Ventura Residents Express Opposing Views on Park

A packed and divided crowd greeted the City Council on Monday night as the seven members met to consider the construction of a 100-acre regional sports park.

More than half of the 75 people who showed up expressed opinions about the proposed park, with proponents outnumbering opponents by a slim margin.

“I’m really against a commercial site going into a residential area,” said Diana Slagowski, who lives near the proposed site. “This isn’t a normal park.”

Opponents’ concerns included parking problems, traffic congestion, lower property values and crime.

Oxnard attorney Richard Francis, a leading advocate of the SOAR initiative, also spoke against the proposed park.

The proposed site is at a location south of California 126 and west of Kimball Road. Several speakers proposed an alternate site south of the city’s auto center, along the Ventura Freeway.

At two public workshops the city held last month, representatives from the Buenaventura Swim Club, YMCA, AYSO and Little League listed an aquatics center, additional multiuse fields for soccer and baseball, and a community center as needed additions to the city’s sports facilities.

Members of those groups reiterated their needs Monday night.

“In talking to the various sports groups, we find the number of kids taking part is 5,000 to 10,000,” said Ventura resident Paul Thompson, whose children participate in local sports. “The need is very great, as you know.”

With so many children there simply aren’t enough fields and courts in Ventura, added Tom Rosene, who coaches youth football. “We need more facilities,” he said.

The plan the council reviewed was only a preliminary proposal, said Jim Walker, Ventura’s community services director. During the next six months, city staff will meet with community members to come up with a specific plan for the park.

The park is needed, city officials say, to increase the amount of parkland in Ventura. The city has 427 acres of park, not including two golf courses, but according to the city’s General Plan it should have 1,000 acres.

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The city has set aside nearly $10 million for construction, about half the expected total cost. About $4 million was set aside 10 years ago to fund construction of an aquatics center.

Because the 100-acre site is zoned for agricultural use, any zoning change would require voter approval under the city’s SOAR initiative passed in 1995.