CALABASAS : City Weighs Name for Proposed Park

The names of a Spanish explorer, a Calabasas ranch family and the community of Lost Hills are the leading contenders for the moniker of a new park.

The Calabasas City Council is scheduled to consider a name for the park--to be located at Calabasas Hills and Lost Hills roads, at a special meeting tonight.

The planned eight-acre park is expected to open as early as 1995 in the neighborhood, with a 2,400-square-foot recreation and nature center and trails leading into the Santa Monica Mountains.

Councilman Dennis Washburn said there is a significant movement in favor of naming the park after Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza, who led 240 settlers through the area in 1776 to establish what later became the city of San Francisco.

“It is very likely that De Anza and his party encamped right in that area,” Washburn said. “I think we could build some lore over having had this historic event occur in our community. We’re already trying to build the park around the potential of exploring the nature of the area.”

Washburn said he is opposed to naming it Lost Hills Park for environmental reasons.

“I refuse to do that,” he said. “We’ve already lost enough of the hills due to development. We don’t need to be reminded of that.”

A last-minute proposal was made to name it Sampo Ranch Park, for the Sampo family, which once owned the land where the park will be. Sam G. Currey of the Currey Riach Co., which developed land in the area, said the name would be appropriate because the family “grew and sold a very large variety of the best vegetables that one could find anywhere.”

“The longtime residents in the area will remember it fondly very well,” Currey wrote in a letter to City Manager Charles Cate. “How many thousands of the local residents and travelers stopped there over the years to buy the Sampos’ produce is undeterminable.”

Members of the public are welcome to offer their opinions at the 7:30 p.m. meeting at City Hall. The council may choose a name tonight or postpone the decision.