Park Site 1st, Study Later, Council Says

Before hiring a consultant to conduct a community study on east-end park needs, the City Council on Monday night said it wants to wait until a specific site is selected.

Council members also said they want to postpone a decision until they receive a legal opinion on whether the city must place a proposal to convert agricultural land into a park on the ballot.

“Until we get a definitive legal answer with regards to the SOAR [Save our Agricultural Resources], I think it is premature to spend any money on this,” Councilman Jim Friedman said.

Instead, after a lengthy discussion, the council asked city staff to return with evaluations of several possible sites and a financing strategy for building a new park to serve the east-end communities of Thille, Montalvo, Serra Juanamaria, Wells and Saticoy.

A park of 30 to 60 acres on the east end is long overdue. The city purchased 87 acres of lemon groves in 1987 with the intention of building there, or swapping the land to build somewhere else.

But 10 years have passed and park space on the east end is scarce, funds are hard to find, and Ventura’s greenbelt initiative makes it difficult to convert agricultural land to other uses without voter approval.

Based on the city’s park acreage standards the city should provide three acres of large community parks for every 1,000 people. But in 1987, the six target communities were already 100 acres below standards.

City staff and the Community Planning Commission recommended that the city pay a consultant $85,000 to update the city’s park data, and find out what east-end residents want in a local park.

Council members said they sympathize with athletes in need of playing fields, but they resisted hiring a consultant Monday night.

“I don’t think we need to spend $85,000 to tell us we need an east-end services area park,” said Mayor Jack Tingstrom.

City staff is scheduled to provide a recommendation by early May about the feasibility of using the lemon grove or other sites as east-end park space. The other issues will be discussed then.