Foothill Parents Balk at Shortage of Playing Fields : Sports: Population growth in the fast-developing South County communities is outpacing the supply of Little League parks. One division may have to turn away players.

A seemingly endless stream of new baseball players in the fast-developing foothill communities is prompting a Little League division to threaten to turn away players unless parents do their part in getting more ball fields.

“This isn’t something that we want to do, but we don’t have much of a choice. Something must give,” said Cindy McNamee, a board member of the Trabuco Highlands Little League Division. “We’ve got 500 kids registered, another 100 on a waiting list, and very few places to play right now.”

If growth continues--and it shows no signs of stopping--the league may take the drastic step of redrawing its boundaries to exclude kids from certain areas, said Little League District Administrator Bill Beebe.

“That’s something that would have to be approved, but it’s within the guidelines,” he said.

Trabuco Highlands residents said they were upset to find a letter from Little League officials and from concerned residents in their mailboxes Tuesday. The letter also warns that the youth soccer league is experiencing similar problems.

“I understand the problem; there are a zillion kids out here,” said resident Greta Backlund, whose son plays Little League. “But it just doesn’t seem fair, because it’s not our fault. I don’t want to have to tell my children they can’t play soccer and Little League.”

The Little League division, which has only four fields in the area, is straining under the increased number of players. The league is considering juggling field time to allow all players their turn at bat by limiting the number of games and practice sessions, Bebee said.

The letter asks residents to urge their homeowners association to develop a park on a vacant lot that was deeded to the association less than a year ago.

The league says the situation is forcing a showdown because children in the gated community of Coto de Caza--which allows the league to use its two fields--are being put on waiting lists, while children from Trabuco Highlands are being allowed to play, McNamee said.

McNamee said she hopes the letter will encourage parents to pressure their homeowners associations to do something about the problem.

But the letter should have been aimed at the county, not community residents, said Joy Powell, property consultant for the Trabuco Highlands Community Assn., which has 711 single-family homes, several hundred children, and no park facilities.

“The Little League should be screaming, yelling and crying at the county of Orange, which allows an area to be developed without playgrounds,” Powell said.

The vacant lot that league members want developed as a ball field cannot be turned into a park without the agreement of 75% of community residents. A recent survey received just about 100 responses from development residents, Powell said.

Parks are a sore subject in the foothill areas, where new homes are cropping up but recreation areas aren’t keeping pace. Under state guidelines, local developers have contributed more than $2 million for area parks, but 23% of that money was lost during the county bankruptcy.

The county will not use that money to build a park unless residents agree to come up with the funds to maintain it, and so far that hasn’t happened, said Bob Hamilton, the county official who manages the asset funds.

“It’s a Catch-22 situation,” he said.

If the money is not used on parks within five years, it will be used to improve regional parks in the area, but that will be of little help to Little League players.