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After 18-Year Wait, Neighborhood May Land Its Park

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SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

Newbury Park homeowner Mary Davis still recalls the city’s plan to build a park for her children nearly 18 years ago.

A local developer donated land for the park at the corner of Kimber and Wendy drives. The parcel was graded and utility lines were prepared.

Then--nothing.

Davis watched as a 5-year park plan became a 10-year plan, and now an 18-year plan. Today the site is covered in weeds and dirt.

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“It’s an eyesore,” Davis said.

While still months or years away, the prospective park is expected to cross a hurdle Thursday night when the five-member Conejo Park and Recreation District board votes on its final 1998-99 budget.

The budget contains $5,000 to develop a master plan for the park.

If approved as expected, the district will begin drafting preliminary plans for the 8-acre site. According to district planner Jim Gilmore, the plans should be ready for public input next month. But that is the easy part.

District officials say that developing even a modest park could cost upward of $560,000. Simply put, the district does not have that money, and it probably won’t in the near future.

“That kind of money is not available,” Gilmore said. “There’s no way to do the whole park unless someone fell out of the sky with a half-million dollars.”

Even if the park is developed with donated money or a state or federal grant, the district would have trouble finding the roughly $6,000 an acre it would cost to maintain it, Gilmore said.

Funding has stymied the park plan since it was conceived.

Developer Pacifica Corp. donated the 8-acre parcel in 1980 in lieu of fees that usually pay for park maintenance and development, officials say.

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A combination of factors, including Proposition 13 and a 1992 tax shift, made it impossible to raise money outside of developer fees, district administrator Tom Sorenson said recently.

As a result, the park was never built.

Local residents, some who have pushed for the park for nearly two decades, say the master plan is a welcome start.

Teri McLaughlin, a local resident who is spearheading the park campaign, said the long wait has affected neither the demand for the park nor residents’ backing.

“This is a huge residential area and there’s nowhere for people to go,” she said. “Ninety-nine percent of the people are overwhelmingly supportive, even though it has been 20 years.”

Cindy Willett, a one-year Newbury Park resident who is also helping with the campaign, said supporters have begun forming plans to solicit for donations and corporate funding. The master plan funding is a promising first step, she said.

Like many parents fighting for the park, Willett said, she hopes it will be built in time for her newborn daughter to enjoy it.

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“I think it would be comforting to know that she has a place to go play, where she doesn’t have to cross any streets,” she said. “I think it’s a wonderful idea.”

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