SAN FERNANDO : City Votes to Conduct Test on Needs at Park

Despite the development of a master plan last year to guide the renovation of Las Palmas Park, the San Fernando City Council voted in favor of conducting a study to find out the community’s needs at the second largest park in the city.

The council on Monday voted 4 to 1, with Councilman Jose Hernandez opposed, to hire an architect and a consultant to conduct a needs assessment of the seven-acre park on Huntington Street before moving forward with park improvement projects.

Mayor Dan Acuna said a study is necessary because the master plan, which cost about $28,000, is unrealistic.

The plan, developed with input from residents during workshops in 1991 and 1992, outlined three options to improve the park, including construction of a two-story community center with an indoor pool and running track and an outdoor amphitheater. The city has an initial fund of about $323,000 to pay for park improvements.

“This plan we have here is nothing more than a big wish list,” Acuna said. “Let’s start talking about what we can realistically do.”

The park’s existing facilities include a gymnasium building and a children’s wading pool. The park was the focus of a now-expired ordinance that banned all known gang members after the 1991 shooting of a woman and her three small children, who were caught in gang cross-fire in the park.

Hernandez called the request for another study a delaying tactic and a waste of money because the community already outlined its desires in the master plan.

“The plans are there. This is just another move to delay the whole thing,” Hernandez said.

He introduced a motion to accept one of the three options in the master plan supported by community members. The motion failed on a 3-2 vote, with Acuna and council members Ray Ojeda and Doude Wysbeek opposed.

Councilwoman Rosa Chacon, who agreed with Hernandez, nevertheless called the council’s action a start. “Finally the wheels are starting to turn,” she said.