The City of Aiken recently announced a plan to improve one of Aiken’s gems, the Smith Hazel Park, in a project that would involve destroying 68 trees and bulldozing and grading the landscape of this historic property. This plan was decided upon without a public hearing to lay out the facts of this plan and to receive informed public input for the record. Friends of Aiken Trees is urging a pause on this project so that a pubic hearing can be held and informed public input given on this plan.

BACKGROUND: Community concerns about this project’s potential impact on the trees have been ongoing for the past 13 months. Questions asked in emails, phone calls, and in City Council chambers have gone unanswered. The public was kept in the dark until the City finally divulged its plans for the trees on January 12, 2024. On the heels of this came the City’s announcement that there is no time for public hearings and comments, because there is a September deadline to meet.

There is much potential, with the combined acreage of the next- door Perry Memorial Park, to realize the recreational capacity of Schofield neighborhood without taking such a destructive path at Smith Hazel. One example would be to consider creating a second walking track at Perry Memorial Park, rather the current plant to remove dozens of trees and bulldoze the Smith Hazel property to create an ADA-compliant track. The City’s deadline may be difficult to meet with this pause but not impossible The Smith Hazel Park, like any other park in Aiken, deserves improvements conceived with thoughtful discussion to include input by the people who live here and who use this park. The project’s deadline can serve as impetus to waste no more time in getting the plan right.