Troublesome Teens Pushed Off Rock Pile by Park Plans

Many a young love has been consummated on the Rock Pile.

Perhaps that’s why the city of Poway has decided to fence off the rocky hilltop, which for generations has served as a meeting place for youth.

When the city purchased the 2.8-acre tract of weeds and rocks about a block south of Poway Road on Silver Lake Drive a few months ago, the writing was on the wall that the Rock Pile was doomed as a trysting and partying place for the city’s youngsters.

And the writing on the rocks--graffiti--was one incentive for the city to spend $225,000 to buy the land. This week, the Poway City Council approved another $35,000 for fencing and cleanup.

A gated 6-foot-high, wire-mesh fence topped with barbed wire will circle the base of the hill to keep out the amorous and the mischievous who frequent the place after school and after dark, leaving behind beer cartons and cans, shards of glass and graffiti.

The same stones bear the imprint of earlier inhabitants of the Poway hills. Metate holes, used by Indian tribes to grind up grain and acorns, pock the Rock Pile, indicating that the earliest residents of the valley also appreciated the 360-degree view from the top.

A California Conservation Corps crew will clean the area, scrubbing away the graffiti and replacing the litter with picnic tables, benches and trash barrels. Park use is expected to be limited to between sunrise and sunset, the rule in all the city’s parks.

Linda Brannon, a Poway city councilwoman and mother of four, has lived in Poway 18 years and knows the rock pile’s history. In recent years, she said, teen-agers “have been behaving in an unseemly manner” at the rock pile. Now, the council plans to turn it into “more of a neighborhood place,” she said.

The council wants to preserve the rock pile’s unusual features so that Poway remains a beautiful place, a city in the country, she said. Because of its high-density zoning, there was also the fear that developers were eyeing the site for apartments or a commercial building. So, when the Bank of San Diego put the land on the market, the city snapped it up.

As for the young and restless who now play king of the hill atop the rock pile, Brannon sees no problem. The fast-growing city of Poway still is 75% undeveloped, leaving plenty of wide-open spaces.