights on all this. Obviously, there is a lot about the park that needs attention, but is there anything that can be done about the dog park’s trash can in the short-term? I’ve never seen it in that bad of shape (overflowing with doggy bags filled with poop). Eventually it’ll be a health hazard, if it isn’t already. I’m there with my dog probably 3-4 times a week and willing to help out however I can.
@29, someone opened a SeeClickFix issue about the trash can. That does not mean it will be emptied any time soon but I thought I’d toss that out since I voted on it yesterday.
@30, thanks for the heads up!
http://seeclickfix.com/issues/1628574?poi_token=8a7020e4c347929d9aebbf7deb7dd5a67a84a25c&utm_campaign=poi-notice-email&utm_content=issue-card-header&utm_medium=email&utm_source=poi-email&utm_term=issue-more
Issue ID: 1628574
Viewed: 24 times
Neighborhood: Capitol District
Reported: on 05-04-2015
Service Request ID: 268741
Tagged: trash
I contacted Parks and Rec and they said they would fix the trash can /dog poo problem.
Unfortunately, this may mean they dump it now and ignore it until next time it is full and we complain.
Yeah, Jefferson Park could use some love too. If you, like me, think both Chimbo and Jeff Park are currently in violation of the City’s weed/grass height ordinance, I invite you to call/email Mr. Barry Russell, Deputy Director II, Parks Services at 804-646-5944 or BARRY.RUSSELL@RICHMONDGOV.COM
and let him know your concerns.
I looked into cutting these trees back and was told by the last attemptee that it is NOT a volunteer doable project. And an email exchange with Parks and Rec and DPW has them claiming that it is a project slated for this coming winter.