A small mouse with long feet adapted for jumping is forcing town
officials to change the master plan for Salisbury Equestrian
Park.
The endangered Preble’s meadow jumping mouse lives primarily in
heavily vegetated creek and riverbanks and has made a home
alongside Cherry Creek.
About five years ago, the Division of Wildlife created a buffer
zone that runs parallel to the creek to ensure the mice would have
a livable habitat, said projects administrator Dennis
Trapp.
When the town was designing Salisbury Park the buffer zone was
300 feet from the center of the creek, he said.
“That area has been expanding over time and the line kept
getting closer and closer to the park,” Trapp said.
The division again broadened the mouse habitat to 300 feet from
the edges of the 100-year flood plain, which clips part of the
eastern most ballfield in Salisbury Park,
The buffer zone now runs diagonally across the proposed field
from home base to second base, said councilman Mike May.
“I would estimate about three to four acres will be left
undeveloped because of potential habitat area,” Trapp
said.
Recreation department officials are returning to the drawing
boards to pull the project away from the east by redesigning Field
No. 4, the field closest to Cherry Creek, Trapp said.
“We are looking into redesigning the field to create a smaller
practice field where kids can go to practice and put in some
batting cages, which there are no batting cages for miles,” May
said.
The field might be smaller than anticipated, but it would still
serve its original purpose, Trapp said. A smaller field would
accommodate sports teams with younger players better than a
full-sized field.
As for batting cages, nothing is set in stone, Trapp said. “We
are working with a consultant, looking at the design options and
operational cost before we bring it to council,” he said.
If the batting cages do become a reality, the Prebele’s mouse
problem might be a blessing in disguise, May said.
“We don’t have those types of facilities right now, so the mouse
might have done the community a favor,” he said.
Trapp predicts plans for the new field will be complete and
presented to the town council within a month, he said.
Construction for phase one of Salisbury Equestrian Park is under
way. One or two ball fields are scheduled to be open by early
spring, Trapp said. The rest of the park will be complete by the
mid-summer.
The ball fields are designed to be used by adult and youth
softball and baseball leagues.