Baseball League’s Foes Upset Over Cancellation of Appeal Hearing

Opponents of a youth baseball league’s permit to use a city park in Sylmar cried foul Tuesday when the Los Angeles Board of Zoning Appeals canceled a hearing on the matter because it could not come up with a quorum.

The residents’ appeal of the permit was to be heard by the board. But board chairwoman Ilene Olansky explained that the 75-day period during which the board is legally allowed to rule on the appeal will expire before a new hearing can be scheduled.

Olansky, who was one of two members of the five-member board who showed up Tuesday, said the residents have only one recourse--they can file a second appeal with the City Council.

“We are being denied due process,” said Susan Kacy, leader of the opposition group, standing in a meeting room in City Hall where the hearing had been scheduled to take place. Kacy carried a binder that she said contained letters from 25 residents opposed to the park’s being used by the league.

But Kacy said there are no immediate plans to appeal to the council. “I think our children are going to be endangered, but I just don’t know if it’s worth it” to appeal, she said.

The Sylmar Independent Baseball League--made up of 700 boys and girls, ages 6 to 17--could now begin using the park. But it is unlikely that the league will take over the field soon because much grading work was left undone because of the controversy, said Susan Carr, a planning consultant to the league.

Residents living near the park filed their appeal of the permit March 23. The league was scheduled to start its 1988 season at the park in early April.

Traffic Worries

The opposition group does not want the league to schedule games on Sundays or after 7 p.m. weekdays. It is worried about traffic congestion near the main entrance at the corner of Simshaw Avenue and Gridley Street, as well as litter and the use of an oily substance spread over the dirt parking lot. It believes the substance is a health hazard.

The deadline for the zoning appeals board to rule is June 11. But because there must be 25 days’ notice to the public before a hearing is held, no further action can be taken by the board, Olansky said.

“I always agonize when something like this happens,” she said. “But, at least in this case, there is another place to go.”

If the group chooses to appeal further, the case would be heard by the council’s Planning and Environmental Committee, said Greg Jackson, an aide to Councilman Ernani Bernardi, who represents Sylmar. Bernardi has supported the league’s claim to the park.

“If we have it go to the City Council, we’re 99% sure of winning,” Carr said, citing Bernardi’s support.

Dick Jackson, president of the 31-year-old league, criticized the opposition group.

“They are unreasonable,” he said. “They’re saying that these kids are going to cause trouble, but what we’re doing is keeping them out of trouble.”

It was to be the first year the league used the 22-acre park. For 25 years, the league--made up of youngsters from Sylmar, San Fernando and Pacoima--played its games on land nearby. It had to move when that land was bought by Los Angeles Mission College.