Officials Want to Close Parks at Sunset : Recreation: The plan for the eight facilities is intended to counter rowdy youths and loitering by homeless people.

In a rare move, city parks officials are seeking the authority to close eight San Fernando Valley parks at sunset to deal with loitering by homeless people and teen-age rowdiness.

Proposed for early closure are:

* The 82-acre Knapp Ranch Park in West Hills.

* The 1.1-acre Jesse Owens Park in Van Nuys.

* Six parks in the Porter Ranch area, including Limekiln Canyon Park that runs alongside Tampa Avenue for 2.5 miles. The others are Wilbur-Tampa Park, Eddleston Park, Porter Ridge Park, Viking Park and Palisades Bridal Trails Park.

At present, only three of the 180 parks in the Valley are off-limits after sunset, said Phillip Manzi, the Valley’s senior park ranger.

Except when the City Council approves early closure by ordinance or in emergencies, city law requires that parks be open from 5 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.

The early closing should give added relief to neighbors who have complained about nighttime activities at the parks, Manzi said.

“Hopefully it’ll relieve some of the tensions,” he said.

The early closing times will be posted at the affected sites. People violating the times can be cited for trespassing.

City Councilwoman Joy Picus supports early closure of the Jesse Owens Park, a member of her staff said Monday.

“There are some shady types there and public drunkenness,” said Joy Neull, the councilwoman’s press aide. Neull said her boss has not yet decided whether to back early closure of Knapp Ranch.

Manzi said the problem at this isolated park has been with late-night teen-age carousing. “They’re raising hell, doing wheelies in the parking lot, those kinds of things,” he said.

It could not be learned Monday whether Councilman Hal Bernson supports the plan.