With an assist from the local Recreation and Parks Commission, proponents of a sports field at the Santa Monica Civic Center have potentially scored another goal.
The commission on Thursday placed a multipurpose Civic Center field atop its list of priorities for park projects in the city, a reflection of community support that has been particularly vocal in recent weeks.
The commission's list of priority projects will be submitted to City Council for review in March, according to a city official. A formal report will be sent to the county Board of Supervisors by May.
The creation of a local priority list comes amid a countywide assessment of parks needs, which aims to provide a framework for future planning and budgetary decisions.
Exactly what the assessment will mean is not entirely clear for Santa Monica, which is one of 189 study areas in the county. About 72 percent of the coastal city's roughly 92,500 residents live within half a mile of a park, well above the county average of 49 percent. But the city has 1.4 park acres per 1,000 residents, not including beach acreage, far below the county average of 3.3.
As part of the county assessment, the local parks commission solicited input from the community about desired projects. Dozens of citizens attended the commission's Jan. 21 meeting to weigh in on recreational needs in the city.
Their wishes were synthesized in a recent report to the commission by Melissa Spagnuolo, a senior administrative analyst in the Community and Cultural Services Department. A sports field at the Civic Center site was the most common request.
But commissioner Alan Toy asked whether the report fairly represents the community's needs since it was created with results from one meeting.
“I find it difficult,” he said.
Before the Feb. 18 meeting, staff encouraged the commission to prioritize broader and more expensive projects that “may not be able to completed with existing City resources,” according to a City report.
Topping the commission's eventual list is a Civic Center sports field, a project that has not materialized despite its inclusion in a 2005 city plan. Scores of residents, including school officials, parents, students and coaches, voiced their support for a field during the City Council meeting Feb. 9, when council members asked staff to return with a report on costs, potential funding sources and other planning details.
The expansion of Memorial Park to include the former Fisher Lumber yard, which is now used by the City public works department, was listed as the commission's second priority. Several commissioners skewered public works director Martin Pastucha about the property.
The commission's third priority project is the 12-acre expansion of Airport Park, including a sports complex that could support ice skating, lacrosse, soccer and swimming activities.
Also included on the commission's list of priorities are the conversion of Mt. Olivet Reservoir into a park, the renovation of Stewart Street Park and the creation of a new small neighborhood park with space for community gardening.
