Neighbors’ Appeal Keeps Teams Off Ball Field

Had things gone as planned, 700 Sylmar-area youths would have donned uniforms Saturday and taken the field for the start of their baseball league’s 32nd season.

But the Sylmar Independent Baseball League’s season may never get under way.

On March 23, residents of a Sylmar neighborhood appealed a city permit allowing the league to use seven ball fields on parkland at Simshaw and Gridley avenues.

The appeal prevents the teams from playing on the fields until the matter is resolved by the Board of Zoning Appeals in June, said Greg Jackson, an aide to City Councilman Ernani Bernardi. The board’s decision can be appealed to the City Council. If that happens, a decision might not be reached before August, Jackson said.

By then, the league’s baseball season, which runs from April through August, could be over.

The residents say they do not object to baseball games being played in the neighborhood but want strict conditions imposed on the hours and days of games.

They are opposed to the league’s playing at all on Sunday and on other days after 7:30 p.m. They also worry that the youths and their parents will contribute to noise, litter and traffic.

“We all have children,” said Susan Kacy, who is leading the opposition. “We’re not against children, and we’re not against baseball. That’s fine that it’s the All-American sport, but there’s a time and there’s a place.”

“We’re not looking to shut them down,” said resident Bob Feeny. “I think children’s sports are great, but I think the residents deserve a little consideration.”

In 1984, the league was given access to 22 acres for the baseball fields, as part of an agreement between the City of Los Angeles and the property’s owner, the developer of an 800-unit mobile home park.

This baseball season was to have been the first time the eight-team league--for ages 6 through 17--would have used the land. For 25 years, the league--made up of youths from Sylmar, San Fernando and Pacoima--had played at a ballpark a few blocks away from the proposed site. Their longtime site is now owned by Los Angeles Mission College.

Last week, about 350 league supporters staged a demonstration against the residents’ appeal in the neighborhood adjoining the park.

“For 31 years, everything’s been kosher,” said league president Dick Jackson. “We’ve kept kids off the streets and out of trouble.

“Some of these kids are kids that would never have been able to go to college had they not learned to play ball,” he said.

League members said they were eagerly anticipating the move to the new ball fields when they learned last December that a city permit was required, since the land was zoned for agricultural use. The league held several public meetings and then applied for a conditional-use permit. A City zoning official granted the permit in March.

A short time later, neighborhood residents met with league board members and asked for restrictions on playing times and on use of a public-address system. The residents also asked that a paved parking lot be added and landscaping be improved around the fields, Kacy said.

When the league said it could not comply with the restricted hours and the ban on Sunday play, the neighbors filed their appeal. Kacy said about 200 residents support the appeal.

City officials have urged league members and residents to see if they can work out a solution. The residents say that if the league agrees to their demands, they will withdraw the appeal and allow it to resume playing later in the season. However, a Thursday night meeting between league members and residents yielded no agreement.

Meanwhile, league members are considering looking for an alternate site.

Said Dick Jackson: “The residents are making it hard, but maybe it’ll work out.”