WILMINGTON- A group of local voters concerned about the design of Wilmington’s downtown park, built on the site of the former bank, are circulating a petition asking the selectboard to move the controversial pergola to a location outside the town’s historic district.

One of the authors of the petition, Kelly Kahler, says his chief objection is that the pergola doesn’t suit the site, or the town’s historic design district. “It’s not historic,” he says. “It throws the historical design concept out the window. As a shape, it just doesn’t fit the space it was designed for.”

At this year’s Town Meeting, Kahler introduced a motion to withhold funding for the second phase of the park project until a public referendum on the design could be held. The move sparked a lively debate between those who support the park project, and those who would like to see a different design. Although the motion eventually failed 128 to 61 in a paper ballot, Kahler says there is significant opposition to the pergola.

Kahler says he, and other community members, would like to see a public discussion on the park design, and the future use of the site. Although the petitioners don’t point to a violation of a particular standard in the town’s design control regulations, Kahler says the design of the pergola violates the spirit of historic design control. “When you get so picky that you’re discussing vinyl and wood, and then you put something like this up there … we have a hard time adhering to things. We get picky with little things and let other things go. This is a classic example.”

Kahler says the town should be required to adhere to the same standards any property owner would be required to follow. The town did seek a permit for the park and the pergola, and in 2007 the development review board concluded that the project met all zoning and design criteria. Regarding the pergola, the DRB said “Although it is tall, the height is for safety reasons. Also, because the pergola is over the deck, it will not obscure the view of the neighboring building. Its placement by the river will encourage people to come into the park.”

But opponents of the design say that the design that was approved by DRB and the design that was eventually built are substantially different, and they say the design change should have been approved in another public process. Permit conditions imposed by the DRB stipulate that the pergola must be built “as presented.”

“When you change the design, for faulty reasons, without telling anyone, and it goes further away from historic design control, there’s something wrong with the process,” Kahler says. “When go through this process and there’s this kind of (negative) response, there’s something wrong.”

Arguments that the pergola is “public art,” Kahler says, are irrelevant. “This is not an art project,” he says. “Whether it’s pleasing to the eye is secondary. The issue is whether it fits the design control district, and I would argue strongly that it does not.”

The petitioners aren’t asking the town to make a judgement on the value of the pergola as an objet d’art, and they aren’t asking the town to demolish it. The petition asks the selectboard to move the pergola to a location outside the historic district. “There are a lot of people who put good energy into the project, and with good intentions,” Kahler says. “Wherever it goes, it goes. We just want to see the issue get aired and discussed the way it should have a long time ago.”

Selectboard chair Meg Streeter says the board is aware of the petition, but hasn’t discussed what action they’ll take when the petition lands on their table. “We’ll discuss it when we get it,” she said.

Kahler says the petitioners are hoping to collect about 200 signatures, substantially more than the number required on a legal petition, before submitting it to the board in the near future. The petition is available at several locations in town, including Beanhead’s, Fennessey’s, Dot’s, the Mobil Shortstop, WW Building Supply, Deerfield Valley Supply, North Star Bowl, and C&S Beverage and Dairy. “We’re hoping the town really looks at this and tries to come up with a consensus rather than just pushing something through,” says Kahler.