Site Dispute Blocks Plans for Boys & Girls Club : Simi Valley: Residents peacefully picket an office building, whose owner says the proposed $3.2-million youth center will be an eyesore.

One month ago, Ernest Gaines, a Simi Valley grandfather, began picketing alone outside a local office complex because the building’s owner has blocked construction of a new $3.2-million Boys & Girls Club.

Gaines, 55, says he launched the protest because years ago, when he was a single parent living on a tight budget, the club provided wholesome low-cost activities for his three children.

In recent weeks, a handful of other residents have joined Gaines in a peaceful sign-carrying procession outside the Park Plaza complex.

“The community needs a youth center that’s affordable,” Gaines said. “The longer it takes to get this club built, the longer the kids are deprived of this service.” But despite the efforts of Gaines and his fellow picketers, the deadlock that has delayed construction of the youth club remains firmly in place.

Park Plaza’s managing partner, Lloyd Green, wants the club’s directors to find a new location for the proposed 25,000-square-foot youth center planned in Rancho Tapo Community Park, directly behind Green’s office complex

He believes the proposed clubhouse is a poorly designed eyesore that will spoil his tenants’ view of the nearby mountains and create noise and safety problems in the adjacent neighborhood. Green said he would be satisfied if the club were built elsewhere in the park.

Directors of the Boys & Girls Club say they’ve offered to make a few changes in the appearance of the clubhouse. But after spending more than $400,000 on design work, they insist that they cannot afford to start over on another site.

Both sides have dug in the their heels, and it appeared last week that the dispute will not be resolved before an appeals court hearing months from now on Green’s objections to the way the city approved the project.

The dispute involves several members of Green’s family. His daughter, Paula, manages the office complex and his son, Matt, is the attorney who filed the legal complaint.

“It’s a sad situation all around,” Simi Valley Councilwoman Barbara Williamson said. “It’s sad for the Boys & Girls Club, and it’s sad for the Greens because they’ve spent a lot of money on their building, and it’s a very nice building.”

Williamson, who was once president of the club’s board of directors, said: “It takes two to fight, and it takes two to get along. Obviously, as a past president of the club, I would like us to move on from this particular point. How we do this? I don’t know.”

The Boys & Girls Club, which has 2,000 members, now rents space at a former school campus. In a deal involving the city and the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District, the organization made plans to build a new clubhouse that will allow it to expand its activities and serve more youngsters.

“If the lawsuit vanished tomorrow, in 90 days we would be turning the first shovel of earth,” said Becca Merrell, the club’s executive director.

The lawsuit was filed last year by Green, who sought to force the city to conduct an environmental impact review of the proposed clubhouse.

City officials said no such study is needed. A Ventura County Superior Court commissioner agreed, but Green is appealing the decision.

An environmental impact review “would prove that the location they chose is problematic, not just for Park Plaza but for the neighbors as well,” said Paula Green.

She said the picketers outside Park Plaza may be scaring away potential tenants. “I can understand that they’re upset,” she said, “but we’re upset, too.”

She added: “We’re portrayed as these monsters. The truth is, we are all for the Boys & Girls Club. It’s something that’s needed for the community. We’re not trying to stop construction of the Boys & Girls Club.

“If they really want a Boys & Girls Club, then it shouldn’t really matter where the location is. It’s basically come down to their way or no way. It doesn’t seem like they’re out for the children. They’re hurting themselves by being so stubborn.”

But club leaders insist that it is the Greens who refuse to budge.

“Their attitude is: all or nothing,” said Bob Huber, an attorney and former city councilman who is donating legal services to the club. “The building has to be moved or nothing. So how can you negotiate?”

Pam von Bieberstein, president of the club’s board of directors, said the organization needs to build on the land donated by the city and the park district. “We have no control over moving the club somewhere else,” she said. “That’s the only land that has been given to us.”

While the two sides stood firm last week, Gaines and his fellow picketers continued to pace quietly outside Park Plaza. Several passing motorists showed support by honking their horns and flashing a thumbs-up sign.

When the protest began, the picketers handed out flyers, urging visitors to boycott businesses in the building. But Gaines said he and his friends learned that many of the building’s tenants support the Boys & Girls Club.

“We’ve called off the boycott for now,” he said.

Nevertheless, Gaines and the other picketers said they are determined to keep marching.

“All of us have things we’d rather be doing,” said Lorrell Cooper, 50, who has been protesting with Gaines since the end of May. “But we think it’s important. We plan to stay with it--as long as it takes.”