A Wednesday night forum revealed more divisions between Lawrence City Commission candidates, this time on issues regarding park space and the use of downtown sidewalks as drinking and dining areas.

The five commission candidates at the Voter Education Coalition forum at the Dole Institute of Politics split into two camps when asked whether the city had done a good job planning for new park space.

Incumbent David Schauner and Jim Carpenter both said city planning was lacking when it came to bringing new park space online.

“One of the things you hear at (Lawrence Association of Neighborhoods) meetings is how inadequate our neighborhood parks are right now,” said Carpenter, who said too often parks were stuck in flood-prone areas or other areas difficult to use.

Schauner said he would support the city imposing on developers new fees that would be used to pay for land for future parks and schools to serve their developments.

“That would help make for a neighborhood and not just a lot of rooftops,” Schauner said.

The other three candidates in the field disagreed with Carpenter and Schauner’s assessments. Incumbent Sue Hack said she believed the city had done a good job of actively acquiring pieces of ground for future park use.

“I think we have been very aggressive,” Hack said.

Mike Amyx and Tom Bracciano also said city planning for parks had been strong. Amyx said he would support a specific line item in the city budget for future park land acquisition, but he did not go as far as supporting a new development fee for parks. Bracciano said he also had concerns about a new development fee.

“If we’re going to attach fees to any development, we had better be able to really show them where those fees are going,” Bracciano said.

On the issue of whether the city should loosen requirements to allow downtown bars and restaurants to have drinking and dining areas on the city sidewalk, candidates were split. The idea has been proposed as a way to lessen effects those businesses have felt from the city’s smoking ban.

Both Hack and Carpenter said they thought the loosening of the guidelines would be workable. Bracciano said he was concerned about the shrinking amount of sidewalk space for pedestrians. Amyx said he shared those concerns but wanted to help businesses affected by the smoking ban.

“But we have to remember that sidewalks are for pedestrians first,” Amyx said.

Schauner spoke out the loudest on the issue. He said he couldn’t imagine how adding new outdoor areas to drink and smoke on Massachusetts Street would be an “improvement to the jewel of our city.”

The forum also took an unusual turn at the end as Schauner in his closing comments challenged the other candidates to sign a pledge card either supporting or opposing five issues on Schauner’s platform. The issues dealt with the use of roundabouts, long-term planning policies, a new business park in southeast Lawrence, discussion of a new Kansas River toll bridge and a bond issue for a library expansion.

Carpenter signed in support of the issues. The other three candidates did not.

Schauner, who used a similar pledge card in his campaign two years ago, said he asked candidates to sign the card because he thought candidates were not being specific about how they stood on the issues.

Hack said the tactic struck her as being overly political.

“We have had five forums now,” Hack said. “I think we have been very specific about how we feel.”