YORBA LINDA : City Addressing Park Shortcomings

When Councilman Daniel T. Welch moved his family to Yorba Linda, he was attracted to the small-town atmosphere and the abundance of open space. The presence of horses and a network of horse trails implied a unique way of life, and he figured the city would be a good place to raise a family.

But 11 years later, after coaching his four children in a variety of youth athletics, Welch decided that Yorba Linda had one glaring deficiency: recreational facilities.

The city’s own numbers support Welch’s conclusion. With about 57,000 residents, Yorba Linda should have 142 acres of parkland, according to the city’s General Plan. Instead, there are just 107 acres of developed parkland, with another 20 acres designated for future parks.

The city has just one gymnasium, at the Travis Ranch Community Center that the city operates with the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District. The gym is used every night of the week, and youth basketball leagues must frequently go outside of the city to practice and play.

Yorba Linda Junior Basketball League, which has about 800 participants, plays many of its games at high schools in Fullerton, Villa Park and Fountain Valley.

There is also a shortage of suitable baseball and soccer fields, Welch and other residents say.

“Last year, when I coached my son’s Little League team, we had just two opportunities to practice on actual baseball fields in a three-month period,” Welch said.

One of the largest youth sports organizations in the city is the Junior Soccer Assn., called JUSA, with about 2,800 city participants from ages 6 to 18.

According to Paul Doty, director of fields and equipment for JUSA, the organization uses 23 fields at 10 schools and parks. To accommodate all the teams, JUSA schedules games on both Saturdays and Sundays.

Doty said the organization would like to see at least six more playing fields and several more practice areas built. Lighted soccer fields are especially needed, he said, because the city has just one, at Yorba Linda Middle School.

Director of Parks and Recreation Steve Rudometkin agreed that there is a lack of what he calls multipurpose practice fields.

“When Little League season starts (the teams) can’t find a place to practice,” Rudometkin said. “It gets pretty jammed, with three teams sharing a small field.”

Rudometkin estimated that nearly 7,000 youngsters participate in sports sponsored by private organizations such as Little League and Pop Warner Football. About 600 adults participate in the softball and basketball leagues offered four times a year, and that number would increase if the city had the space to schedule more games, Rudometkin said.

Welch said his election to the council in November is evidence that residents are concerned about the number of recreational facilities in the city. Also elected to the council in November was Barbara Kiley, a strong advocate of building a high school, a move that she said would increase the city’s athletic facilities.

Welch and Kiley join Councilman John M. Gullixson, elected in 1990, to form a council majority that has said increasing the city’s recreational facilities is a top priority.

But despite a majority determined to increase the city’s recreational facilities, the current council will be hindered for at least a few years by actions of the previous council.

Last fall, the council approved, with Gullixson opposing, a multimillion-dollar community center. The project, which is being built on Casa Loma Avenue, will tie up most of the city’s redevelopment money for up to two years.

In the meantime, the council has taken a few preliminary steps toward some temporary solutions. Last month the council directed Rudometkin to look for a commercial building that the city could lease and convert to a gymnasium.

The council will meet later this month with the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District to discuss, among other things, development of another joint-use gymnasium at Yorba Linda Middle School.