Neighbors living near a park in Aurora are asking visitors for some respect. Del Mar Park is a popular spot for families in the area. On Tuesday afternoon, the park looked pristine from afar. But if you look closely, what’s been happening after dark comes to light.
Neighbor Cory Gallegos snapped a photo of the trash-covered parking lot on his morning drive.
“I drove past there the last three Mondays, and it has just been completely trashed,” said Gallegos. “A lot of beer cans, a lot of empty boxes, barbecue stuff. It’s just a lot of garbage.”
CBS Colorado visited Del Mar’s parking lot next to the sports fields Tuesday. It was covered in broken glass and hundreds of beer bottle caps.
Gallegos posted on the Nextdoor app to alert neighbors, writing in part: “kind of disappointing to see your community act like this.”
Several neighbors have also posted on the app about debris problems at the park in recent weeks.
Sara wrote: “Del Mar park is trashed again … driving to work last night I saw it packed with cars and people … drive by just now coming home and there’s just trash everywhere in the parking lot … cmon guys. Be better than this.”
Another said: “I live a couple blocks from there, we had our windows open because it was hot, but we couldn’t sleep because the music was so loud. It’s ridiculous.”
Gabriela, who lives nearby, tweeted, and tagged the Aurora Police Department:
“@AuroraPD something needs to get done about this, this is the third time the Delmar park gets trashed by the same people and loud music all night, and it’s been reported by multiple people to @AuroraPD and seems like nothing is getting done!”
According to APD, officers responded to three calls in the area Sunday regarding loud music, cars racing and doing donuts.
Gallegos says he filed a park complaint.
In a statement to CBS Colorado, Aurora PROS writes:
“Parks, Recreation and Open Space has crews working seven days a week during our peak months, ensuring our parks are clean and ready for residents to enjoy. If a park or facility doesn’t meet the high standards we have for our spaces, PROS staff work immediately to improve it.”
Gallegos says the majority of the mess is cleaned up on Monday.
Neighbors say there shouldn’t be a mess left to clean.
“If you’re going to come in, just leave it how you left it,” said Gallegos. “I don’t think they’d want others to come to their neighborhood and do the same thing.”
If residents have a concern about a space, Aurora PROS says they can submit concerns through Access Aurora at AuroraGov.org/AccessAurora and it will be addressed as soon as possible.
