Parking became a major issue for those attending a public hearing Monday for the unveiling of a proposed master plan for a new Evans park.

Dubbed the Evans Town Center Park, it is located across Ronald Reagan Drive from the Evans courthouse.

Landscape architects included 218 planned parking spaces, but 54 are situated along the Evans Town Center Boulevard edge of the park at 45-degree angles.

Many attending the meeting objected to the street parking, calling it too dangerous for a major thoroughfare. Others said it would eventually become parking for retail shops planned for the Marshall Square development across Evans Town Center Boulevard from the park.

"It is a recipe for disaster," said former Columbia County Commissioner Steve Brown, who served on a committee that worked with consultants on the park design. "This is a parking lot with a street going through it. The plan is flawed."

Many suggested that park designers remove the street parking and include another parking lot on the park grounds.

"If you expect the park to be used, you've got to provide parking," said Jean Garniewicz, a county planning commissioner.

Mack Cain, a landscape architect who worked on the design, said a passive park needed less, rather than more, parking as a means of crowd control and to encourage pedestrian traffic.

As proposed during the public meeting, the park would include a five-acre lawn area, two smaller lawn areas, walking trails lined with trees, restrooms, concession areas, resting stations, two playgrounds and pavilions.

Public comments on the master plan were solicited after a presentation by Columbia County officials and executives with Atlanta-based consulting firm Jordan, Jones and Goulding Inc., which designed the park.

The consultants said a park providing passive recreation appeals to about 80 percent of area residents, while an athletic field appeals to only 12 percent.

Andrea Grecko, another landscape architect who worked on the project, predicted that the park would become a focal point for the county.

Consultants now will review the public comments and could tweak the park design, said Barry Smith, the county's director of community and leisure services.

Those unable to attend Monday's meeting can view a video of the presentation and comment on the plan at www.columbia countyga.gov.