Editor,
I read with dismay a letter in last week’s paper about the city wanting to use the playground at Boys and Girls Club for a parking lot this summer (“Parking Plan a Danger to Preschoolers,” Letters, May 2.)
While I certainly understand the need for more parking, I am alarmed for the “Littles” health and safety. Cars drip fluids. That’s a fact. I would never approve of them playing and eating very day on the asphalt of Pavillion’s parking lot, so why would we let them do it on any parking lot? They’re little, for Pete’s sake! Rolling around and playing where toxic fluids have been is risky and foolhardy. Hosing the playground down may not entirely remove the residue. Who knows what the longterm effects might be? A scraped arm or knee from the street requires careful tending to…. Just the run off from our city streets after a rain is enough to keep us out of the water for a few days. (Or at least our brighter residents.)
Our children are our most precious resource. It’s our responsibility to keep them safe. There’s got to be a better solution than putting our little children at risk. Surely we can find another answer to our parking woes.
Dawn Lincoln, Laguna Beach
