Parks in Palmdale Lag Behind Population Boom

It’s a January afternoon in Palmdale. The schools have just let out, and thousands of youngsters stream into the streets. But where do they go to play?

Not to the city recreation center: The fast-growing Antelope Valley community doesn’t have one. Swimming is out too, because the city has no indoor pool, and its two outdoor ones are open only in the summer. A trip to the park isn’t likely either. Many Palmdale neighborhoods don’t have one.

While the city’s population has quadrupled in the past decade to more than 50,000, the development of parks and recreation facilities in Palmdale has lagged far behind. Increasingly, residents are complaining that the city should do better.

“If you look at the San Fernando Valley or Los Angeles, you’ve got so many things to do. There are parks and malls and shopping centers. We don’t have that here,” said Cindy Selsor, a Palmdale resident and mother of three. “The homes have gone in like crazy, but the facilities have not kept up.”

Counting two new parks set to open this spring, Palmdale will have only five parks totaling 56 acres. The city’s own land-use plan calls for nearly five times that much parkland, based on the city’s population. And a guideline by a national parks group suggests even more than that.

The shortage of parks and recreational facilities in Palmdale is not unique. Other young, fast-growing Southern California cities are experiencing similar problems. State parks officials say California as a whole has lagged behind other states.

But some residents say Palmdale’s plight is especially bad.

The city has grown faster than others and, because of relatively low house prices, has a growing number of young families who tend to be heavy users of recreational facilities. Palmdale also lacks facilities such as an indoor recreation center. And because the city is distant from other urban areas, its inhabitants cannot easily go elsewhere.

Last year residents began a campaign to get the city to build its first recreation center. But because Palmdale’s population is growing so rapidly and funding is short, the city may be increasingly hard-pressed to meet many recreational and park needs.

“I think there’s a shortfall. I acknowledge that,” said City Administrator Robert Toone, who arrived in late 1986. “We have been attempting to bring in both public and private recreational opportunities. On the other hand, I’ve seen some communities . . . that have deficiencies much greater than ours.”

Indeed, a survey by The Times of other San Fernando and Antelope valley cities shows they too lack park space, based on their own guidelines and the standard set by the National Recreation and Park Assn. that suggests 6.25 to 10.5 park acres per 1,000 people.

Palmdale’s land-use plan calls for five acres of parkland for every 1,000 new residents. But at its current rate of growth, the city would have to add 30 acres every year to meet its goal. The city has added fewer than 30 acres of parkland in its 28-year history.

Other fast-growing cities with similar circumstances include Lancaster and Santa Clarita. Lancaster, with about 82,000 people, also lacks a city gym and has a low parks-to-people ratio. Santa Clarita, with more than 115,000 people, likewise lacks a city gym and has a comparable shortage of parks.

To many Palmdale residents, the parks issue goes beyond mere appreciation of open spaces or awareness of fitness. At a time when the Antelope Valley is fighting the emergence of a serious gang problem, parents and educators say recreation offers a positive outlet for youthful energies.

“The kids are bored. Kids who get in trouble are bored,” said Jim Root, a local high school teacher and board member of the city’s association of homeowner groups. “They’re looking for something to do. What can we give kids that’s exciting?”

For Jana Parker, a six-year Palmdale resident and mother of two, the problem is anything but abstract.

“The recreational programs here fill up too fast and they don’t have the room for the extra kids,” she said. “I’d like to see the city get more youth activities and keep the kids out of trouble. There’s nothing for them to do.”

Voicing a common complaint, Parker said she will not take her children to the city’s Courson Park because its central city location is unsafe. Parker also said her south Palmdale neighborhood, like many in the city, has no park.

For some young people, the answer is the video arcade on Palmdale Boulevard, a popular afternoon hangout. Others look forward to trips to the city’s movie theaters. Some play on school sporting teams or skateboard in parking lots. But most admit they still are bored.

“A lot of kids do come in here. There ain’t much to do around Palmdale,” said Scott Aul, 18, during a recent afternoon at the arcade. A graduate of Palmdale High School last year, Aul works but spends nearly every afternoon at the arcade. “This is my relaxation period,” he said.

If the city does build its recreation center, Aul, who wrestled and was on his school’s track and field team, said he might use it. But asked how the city could really improve things, Aul pointed to the opening of Palmdale’s regional mall this fall, and said a go-cart track would be popular.

The recreation center plan got a more enthusiastic response from Jason Rose, a 16-year-old Palmdale High School junior and basketball team member, who complained that recreational options were limited, especially in cold weather.

