You’ve probably never heard of Winding Roses Park, even if you live in Francisville, where it’s located. According to a Daily News article, the park was established in the 1990s and used by neighbors to celebrate happy occasions or to gather to mourn loved ones lost. Its use has declined dramatically in recent years, but it remains a well kept lot on the 1900 block of Brown Street, with a chain-link fence, an attractive mural, a pergola, and several permanent tables.

Covers five lots

Closer look

It seems, however that the park may soon disappear. Of the five lots that make up the park, four are owned by City agencies and one is privately owned by a gentleman named William Guzman. Somewhat inconveniently for everyone, Guzman owns the one that’s right in the middle. And now, a few years after purchasing the lot, he’s looking to build a single family home- a move that will certainly be profitable for him but will leave the green space cut into two far less useful pieces.

Looking into the park

According to some neighbors, this isn’t such a big deal. The park is apparently only used by people who have the key to the padlock on the chain link fence, and they hardly even use it anymore. And with all the vacant land in Francisville, some would argue that any development will have a net positive effect. But we would respectfully have to disagree.

In the first Daily News story written about this lot, it’s indicated that Mr. Guzman was willing to swap it for another City lot in the area. It appears that the CDC reached out to the councilman’s office a couple of years ago, but the councilman’s office claims it never heard back from the developer. The developer claims he never heard back from the neighborhood group. Chaos abounds!

The frustrating thing about this situation is just how painfully easy this problem is to resolve. PHA owns a vacant lot at 1919 Brown St., which is a little larger and has the same zoning at Guzman’s current property.

1919 Brown St. is the solution!

All the City needs to do is to offer an even trade with Guzman, 1919 for 1911 Brown. PHA is likely to sell off their lot to a developer sooner rather than later, so why not let Guzman have it and preserve the park? One stipulation, however, should be that management of the park is given over to either the neighborhood association or to an independent friends group. Considering the number of vacant lots in the neighborhood, if this is to be preserved, it should be available and accessible to people in the neighborhood who wish to enjoy it, not just the select few who happen to possess a key.

Doesn’t this sound like a better outcome than a random home surrounded on both sides by City lots, which may or may not ever be sold off in our lifetimes? Yeah, we think so too.