ANAHEIM : Soccer-Field Plan Seems to Be Gaining

Neighbors of Boysen Park reportedly are close to a compromise with parks officials on an expansion proposal under which the city would build a soccer field on a vacant lot that separates Boysen from some homes and scrap plans for a parking lot.

Officials and leaders from the neighborhood surrounding Norman Avenue said the plan, which will be discussed at two public meetings next week, would allow the city to plant grass and build a soccer field on the 5.5-acre, city-owned vacant lot.

Thus, a city proposal to build a 28-space parking lot at the end of Norman would be scrapped and instead an 8-foot wall barring access to the park from Norman would be built. Also, city officials agreed not to install lights on the soccer field or plant bushes near the wall separating the lot from homes after police said the undergrowth could be used as a hiding place for burglars.

The vacant lot is at the southwest corner of the 27-acre park, noted for its model jet plane along State College Boulevard.

The lot has long been an eyesore to both residents and city officials. Transients sometimes sleep there, glass and litter are strewn throughout, and, in 1981, a 16-year-old boy was electrocuted there as he tried to douse a grass fire caused by a downed power line.

Currently, Norman Avenue, a street of single-family, middle-income homes, ends at the lot. There is no barrier separating the street from the lot, which often is used as a shortcut to the park and area schools. Residents have expressed concerns that building a parking lot at the end of the street will overburden the neighborhood with traffic and that drug dealers will ply their trade there.

After meetings this week and two weeks ago, city officials are still finding disagreement with some residents who want the department to replace the 6-foot wall separating their homes from the lot with an 8-foot wall.

“I think we are beginning to make headway,” said Kathy Sakoguchi, one of the neighborhood’s leaders. “The meetings have been tedious at times . . . but at least we are now being heard.”

Jack Kudron, the Park and Recreation Department’s planner, said his department has been trying to address the residents’ concerns. He has said the department does not want to build anything opposed by the neighbors.

“I think our meetings with the residents have left us with a pretty good compromise,” he said.

He said the department is trying to determine if it can afford to build the higher wall now that it will not have to spend money for the parking lot. The expansion project has a budget of $700,000.

The department has scheduled a meeting at 7 p.m. Monday in Katella High School’s auditorium to present the compromise to the entire neighborhood. The plan will then go before the Parks and Recreation Commission at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Brookhurst Community Center. The high school is at 2200 E. Wagner Ave. The community center is at 2271 W. Crescent Ave.