By By Sophia Keshmiri Sentinel Staff

Copyright keenesentinel

City councilors are considering selling a small park that Keene officials say has become a hotspot for drug use. The police department cannot spare additional personnel to monitor the roughly 5,000-square-foot parcel at 100 Church St., according to City Manager Elizabeth Ferland, and city staff say the best way to address concerns from abutting property owners is to hand over the land to one of them.

Police Chief Steven Stewart said police often respond there for reports of drug use and overdoses, vandalism, noise complaints, sleeping and camping.

“I would say the activity in that area is high as compared to other areas in the city and is also problematic based on its proximity to residences,” Stewart told The Sentinel via email.

Though staff say the best course of action is to let the land go, some Keene residents have said other options should be considered.

During a meeting last week of the City Council’s Municipal Services, Facilities and Infrastructure Committee, members recommended that the full council sell the land to Jiffy Real Estate LLC, a Walpole company that owns multi-unit residential buildings at 110 and 116 Church St.

Company owner Akbar Ashoury told The Sentinel on Tuesday he didn’t have a concrete plan yet for addressing his concerns at 100 Church St. if the city sells it to Jiffy Real Estate. But he said safety is the priority, and he plans to work with professionals to figure out the best course of action.

“We definitely are going to do something,” he said, and added that he wants to make sure he does the right thing for the community and neighbors.

The issue came to the table when Jiffy Real Estate and MGJ Realty LLC, which owns another abutting property, outlined concerns in a formal complaint to the city manager June 19. In it, they requested the city install a complete perimeter fence blocking access to the neighboring properties and put up a sign with information including a code of conduct and hours of park operation.

During a meeting with officials and property owners, the companies asked if the city would consider selling the parcel, which is not managed by Keene’s Parks and Recreation Department, according to Public Works Director Don Lussier. He said city officials were on board with the idea.

Ashoury submitted a July 3 letter of intent to purchase the property.

“Transferring ownership to a private party would provide for more efficient and proactive management of the property, including enforcement of trespassing and public safety measures, without continued strain on the City’s resources,” it states.

Lussier shared similar sentiments during a July public meeting.

“The fact of the matter is, as a private property owner, they have tools at their disposal for managing the property that as public space we may not have,” he said.

Lussier has also pointed to the availability of other nearby parks as justification to let go of this small one. Ferland has said in the past it’s not widely used.

During a City Council meeting in August, Ferland said staff were recommending the city sell the property because Keene police don’t have the capacity to properly monitor it and the city is unable to contribute other resources to address the issues.

Stewart, Keene’s police chief, called the site “problematic.”

“To manage the issues there to the satisfaction of [those the] most impacted, would likely require a near constant presence, which just isn’t a wise use of our resources,” he wrote in an email.

Characteristics like the location and design make addressing issues at the park challenging. Another issue is the land isn’t technically a city park. “It’s not subject [to] the same regulations,” Stewart noted. “The most important from our perspective being that it would be closed during the hours of darkness. All of the same challenges would remain during daylight hours, and it would still require frequent checks at night.”

Councilor Laura Tobin said she shares concerns about safety at the site. “Having seen how difficult it is to deal with … some of those persistent drug problems in a specific area — when something becomes a hub for that, I think it’s really difficult for the police to respond to that over and over again, because if it’s a public space, they really have to catch them in the act of doing something.”

Councilor Bettina Chadbourne said she has worked in the park numerous times and has seen several drug transactions there. Councilor Randy Filiault said it was a common spot for police officers to make arrests during ride-alongs he’d been on.

During last week’s MSFI committee meeting, Councilor Bobby Williams suggested adding motion lights, removing a large berm and adding a fence, and seeing if in a year, the observed issues still persist.

Resident Kristen Petricola saw both sides of the debate. She’s worried both about selling green space, which she says is in shrinking supply everywhere, and about concerns of nearby residents.

“If I lived next door where people were defecating behind my apartment and there were drug deals happening … as a concerned parent or community member, that would be really disturbing.”

She said councilors should slow down and get more creative.

Another resident, N.H. Rep. Jodi Newell, said she’s spent time a lot of time in that area, and hasn’t observed anything she found concerning.

Resident Peter Hartz said selling the land won’t solve the problem.

“It is a function of the police to police downtown Keene,” he said at the MSFI committee meeting, explaining that if people who are unhoused or who are “up to no good” are driven from the park, “they’re going to land someplace else.”

“And in the meanwhile, we have will have lost the park.”

After the public comment period, councilors quickly voted 4 to 1 to recommend the full council sell the land.

The council is slated to act on the issue at Thursday’s council meeting at Keene City Hall. The meeting starts at 7:30 p.m.