AVENTURA, Fla. – A protest took place Tuesday night outside Aventura City Hall over plans to pave over a park and build pickleball and tennis courts.
The protesters were raising two issues at Founders Park: the installation of five new pickleball courts and two tennis courts, and removing grass in favor of artificial turf.
“We used to go to enjoy the nature, enjoy the animals, enjoy the birds, and now we will have pickle ball sounds,” said protester Ofelia Duran.
“There’s countries and states around the country that are currently banning the artificial turf because of how dangerous it is -- the toxicity levels,” added protester Ariel Penzer.
The city, which has already approved the changes, said the turf won’t require the use of fertilizers.
“Installing the field turf has allowed us to completely eliminate the use of those chemicals in Waterways Park,” said Aventura spokesperson Evan Ross.
The city also said that water drains faster from the turf than on grass.
“Beautiful natural parks is a real luxury, and I don’t know why we would compromise that,” said protester Kat Palumbo.
The city commission did not take any action on Tuesday to slow or stop the changes.
“Overall, the city is making the best decision that are in the best interest for the entire community, not that are in the best interest of a small group who utilized the community garden,” said Ross.
Regarding the claims that artificial turf contains harmful chemicals, the Environmental Protection Agency has found that it does contain high levels of chemicals known as PFA’s, and some places have moved to ban them.
It remains unclear if those chemicals actually get into the body and cause damage.
Local 10 News reached out to the company that installs the turf for the city, but did not hear back at the time this story was published.