By Colin Walsh
The Sky Track Saga really saddens me. It seems like every step of the process has been fraught with actions that discredit our community.
From the beginning, this equipment was a problem. Any history of an original proposal to update the playground equipment in Arroyo Park seems murky, and there doesn’t seem to have been a specific proposal for a zipline like the Sky Track. Worse, no public notice was given to the neighbors. There was no proper approval of seating the equipment on a new playground pad and there was no study of noise impacts on the neighborhood for this equipment which was very different from what had been in the park previously.
The sound impact was terrible on neighboring houses and so, understandably, neighbors complained.
Then the City Manager sent an email to staff identifying a complainant (Janet Krovoza) as the wife of a former mayor. Of course, the complainant did not identify themselves as “wife of a former mayor” and did NOT ask for special treatment. Drawing attention to Janet’s connection to the city suggests the city manager wanted favoritism shown. It was inappropriate for the City Manager to show favoritism like this.
Action was taken; the City added lube to the track and rubber bumpers in attempts to lessen the scraping and clanging noises. It was not enough. Neighbors continued to complain (again, understandably), and the track was locked. Then locked just at night.
Someone tipped off the Sacramento Bee, and the Bee ran a dreadful story attacking Joe and Janet Krovoza, basing claims of nepotism on the City Manager’s email. Never mind that no favoritism has ever been sought, and based on the arduous process since, none given. It just happens that the Krovozas’ house is perhaps the most impacted.
Then it got ugly, and members of the community openly bashed and slandered the Krovozas on social media. NextDoor and Facebook were rife with hateful posts claiming the Krovozas hated children and far worse. The Krovozas would even hear people over their back fence say things to children like, “that’s the house where that horrible woman that hates children lives.” Who teaches their kids to hate like this? What is happening to tolerant and compassionate Davis?
Shockingly, one of the harshest and nastiest social media commenters was appointed to the Recreation and Park Commission where they might oversee next steps for the Sky Track – though they ultimately ended up recusing themselves from a vote on the equipment and resigning from the commission in a huff.
All this time, the city ineptly bumbled with locking and unlocking the equipment. 10s of thousands of dollars of staff time was being spent on the problem. Not only did it not solve the problem, but the staff actions also added fuel to the fire. Locked playground equipment is a sight no one wants to see. Coming to the park and finding the equipment locked is an inherently frustrating situation because locks are so at odds with the sense of childhood play.
Not surprisingly the locking mechanisms have been repeatedly vandalized, likely costing the city tens of thousands to repeatedly replace.
Rather than just move the equipment, the city brought in highly paid noise consultants, further escalating the price tag for this playground equipment. The initial report from the noise consultants misstated the City’s municipal code in an apparent attempt to place the sky track in a legal range. Noise from the Sky Track clearly violates the Davis noise ordinance, and the City now admits this. This is an unbelievable action by staff and the consultant to allow misquoted code to go before a commission and mislead it. How is it that this consultant even still works for the City of Davis?
The fatal flaws in the analysis pointed out, the City staff brought a sizable rewrite of the noise ordinance directly to the City Council without it going to a single commission for review. The rewrite would have dramatically increased allowable noise in the City of Davis. The only notice given to the public was the regular City Council agenda notice. There was no EIR – increase in allowable noise city wide clearly is a major environmental impact and yet there was no public discourse.
Worse, staff put the item on the consent calendar so there would likely be no council discussion on what would have been a significant rewrite of Davis law. The item was pulled from the agenda and vanished down the memory hole. No acknowledgement that what the staff did here was not at all in keeping with the principles of open government.
Why can the City not just admit that it made a mistake and fix the problem?
Now at last, years later, the City is actually looking at moving the zip track. We are now easily over $100,000 in wasted money to get here. But what is proposed? Moving the zip track just a few hundred feet across the park where the expert projections show it is borderline and possibly still violating the noise ordinance. Why not move the zip track somewhere that would be guaranteed to end this saga?
What is the City’s hang up? Why can they not actually solve this problem and fix their mistake?
And that is why the City Council needs to move the Sky Track to Community Park. Community Park is more centrally located in the City, allowing for easier access for more children, and has high density apartments on 2 sides. The park is also surrounded by an earthen berm that would reduce noise for the surrounding neighborhoods. It is also a much larger park allowing for a placement much farther from residences. It really is a very good place for the Sky Track.
I would further add, for those parents who live near the current zip track, this is a great opportunity for you. If your kid loves the zip track, jump on a bike load up the bike cart, power up the EV, grab some scooters or otherwise transport your kids to the Yolo County public library, get some books and visit the Sky Track in Community Park. If your kids love the Sky Track, they may never have been so excited to visit the library.
Please City Council, bring to an end this terrible saga that has led to some of the worst of what Davis has to offer. Move the Sky Track out of Arroyo Park.
Davisite 
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