Local meetings on Saturday give residents a chance to voice their opinion regarding park improvements.

By Mary O’KEEFE

Those who use local parks are again reminded that this weekend they will have an opportunity to share their opinions on park facilities to be presented to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

On Saturday, Jan. 30 a Park Needs Assessment workshop led by the Crescenta Valley Town Council will be held at the Rosemont Middle School auditorium/cafeteria between 10 a.m. and noon. The County of Los Angeles is in the process of studying park and recreation facilities to better understand how to improve, expand and make parks more accessible, according to the L.A. Parks and Recreation website.

The board of supervisors reached out to city and unincorporated area leaders, like the Crescenta Valley Town Council, to assist in this gathering of thoughts from the public on how best the parks and recreation department can serve them. Suggestions can range from very large to very small changes.

“We were contacted by people who said they would like to see better handicap accessibility at Crescenta Valley Park,” said CVTC President Leslie Dickson. “Or we need better lighting in and near the restrooms at Two Strike Park … or as big as we need a community [swimming] pool.”

Suggestions have been gathered for several weeks by the CVTC and they will continue to take suggestions via email. Those comments will be added to the comments received on Saturday. All suggestions will be given a ranking in accordance to how many similar comments there are on a particular subject. For example, if 100 people want to see more lighting at a specific park and only two want added parking priority will be given to the suggestion with the most votes, lighting, in this hypothetical scenario.

“[CVTC] is responsible for writing a report to [present to] the County by the end of February,” she said.

Dickson said it is important for people to show up and let their needs/opinions be known.

“Just because I am on the Council I can’t say everything [the community] wants,” Dickson said. She added she has young children so what she views as a need may not be the same as other views.

“We got a comment from a senior that said we don’t have any good walk able paths,” she said. The senior felt that many of the paths had branches and tree roots protruding which made it difficult for older people to traverse.

The CVTC invites people from all ages to share their suggestions. One example of how an opinion about a need has become a reality is the CV skate park presently under construction at CV Park.

A group of teens from the Fire House youth center felt there was a need for a skate park. There was and is a skate park in Glendale at Verdugo Park and one in La Cañada but the hours of operation for the La Cañada park were sporadic and teens had to take a bus to get to the Glendale park. In addition this group of young skaters did not want the traditional skate park with bowls but wanted street skating.

They reached out to Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation and began working with them on how to get a skate park. It took time but now the park is under construction with an opening date scheduled for May.

Dickson encourages people from all walks of life and of all ages to come to the meeting and share ideas. It is not just Crescenta Valley residents the Council wants to hear from but anyone who uses the parks.

The meeting on Saturday at Rosemont is for Two Strike and CV parks; however, there have been meetings held throughout L.A. County concerning local parks. On the same day a meeting will be held at 1 p.m. for parks in the far north Glendale area including Dunsmore, New York and Montrose. The remaining scheduled meetings for the area are:

Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon in the L.A. County unincorporated area of La Crescenta at Rosemont Middle School, 4725 Rosemont Ave., La Crescenta; Saturday at 10 a.m. in the Glendale south area, Pacific Community Center, 501 S. Pacific Ave., Glendale; Saturday at 1 p.m. in the Glendale far north area, Sparr Heights Community Center, 1613 Glencoe Way, Glendale; Feb. 3 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the L.A. County unincorporated area of Agua Dulce-Angeles National Forest-Canyon Country, Agua Dulce Women’s Club, 33201 Agua Dulce Canyon Road, Aqua Dulce.

For more information, visit http://lacountyparkneeds.org.

Anyone who is unable to attend the Saturday meeting at Rosemont can contact the CVTC with his or her comments at parks@thecvcouncil.com.

  Mary Okeefe