Why Disc Golf is a Bad Idea
The following list of concerns about the Leddy Park disc golf course proposal have been compiled and consolidated from many sources including discussions and notes from public meetings, letters, and online forums. Surprisingly, none of these concerns and the questions they raise were addressed by park officials before course clearing began in the summer of 2008 and only through the protests of concerned city residents was course construction halted so that a period of proper review could occur.
- Over 1000 Golfers Weekly Expected- According to Btown Disc Golf Club
“Estimates from the Green Mountain Disc Golf Club show that the nearest course, in Waterbury Center, draws on average 1,000 disc golf players per week, the majority of which are from Chittenden County.”
If the Waterbury course draws 1,000 players per week it is reasonable to assume that a course in Burlington, a larger community in Chittenden county, will draw even more. In fact Jason Sinisalchi’s research reported on the PDGA website supports this assumption. In a survey he conducted as a graduate student while at West Virginia Universiy, Sinisalchi concluded that courses within ten miles of a city with over 25,000 people had over four times higher use numbers than more rural courses farther away. The Waterbury Center course is rural and Burlington is a city with over 25,000 people - which may not necessarily mean 4,000 people per week playing disc golf in Leddy Park but it may mean significantly higher numbers than the 1,000 per week currently playing at Waterbury. The increased traffic and associated impacts on the natural areas and their current uses, would dramatically change the park character. At these estimated use levels, disc golf will become the principle activity in the natural areas and would displace other long standing established passive uses. Tournaments, official or unofficial, would concentrate these impacts and displacements even further by concentrating the volume of players in the natural areas during the periods of play.
- 18 Hole Course Too Large for Park -
Proposed Disc Golf Course
Many residents have commented on the size of the proposed disc golf course. The Btown aerial map best illustrates the large scale of this project. It places 16 of the 18 holes into most of the remaining natural wooded areas of the park. In addition to displacing established passive uses in these areas, the commitment of so much park land to a singe activity prevents future use of park land for other smaller footprint, low impact activities (e.g. fitness trail and reestablishment of playground area near beach have been mentioned). Is an 18 hole disc golf course the highest and best use of most of our remaining open space at Leddy Park? Why is the first proposal for disc golf in a city park a huge 18 hole tournament size course designed for use by outside groups and clubs, and not a smaller recreational course for our residents and their children? Are 18 holes needed to serve the recreational interests of Burlington residents, or simply to serve the narrow interests of of a private club interested in tournament play?
- Environmental Impacts - No comprehensive environmental assessment has been done yet to determine the impacts that the proposed disc golf course would have on the woodland and other sensitive areas of Leddy Park. There are numerous stories of the environmental impacts disc golf has had in other parks around the country, some recounted on LeddyPark.org, and they should serve as warnings as to what may lie ahead for Leddy Park if we allow disc golf there. In September 2008, 263 Burlington residents signed a petition asking for an independent environmental assessment of the disc golf project. Some of the more obvious impacts require no study.
Over 200 Feet of Woods Clear Cut for Hole 4
Perhaps the most obvious is the clearing of trees for 18 fairways. Btown has said at public meetings that they are not cutting trees but are removing underbrush and “thinning” saplings (defined as trees under three inches in diameter) during their course building activities. The reality is that many of the trees in the park are young and the result of this thinning activity is that Btown is clear cutting the areas of the fairways. Several fairways have already been cleared creating large openings in the woods, each hundreds of feet long. The Chittenden County Forester in his report on the Leddy Park disc golf proposal, indicated that removal of understory significantly alters the existing forest vegetation and with increased foot traffic these areas become susceptible to a variety of problems associated with soil disturbance, including compaction and plant death and the spread of non-native invasive species.
Erosion risk is increased significantly for proposed fairways located in park areas with sloping terrain or loose unstable soil. Particulary at risk of increased erosion are the ravine that has been incorporated into Hole 1 and Hole 3, the fragile sandy bluff along Hole 17 and the basket area planned for Hole 16, where a majority of missed baskets would end up down the bank of a ravine, as would players to retrieve their discs.
