On June 25, the public was invited to Bittner Park for an open house to see what a proposed disc golf course might look like in the area. Residents had a chance to throw some discs and see the plan. The open house addressed some resident’s concerns—and sparked some new questions.

Disc golf is a game that combines Frisbee and golf. A golfer is given a disc and has a certain number of throws to reach the “hole,” which is a stand with a chain basket sitting on top. Parks & Recreation Director Rick Maynard previously said disc golf is “growing like crazy” across the state.

The Parks & Recreation Commission had previously gone through the steps to put a course at Peddlers Park, but at a public hearing residents raised concerns about the location, safety, costs, property owner rights, and the process of approval, essentially putting an end to the plan. At that meeting, Maynard said some residents asked why the commission didn’t just consider Bittner Park since there is already parking and a park there. So that’s what the commission did.

A course was laid out and one fairway was established to give residents a feel for what the course might be like and a chance to ask questions. The Commission also put out a survey, which currently has 506 responses with about 74 percent of all respondents saying they support a disc golf course.

“We are trying to address a lot of the things that came up the last time around that people expressed as a concern including transparency,” he said. “So we said if people don’t watch GCTV or read the paper, let’s get this out on Facebook, let’s use the town website, and make people aware.”

Maynard said some have criticized the survey as biased and Maynard said he doesn’t argue that point, because of the purpose of the survey.

“With the survey, some have said that it is a biased survey slanted toward building it and I am acknowledging if you want to call it biased, then yes, because we were tasked by the first selectman to find out who would play and are there people in Guilford who want a disc golf course,” he said. “We were looking to find out if people want it and if there is support.”

Some have also questioned the cost of the course. Maynard said to date $10,000 of the $12,000 needed to build the course has been privately raised, avoiding the use of tax dollars. When people point out that Maynard looking into disc golf as a part of his job is a use of taxpayer dollars, Maynard said he doesn’t argue that point either.

“That’s my job,” he said. “I spend a lot of time on athletic fields, I spend time getting the skate park fixed, the boardwalk at Jacobs Beach that is being built right now. I spend time getting the community center roof repaired. I am the Parks & Rec director. I am supposed to bring new things to town and help maintain the things we have and come up with new ideas. That is my job and that’s what taxpayer pay me to do.”

Maynard said he understands some people might not want the course or have said they wouldn’t play disc golf, but does that mean the opportunity shouldn’t exist for those who might want to play?

“Do you not do it because there are some people in town who don’t want it?” he asked. “And if 70 percent of the survey people say they support a disc golf course—that’s a lot of people—do we not do it because someone else doesn’t want it?”

Environmental Concerns

Online and at the open house some residents have raised concerns about what this course might do to the environment in the park and to the hiking trail in the area. Maynard has previously said there would be no extensive clearing for the fairways and the course has been designed to try to avoid the trails.

Maynard said some have also said the course looks like it takes up half the park. Maynard said an 18-hole course could be spread out over 30 acres (Bittner Park is 140 acres) and that is just the total acreage. If one looks at the acreage by adding up the land within each fairway, the total coverage is closer to eight acres.

The town also sent out information about the proposed course hoping to address some frequently asked questions, including those about the environment.

“The disc golf course will require the clearing of small trees and brush in the fairway area,” the post read. “All large trees will remain. The course is basically a wide trail. There will be no grass planted, no fertilizer, no mowing. A Master Plan for Bittner Park in 2001 included eight more athletic fields, an indoor pool, and parking areas with road ways throughout the park. The environmental impact would have been substantial. A Natural Diversity Data Base (NBBD) study in 2002 showed no endangered or protected species in the park. The disc golf course would have minimal environmental impact. We have applied to DEEP for an updated NDDB study.”

Resident Heather Allore, who has served on various land commissions or committees in town, said she is concerned about how close the course gets to some wetlands, the trails, and what people playing disc golf might do to some species that live in Bittner. She specifically pointed out the eastern box turtle, a species of special concern that she photographed in Bittner near one of the marked fairways. She said she is concerned by the lack of an environmental review.

“This turtle is just one example of there is stuff there and you didn’t know it and there are people there using it and you are not acknowledging them and their concerns,” she said. “If people felt they had a chance to learn, share their opinion, and somehow feel that their suggestions or their concerns could be heard, these are all elements of communication to have a community buy into any project…You would have thought that Parks & Rec would have learned from their Peddlers Park experience.”

However, Joel Helander, who has studied and tagged the eastern box turtle since 1968, said considering what he knows about the turtle and the scope of the project thus far, he doesn’t see much cause for concern regarding the turtles.

“At first blush it sounds like an extreme example,” he said.

A public information session for the proposed disc golf course is set for Tuesday, July 17. More information and the survey is available on the town website www.ci.guilford.ct.us; contact Rick Maynard at maynardr@ci.guilford.ct.us with questions.