The Hamilton Town Council voted unanimously earlier this month to ban public parking at its community park in an attempt to relieve overcrowding during the park’s hours of operation.

Starting April 15, park visitors will have to enter the park on foot (or via stroller).

Hamilton Community Park is located in Hamilton, just south of Route 7. (Google Map)

Council members cited public safety concerns as their primary reason for passing the restriction at the March 9 meeting, noting that visitors often park their vehicles on the grass when the gravel parking lot is full. But officials also stated that neighboring residents routinely complain of trash left behind by park-goers.

Many park-goers, particularly moms with young children, view this restriction as an attempt to keep “outsiders" from enjoying the park, which draws young families and play groups from all over Loudoun.

In a March 17 Leesburg Today Letter to the Editor, Deidra Stevens wrote that she is outraged by the council's decision, which to her implied that they wanted to "enforce Hamilton Park as a town-only use park."

“My son and family have enjoyed this park greatly and it pains me to see that we would not be allowed to go to the park because we live in Leesburg," she wrote.

Several calls and an e-mail to Hamilton Mayor H. Ray Whitbey asking for comment were not returned, but the March 27 Purcellville Gazette quoted him as stating, “It is clearly a popular park, but visitors should understand that it is not a county park and that we do not receive any funds from the county or the state to pay for it."

As of this morning, the town administrator has received 39 e-mails from Loudoun residents opposed to the council’s recent decision to ban vehicles at the park. In response to this public outcry, Mayor Whitbey has called a special meeting for 7 p.m. tomorrow at the town’s office. Public input will be heard the beginning of the session.

The Hamilton Community Park is located off of Route 7 in town, at the end of an unnamed road between North Laycock and South Rogers streets, near the Hamilton Post Office. The park offers playground equipment for children of all ages, benches for sitting and a covered picnic area, in addition to several acres of green, open space. By my guesstimate from a trip there this morning, the gravel parking lot appears to hold 15 to 20 vehicles.

What do you think about the town’s decision? Is this an attempt to keep non-residents from using a seemingly public park? Since the town funded and built the park, do they have a right to limit access to the facility?