CAMARILLO : Neighbors Drop Plan to Develop Park

A group of Camarillo residents that had volunteered to plant trees, build a playground and make other improvements to develop a neighborhood park has decided the project is more than it can handle, parks officials said.

Residents near the two-acre, undeveloped Las Posas North park on Calle Higuera had agreed in April to put the finishing touches on the park if the Pleasant Valley Recreation and Park District would grade and clear the land, which is now just weeds and dirt.

But organizers called district General Manager Eldred E. Lokker last week, telling him that residents were too busy with their jobs and families to spend time and energy raising funds to develop the park.

“The neighborhood didn’t have time to participate in the development of the project,” Lokker said. “They’re basically two-income families in that area.”

Lokker said a second residents’ group that had also volunteered to help develop its neighborhood park is having more success.

Residents in the Mission Oaks neighborhood near Quito Park are moving ahead on their plans to raise money for trees, sprinkler systems and playground equipment in the five-acre park, he said.