Silver Lake residents at odds over the `meadows'

* A reindeer-processing facility.

* A stale beer repository.

* A maximum-security prison for the dreadfully violent.

* An anaconda breeder.

* A nail-polish-remover factory.

* A park.

Wait. Who doesn't want to live near a nice, grassy, shady park next to a lake?

Some residents in Silver Lake, it seems.

At issue is the so-called meadows, an approximately six-acre plot of grass and trees along the eastern edge of Silver Lake Reservoir.

The meadows has for decades sat behind a fence because the reservoir supplies drinking water, and the city doesn't want people near it.

That's about to change.

The city is building a new underground tank to hold the drinking water -- meaning it's possible that the reservoir one day could be opened to public use.

In the meantime, some Silver Lake residents want the fence blocking the meadows to be pushed back so that residents can for now enjoy the big grassy lawn.

But not so fast. Some other Silver Lake residents are trying to block such a move.

And the arguments for and against?

This column first called pro-park resident Andrew Sears, president of the Committee to Save Silver Lake's Reservoirs.

Sears delivered the predictable open-space arguments: Parks are nice places, and the city is famously short of them.

"The city has been trying to look to the future and see how to make it a more livable place, and this is definitely one of those opportunities," Sears said.

Then this column called Brian Wakil, who lives about a block from the reservoir.

Among Wakil's issues: There's no parking for the new park; habitat for wildlife such as coyotes, herons and rabbits might be affected; and opening the area would diminish it as a historic cultural monument.

"The more people that come into a neighborhood, the greater the potential for crime," Wakil said.

"The more people that come in, the greater chances of something happening. I really feel like the money would be better spent on a park somewhere else."

Time out. Should everything be closed to people just because of the possibility something bad might happen?

Wakil said that he, too, initially thought that opening the meadows was a good idea until he gave it more thought.