“Everything goes down during the winter because it’s too cold to go outside and do anything,” Rose said after practice at the school’s gym.

Another Palmdale resident, Linda Greene, said her two children wanted to take swimming lessons in Palmdale, but had to go to Lancaster instead. “The way this area is growing, it’s going to need another pool,” said Greene, a five-year resident.

In Palmdale, Lancaster and Santa Clarita, parks officials rely heavily on school gymnasiums for some programs, since they have no facilities of their own. But the cities must vie with the schools for space. Often the facilities are not available for casual play.

During the summer, Rose said, the high desert’s 100-degree heat sears students who try to play basketball outside. And, he added, the city’s two outdoor pools are so overcrowded that “you can’t swim. You just have to hope someone doesn’t elbow you in the face.”

Incorporated in 1962, Palmdale was barely a dot on the map until the 1980s, when affordable housing began attracting flocks of families--often with several young children.

Since its incorporation the city has opened one small park: 5-acre Manzanita Heights in 1988. The city’s two other parks, 20-acre William J. McAdam Park and 7 1/2-acre Melville J. Courson Park, were built by the county before Palmdale became a city.

The two parks slated to open this spring will bring the total to five. One of them, 3.6-acre Joshua Hills, should be dedicated Feb. 2. The other, 20-acre Desert Sands, with outdoor basketball and other lighted courts for night use, is scheduled to open in March or April at a cost of $4.4 million.

Last year, the City Council adopted a 10-year parks development plan, but it hasn’t made any provision to raise money to buy the land.

“For so long, Palmdale was happy to see anybody come and put up a stick. Now it’s gone too far. The city has more people and no facilities,” said Selsor, who is part of the grass-roots Palmdale Arts & Recreation Center, formed by residents to lobby for their recreation center.

Residents want a recreation center to include a basketball court, an indoor Olympic-size swimming pool, racquetball courts and teen and senior centers. To accommodate those amenities, city officials estimate that it would require a 65,000- to 100,000-square-foot building on a 15- to 20-acre site and could cost between $10 million and $20 million.

City officials have voiced support for the plan and said they will launch a study on it soon. But last month the City Council opted to first develop a $5-million, 750-seat theater center on a 5.7-acre donated site. The theater center has been planned for almost six years.

Toone, the city’s administrator, said he believes the recreation center will be built eventually but the city probably will fund only part of its cost. Residents may have to agree to a tax hike for the rest, or the project could be developed in phases, he said.

Last spring, Palmdale took a step toward improving parks funding by passing a fivefold increase in the park fees it charges housing developers. The new rate is $672 per bedroom in a house, or $2,106 for a three-bedroom home, one of the highest fees in the state.

But the action was late in coming; the city had not increased fees in the six years since they were adopted. During that period, when the city’s population nearly tripled, only one park--Manzanita Heights--was opened.

While raising fees, the council also gave developers a six-month grace period during which they were allowed to pay the 1983 fee. That led to the largest rush for building permits in city history, with nearly 3,600 issued for homes in just two months. It also cost the city up to $7 million in potential park fees.

Even with higher fees, the city still might not generate enough money to meet its goals. The fees are designed to cover 80% of the city’s cost of developing parkland, but the council made no provision for the costs of acquiring the land.

Toone said the city’s park goals and developer fees will be reviewed again soon, this time in a parks master-plan study now being prepared. As part of the review, the city will send a survey to about 5,000 residents.

A community hearing on the master plan has been tentatively set for Feb. 20 for residents to voice their opinions. “We’re looking for direction from the residents,” Toone said.

But residents aren’t going to wait that long. Selsor’s group plans to meet Thursday to put together their plan for the recreation center.

“They’re moving slowly, but I guess cities do that,” Selsor said. “Who knows how many studies they’re going to want to do along the way?”

COMPARING CITY PARKS

POPULA- PARK ACREAGE/ PARK CITY TION ACRES PARKS 1,000 POP.* GOAL FEE** Burbank 93,800 113 15 1.20 None $450 Glendale 166,100 209 26 1.26 4.0 Pending Lancaster 82,200 98.4 6 1.20 5.0 $1,000 Palmdale 45,850 56.1 5 1.22 5.0 $2,016 San Fernando 20,700 35 4 1.69 5.0 *** Santa Clarita 115,700 62.2 8 0.54 3.0 $1,074/ $2,079 City of L.A. 3,400,500 8,480 353 2.5 4.0 $991/ $1,486

* National Recreation and Park Association standard: 6.25--10.5

Los Angeles County standard: 4.0 ** Park Fee: City fee charged developers per new three-bedroom home *** Amount contingent on value of development