ANAHEIM : City, Residents Reach Park Compromise

Residents near Boysen Park have reached a compromise with city officials over a proposed expansion of the park that eliminates many concerns expressed by neighbors.

Under the compromise, city officials will be allowed to plant grass and build a reduced-size soccer field on the weed- and litter-infested, 5.5-acre vacant lot that separates the 27-acre park from homes southwest of the park.

But the city will consent to the neighbors’ demands and erect an 8-foot-high block wall between the field and their homes. Also, the city will not build a parking lot for the field in the neighborhood and will instead seal off that end of the park to cars and pedestrians. Currently, park-goers can walk into the lot from the neighborhood as a shortcut.

The city plans to rent the field to youth and adult soccer leagues.

Originally, the city wanted to build the soccer field and a 28-space parking lot at the end of Norman Avenue but not raise the 6-foot wall that separates homes from the lot.

Construction of the $700,000 project had been scheduled to begin earlier this month but was postponed when more than 100 residents protested at a Park and Recreation Commission meeting last month. Most of the residents preferred that only grass be planted on the vacant lot.

The commission approved the compromise last week. The City Council is scheduled to vote on the expansion Nov. 16.