After weeks of conversation on the topic, it looks like the clock has finally run out on Erin Schreyer’s basketball hoop issue.
On the July 2 meeting, the University Park City Council seemed to think that front yard equipment had been fully investigated by committees in 2006, but no vote was taken to resolve the issue one way or another. On July 16, they left no room for doubt, denying any chance to amend the ordinance.
“I just don’t know why we’re opening that box,” Councilman Bob Begert said in the work session prior to the meeting.
In 2006 after multiple committee reviews, the City Council banned any permanent structures from front yards, allowing only temporary equipment such as basketball hoops anchored by sand or water. When Schreyer received notice that her hoop was out of code, she claimed that the temporary versions are not only more likely to topple over, but also less aesthetically pleasing.
“Humbly, I request you to consider,” Schreyer said. “Frankly, a portable base is simply not as safe.”
Schreyer’s post is secured by four removable bolts instead of a concrete slab in the ground, so she considers it semi-permanent. Though she has received much support from her neighbors, one other resident in the audience didn’t see it the same way.
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“I think these front-yard basketball hoops are not aesthetically pleasing,” University Park resident Mark Hardin said. “I would hope that you ban them all together.”
Ultimately, the vote showed that council members didn’t want to discuss it any longer. But one saw things from Schreyer’s point of view.
“I don’t look at this basketball goal as being fixed; it is detachable,” Councilman Tommy Stewart said of the 2006 issue. “I think it is much safer than the basketball goals that are filled with water and sand that I’ve seen blow over in high winds.”
Stewart was the only dissenting vote, and the issue was put to rest.
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