Decision Due Soon on Roller Hockey

With opposing groups unable to reach a compromise, a decision about whether to build a privately funded roller hockey rink at Studio City Recreation Center will probably be made within two weeks, Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Feuer said.

On Wednesday, Feuer said that strong opposition to the project that surfaced during a series of community meetings has led him to reconsider his initial support.

“While there have been a lot of good and creative discussions, we haven’t yet been able to reach a compromise,” Feuer said. “I think the next week or so will tell if we can go ahead.”

About a half dozen members of STOP, Save The (Overused) Park, attended a meeting of the city’s Board of Recreation and Park Commissioners on Wednesday to protest the board’s approval of the $140,000 project and reiterate their concerns that increased noise and traffic from the rink would harm their neighborhood.

“There was no community input when this was approved. They are putting the fastest-growing sport in America into the smallest park in the Valley,” said Mitchell Thomas, who presented a petition he said was signed by more than 1,100 people opposed to the hockey rink.

Commission President Steven Soboroff told the group that the board was unaware of community opposition when it approved the project in July and that it would wait for a recommendation from Feuer if the two sides remain unable to reach an agreement.

The project, which also would include basketball, volleyball and handball courts and a baseball batting cage, would be financed partly by private donations and partly by money from Proposition K, the $776-million measure approved by voters last year to improve parks.

“We have bent over backwards to mitigate any of the concerns this group has,” said James Fox, a member of SCORE, the Studio City Organization for Recreational Enrichment. The group, made up of parents of young hockey players, arranged financing for the project.

Fox said STOP has been unwilling to consider any of SCORE’s proposals to reduce the scope of the project, including eliminating the sound system, limiting lighting and making the rink smaller.

“This was a tremendous community effort. We raised private money for a public park so our kids could play roller hockey there,” Fox said. “No one dreamed it would cause this kind of reaction.”