OVIEDO, Fla. — Concerned parents want the city of Oviedo to look into making certain parts of a park safer for children.
- Parents concerned about height of sitting wall in park
- City feels adding a railing would make wall more dangerous
- Moms will bring concerns to next council meeting
- More Seminole County headlines
Oviedo opened its Oviedo on the Park just over four years ago. The area includes a walking trail, dog park, kids playground, and splash pad.
There is also a sitting wall. The city designed this for people to sit and look down at the turtles and fish that swim by.
However, the height and how close it is to an area designed for little kids is causing concern for playground parents.
On a nice sunny day, the park is the place for kids to play, but for some parents it comes with smiles on their kids’ faces and anxiety for them.
Katherine Hare is an Oviedo mom of two. She fears that with the playground and splash pad so close to the sitting wall with no guardrails, it’s a potential hazard for small children.
"Our main concern is it is going to be a trauma or a death if something happens, if a kid falls over the wall," said Hare.
Hare is not the only mom who feels that way.
"It’s not safe. If there was something maybe like a fence insuring more for safety that if she does climb on top she is not going to plunge in to the water," said Anna Inghram.
Oviedo City Councilman and former Chief of Police for Oviedo Jeff Chudnow says the wall is designed for sitting. The city feels as though adding railing to the wall would make the area even more dangerous.
"Placing a railing on top of that wall would increase the height of any fall. And when you put a railing up there on top of seating it allows people to climb on that, and then it increases the possibility of someone falling over," said Chudnow.
According to the Oviedo Police and Fire Department, since Oviedo on the Park opened, there have been zero distress calls or rescue calls in regards to children falling in to the pond.
With the wall so close to the play area, moms like Hare and Inghram want the city to understand a parent’s biggest fear.
"Kids are fast, and if there is only 10 feet between a child and going off the edge with an eight feet drop off in to water you know, I can’t move that fast," said Hare.
The city is standing firm that the sitting wall is fine the way it is, however Hare, Inghram and other moms say they are going to bring their concerns next week to the next city council meeting.