Disc Damage to Trees at Waterbury Course
Trees along the clearings made for the fairway, and trees left within the fairways as natural obstacles, will be subject to damage from discs strikes - tree damage from discs has been well documented at disc golf courses around the country. Damaged trees are stressed trees and this makes them susceptible to disease and premature death.
Disc golfers of varying skill level would use the course and we can assume that the less skilled players would routinely have to retrieve their misthrown discs from the natural areas adjacent to the fairways, trampling the vegetation and widening the fairways over time.
Other environmental impact and risk noted by city residents : A stand of Red Trillium and another of Winterberry lie in the path of the proposed course; At least one nesting tree used by Piliated Woodpeckers has already been removed during course clearing; Hole 14 is located within a natural swale.
- Park Cleanliness - Anyone visiting the park over the summer of 2008 couldn’t help but notice the increased amount of trash and debris that littered the park. This issue was especially bad around the developed areas of the park including the parking lot, soccer and soft ball fields.
Trash from November FoLP Clean-Up
The Friends of Leddy Park sponsored a clean-up day in the Fall of 2008 and collected many bags of garbage from around the park.
Developing more of the park to accommodate disc golf and another 1000 visitors per week would only further exacerbate this growing problem. There is no binding agreement between Btown and the city for course maintenance. How would the club assure the city that they will keep the course well maintained and clean? Would there be a daily schedule with club members walking the course to clean up trash? What recourse does the city have if the club cannot or would not meet this responsibility?
- Restroom Facilites - Are the current restroom facilities in the arena building and near the tennis courts adequate for the additional proposed park use? The current course design shows that most holes are not located with convenient proximity to a restroom - the implications are obvious. Are there plans for any additional restrooms or Port-O-Let type portable toilets along the course and if so, where?
- Safety - Many residents have expressed concern about the safety risks posed by locating disc golf amidst the established network of walking trails in the park. It is unreasonable to assume that errant throws would never leave the course and intersect the trail network. According to dicgolfassoc.com and innovadiscs.com top club throwers have been clocked at 50 to 60 mph, throwing 180 to 200 gram pro-line hard plastic performance disc. At www.innovadiscs.com, course designers caution proximity of pro-line hard throws around pedestrians, bikers, vehicles, and other liability hazards. Recreational discs are available that are much softer, lighter and slower, but at Leddy Park nobody would be monitoring what type of discs can be used and how hard they may be thrown.
- Sponsorhip Advertisement in Natural Areas -
Basket Sponsorship
According to Btown Disc Golf Club the money needed to complete the course would be raised by selling advertisement to business sponsors on baskets and tee markers. Do we really want this type of signage in the natural areas of Leddy Park?
- Impact to Current Use - For over 30 years, the trail network within urban forest at Leddy Park has been used daily by many city residents and valued as a place where they can enjoy a walk in the woods and access the quiet tranquil character of this undeveloped natural open space in the north end of the city. Although this use has been well established for decades, this treasured woodland natural area is not recognized by Parks and Recreation officials as open space that merits preservation for passive recreational enjoyment. As the disc golf debate began, it became clear that Parks and Recreation officials thought of Leddy Park strictly in terms of the developed recreational areas (Ice Arena, Softball Field, Soccer Field, and Tennis Courts) and considered the open natural space in the park as simply a place holder for future development. Incredibly, some Parks and Recreation officials were not even aware of any current use within the undeveloped areas of the park. One Parks official even stated that the Leddy Park woods were “generally little used“. If Parks and Recreation officials had an accurate assessment of the current park woodland use and it’s value to city residents as open space, then they probably would have not proposed Leddy Park as a location for a disc golf course. Disc golf will destroy the natural wild character of this open space by weaving fairway clearings throughout the remaining forest, and degrade the tranquility and quality of the natural setting by subjecting it to the traffic and impacts of heavy intensive use.
