STAR, Idaho — Star's Freedom Park continues to draw big crowds, creating parking challenges for nearby residents. The city is now taking steps to address these concerns with plans for a major parking expansion.
Freedom Park visitors have been parking in the Heron River neighborhood and along nearby streets, causing frustration among local homeowners.
WATCH: Learn more about the location of the new parking lot
"We've had people parking over here in the HOA, Heron River, neighborhood and up and down the streets over here," Mayor Trevor Chadwick said.
But the issues extend beyond just parking problems.
"It's people not respecting people's private property rights, and going into their backyards," Chadwick said.
Several neighbors spoke about their frustrations surrounding Freedom Park's parking issues and trespassers, though they preferred not to be identified. Their concerns go beyond just these problems, particularly related to living near the pond.
One neighbor expressed disappointment, saying they moved in with the impression that the pond was exclusively for residents. They also mentioned how they pushed the city to paint a fire lane due to visitors blocking vital access to the pond.
Speaking with Middleton-Star Fire District over the phone, they reported no problems. Mayor Trevor Chadwick said the city already had plans to paint the fire lanes as well.
Working on a solution regarding parking space concerns, Mayor Chadwick explained how the city is tackling the issue.
"We have to work with ACHD on that. They own the streets. We just have to create the ordinance, which we hope to have here in 2 weeks on our council agenda," Chadwick said.
The city has even purchased a house to create nearly 2.5 acres of future parking spaces for visitors.
"With that, we're gonna add about 165 parking spaces... which really will alleviate a lot of the challenges that we see with parking anywhere around here," Chadwick said.
With this parking expansion, efforts to keep the park clean continue, with additional dumpsters and regular maintenance.
The city council is working on getting the ordinance in place, and once that's complete, ACHD will begin working on the roads and signage.
