Ventura Picks Top Site for Regional Park

A 100-acre parcel on Kimball Road at the Santa Paula Freeway is the best of 14 potential sites for a new regional park on the city’s east end, according to a city report released Friday.

For a long time, communities such as Saticoy, Montalvo and Wells have been without their fair share of parks, according to the report. In 1987, the city purchased 87 acres at Petit Avenue and Telephone Road with the intent of turning the land into a regional park.

But concerns over improvement and ongoing maintenance costs have stalled those plans.

In March, the Community Services Department began studying 14 sites, including the city-owned parcel. After considering such issues as proximity to schools, access to public transportation and the number of parks in an area, the farmland along Kimball Road came out on top.

The second-ranked site is a 77-acre parcel of row crop land on the south side of Telephone Road at Ramelli Avenue, across from the top-ranked site. An 87-acre parcel of city-owned property at South Petit Avenue and Telephone Road ranked fifth.

The report, to be presented to the City Council on Monday night, was welcome news to 73-year-old Russell Murawski, chairman of the East Ventura Community Council. He said the community has a great need for parks, adding they are not only attractive but have a calming effect on the community.

“I really honestly believe so. People love going to parks. That’s as old as apple pie and motherhood,” Murawski said.

Formed in June 1996, the council has identified parks as a top priority for the vitality of the east end, along with an adult center and more law enforcement.

While praising the city for moving forward on the park plan, Murawski wondered why it has taken so long to build the park.

“The growth of the city in the past has been on the east end. But we don’t have much more than just homes. The park, we need that. It’s a shame a city this big with so many people doesn’t have an outdoor pool, or a senior center or an adult center on the east end,” Murawski said.

But officials caution the report is not necessarily a sign that a park will be built any time soon.

Planning and Redevelopment Manager Tom Figg said the analysis is little more than the first of several stages. The next step is to determine which owners are amenable to selling their land. Then there are land-use issues to deal with.

The city will also have to decide what to do with the land it already owns on South Petit Avenue.

“This was really the first cut,” Figg said. “The next stage is going to be the difficult stage.”

Parks are among the amenities businesses look for when they consider relocating, and they are attractive to people who want to move to a town, said Zoe Taylor, executive vice president of the Ventura Chamber of Commerce.

“Whenever a business is looking to relocate in a community, there are always several questions that they ask. First of all, they always ask how good the school system is, how safe the city is, and they want to know what opportunities for recreation the employees or the owners of the business might have access to,” Taylor said.

“Community parks are a very positive point, and they are important to residential relocation as well,” she said.