Residents Protest Plan for City Sports Park

A dozen residents adjacent to the site of a proposed sports park complained Thursday night to council members about the prospect of having baseball diamonds and volleyball courts in their backyards.

Mayor Doug Yarrow and Councilwoman Betty De Santis met with residents of the Westlake Canyon Oaks Homeowners Assn., as well as residents to the north of the project in Ventura County, to discuss the proposal.

They brought along a concept design for the park, and spent much of the time trying to ease residents’ fears about the traffic and noise the project may bring.

“It’s ruined my house, ruined,” shouted David Beckstead, who bought his home on Landino Drive directly across the street from the lot in 1984. “This is forcing us to move, but who would want to buy our house?”

The 33-acre sports park on the east and west sides of Lindero, from Hedgewall Drive to the county line, would include five baseball diamonds, two soccer fields, basketball and roller-hockey courts.

Council members said they cannot ignore the need for a park to host children’s sports leagues.

“For years we’ve been going to [other cities] for sports, and they are constantly reminding us that we need to do something to take care of the overload,” De Santis said. “We have an obligation.”

Although there are a number of residents adjacent to the lot who do not want the park, the majority are resigned to it and recognize that need, association officials said.

“The council has to take care of the entire city,” association president David Stein told the group. “This park is going to go. What we need to do is make sure it is mitigated. You can’t just hope it’ll go away, because that’s not realistic.”

While council members have made the proposed park a priority, the city has not yet purchased the land. The project still must undergo an environmental review and be presented at several public hearings.