Folly explores options for small neighborhood parks

Living in a beach community means you always have the sand, surf and shore as a place to rest and relax.

But what if you want a change of pace?

A plan to create numerous small neighborhood parks soon could mean the beach is not the only place to get away from it all at Folly Beach.

The city's Parks and Recreation Board is exploring options for turning eight to 12 small, mostly densely wooded lots into community parks.

The parks, which Mayor Carl Beckmann said can be created from publicly owned tracts long preserved for public beach access or as rights of way for streets never constructed, would be passive and shaded, with benches and picnic tables and, in some cases, with walking trails.

Some of the parks will provide tantalizing views of nature, the marsh, creeks and trees, Beckmann said.

"They will be a place to sit and enjoy the peace and quiet," he said.

He added, however, not totally in jest, that mosquitoes are ever-present in the warm months of the year at proposed park sites that include, or are near, inland wetlands.

"They (the insects) will carry you off," he said.

Beckmann said one of the reasons he ran for mayor was to provide the island with more recreation spaces.

He said he revitalized what had been a largely inactive Parks and Recreation Board, and charged it with drawing up a comprehensive plan for parks.

The task includes selecting sites, recommending park designs and functions, suggesting rules and regulations and proposing plans for maintenance.

The board is looking at these possible sites for parks:

--West Cooper Avenue at 9th Street West.

--West Cooper Avenue near 5th Street West.

--3rd Street West and Shadow Race Lane, or Michigan Avenue.

--East Cooper Avenue between 9th and 10th Street East.

--Tabby Drive near 12th Street East.

--East Ashley Avenue at Ocean Street.

--Weathers Lane near East Ashley Avenue.

Beckmann said the city has an extensive beach front, but has only two small sites for recreation away from the Atlantic Ocean.

One of the recreation sites, Folly River Park, opened recently beside Center Street at the entrance to the island.

The other, Pirate Cove Playground, features playground equipment for children at the East Erie Street site of a former water treatment plant.

One or more of the new parks could afford opportunities for city residents and visitors to "have a picnic lunch in the shade" after a day at the beach, Beckmann said. "Some people get tired of the beach, some do not," he noted.

Beckmann said funds won't be needed to purchase park properties because all the possible sites are public lands.

The city will seek grants and donations to help finance clearing lands and converting them to parks.

The site at West Cooper Avenue and 5th Street West is largely cleared, and has been for years.

The remainder of the sites under consideration are wooded, some of them densely, he said.

Beckmann said playground equipment probably would not be placed in any of the new parks because of the costs, and because there aren't many children that are full-time residents on the island.

Reach Edward C. Fennell at efennell@postandcourier.com or 745-5865.