Park ordinance aims to crack down
on sex, drugs at Nature Center

By LUPE CHAVEZ
The Monitor

McALLEN -- City officials passed an ordinance Monday to protect the natural habitat of the McAllen Nature Center, as well as to curtail sexual activity and drug use in the park.

The ordinance amends current park regulations, allowing police officers and Parks and Recreation Department staff to eject any person or group walking in any portion of the park not designated as pedestrian walkways or trails.

It also makes it a violation to enter the park when it is closed to the public, and delegates the power to close the park to the city manager or his designee.

Parks and Recreations Director Larry Pressler told city officials nature center visitors wander off trails, destroying sensitive habitat and damaging plant life.

Formerly the McAllen Botanical Gardens, the Nature Center is closed for several weeks as crews irrigate and care for the habitat, Pressler said.

Park officials closed the center for clean-up and maintenance after an article in The Monitor reported that many park visitors were engaging in drug use and sexual activity on a regular basis, leaving behind dirty syringes, used condoms and other health hazards.

Consideration of the ordinance sprouted from a Tuesday, Aug. 5, interoffice memorandum from Pressler to City Manager Mike Perez, saying visitors to the center are disturbing wildlife and leaving behind litter and human feces. The problem occurs even during daytime hours, when the facility is open to the public, the memo said.

''I think (the ordinance) stands on its own merit,'' Pressler said.

The McAllen Police Department will work closely with Pressler's department to help enforce the ordinance, which passed unanimously.

Police officers now will be able to hand out misdemeanor citations to park visitors who break the law by wandering off the trails.

Police spokesman Mitch Reinitz said he did not know if officers were going to walk the trails to enforce the ordinance. He said a definite plan of action would be outlined once Police Chief Alex Longoria returns Thursday.

''I know the last time we talked, he wanted to go in and actively enforce the ordinance,'' Reinitz said.

Mayor Leo Montalvo told commissioners and the public at Monday's meeting that media attention highlighting the park's condition was totally inappropriate.

''(There were) no needles found out there at all,'' Montalvo said.

Pressler said crews have not found condoms or syringes at the park.

A Monitor reporter and photographer, as well as an activist with a local AIDS support group, found dirty syringes and used condoms on the ground at the Nature Center on Thursday, July 31. In response to media inquiries about the park's condition, the city closed the Nature Center and launched a clean-up effort on Friday, Aug. 1.