Group asks district to keep the peace at Rancho Potrero
By Nancy Needham  nancy@theacorn.com

An alternative plan for Rancho Potrero--one without a 200-person pavilion and similar to the Wildwood Park concept--has been submitted for consideration at an intergovernmental/ focus group meeting on Dec. 5. 

A heated debate has accompanied Conjeo Recreation and Park District's efforts to determine what to do with the 306-acre Rancho Potrero property south of Lynn Road in Newbury Park. The property was purchased in 1993. The city paid $1 million and the CRPD paid $1.9 million. The land was transferred to the Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency.

An open house is scheduled from 1 to 4 p.m. on Sun., Dec. 2 for those who would like to look at the property before the Wed., Dec. 5 meeting, when a focus group will join with intergovernmental committee members--City Council and park district board members--to discuss the future of the site.

"There will be story poles put up at the site during the open house so people can visualize the proposed structures," CRPD general manager Jim Friedl said.

Focus group members Dave Hettwer, John Fonti and Sue Egen have asked that a plan they say is based on feedback from a community workshop, focus group meetings, community letters, equestrians and 1,400 petitioners be considered along with other plans.

They don't want the 2005 conceptual plan to be used because, according to a letter sent to city and park officials, the conceptual plan would create an urban park like the Conejo Creek Park near the city's main library instead of a more rural, Wildwood-style park that they would prefer.

The urban park would include the potential for hundreds of people and cars, a large parking lot and the possibility of big events.

In the letter, the three focus group members contrasted five elements to show the difference between their perception of the urban park and their alternative rural park plan.

"I would like to keep it a peaceful and serene place for picnics, hikers and trail riders rather than an urban park with cars, buses and amplified sound," Hettwer said.

Rather than building a 200-person facility that could be reserved for corporate, private and classroom events, they would prefer adding several picnic places throughout the site as found in Wildwood and the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area General Management Plan.

Adding trailhead parking adjacent to Lynn Road to improve community access is recommended in the alternative plan instead of adding a parking lot for cars and buses at Olympia Farms. A one-lane road on the property should be left for emergency and maintenance vehicles and not enlarged to a two-lane road.

Similar to the national park and Wildwood Park, the hours should be from 8 a.m. to dusk for trailhead parking access, the alternative plan states. It asks that no open flames, lights or amplified sounds be allowed so fire hazards and environmental impacts are minimized. The conceptual plan did not indicate how these issues would be addressed or what park hours would be.

Hettwer, Fonti and Egen also ask that the Rancho Potrero site be zoned for open space to protect it for future generations.

Under their plan there would not be a roof where children could gather for educational purposes such as lectures, but they could still do hands-on activities and hike on trails. It suggests logs could be arranged in a circle as is done in national parks.

"There is already a 'no project alternative' at the Dec. 5 meeting included in the discussion," Friedl said.

That means, he said, no shaded area for 200 people and no one-acre 100-vehicle parking lot to accommodate those people will be on the table for discussion.

"Those who want to know every operational detail might be disappointed (at the Dec. 5 meeting). We are still in the information gathering stage about the physical structure of the project," Friedl said.