New park to go before CRPD board some time next year
By Nancy Needham nancy@theacorn.com

A long process lies ahead for the proposed Lang Ranch Community Park site now that Conejo Recreation and Park District (CRPD) has received public feedback on the Environmental Impact Report draft.

The proposed park includes development of 52 of the 124 acres of land in the vicinity of Avenida de Los Arboles and Westlake Boulevard. Plans include six baseball fields, two Tball sites, four tennis courts, two basketball courts, a roller hockey rink and two volleyball areas- one turf and one sand. A playground and community recreation center are also planned.

Casual use areas would include covered picnic pavilion areas that could be reserved, open turf areas, benches and other picnic tables. A jogging path winding through the park would be slightly over one mile. The parking area would accommodate about 475 vehicles.

"The EIR draft received a lot of public comment," said Loren Pluth, senior park planner.

Concerns about traffic, noise and light created by the park were on top of the public's list, he said.

Now CRPD is working on responding to the public comments and will have the final EIR ready for the Jan. 17 meeting of the park commission.

If the board certifies the document, they may also approve the ultimate park proposal or a smaller project alternative at the same meeting, Pluth said.

Under the current EIR, Pluth said, "They legally can't add to the park, but can take away." If anything is added, the EIR report must be reworked to see if there is an additional environmental impact, Pluth said.

The geotechnical issue of the park's being built on a prehistoric landslide area was also a concern. In the early 1990s, when Westlake Boulevard was built in that area, there was land movement, he said. "This is a large, complicated park, and we would have about eight to 12 months of paperwork," Pluth said.

The next step would be to hire a consultant to make blueprints so CRPD could proceed through the city's development requirements. The park district would go through the planning commission for approval.

"Optimistically, it would take a year in a perfect world. It will probably take about two years," Pluth said. The site had been designated for a community park. Some residents near the proposed site have said there's a difference between a site for athletic fields and a neighborhood park.

Other community parks in the city also have athletic fields, Pluth said.

This park is proposed to be gated like Conejo Creek Park North behind the library. Lightsout time is expected to be 10 p.m.