It's unfortunate your June 25 editorial ("The NIMBYs have won again") misrepresented the concerns of homeowners and disregarded the legal facts borne out in the ruling in the Lang Ranch Community Park environmental impact report lawsuit.

Your sarcastic depiction of our homeowner group as NIMBYs (Not In My Back Yard) was journalistic hyperbole and patently incorrect.

To my knowledge, not one person who gave oral or written statements to Conejo Recreation and Park District's board of directors or to the T.O. City Council objected to Lang Ranch Community Park.

Given the topography and location, we argued that the size and scope of the park wasn't reasonable. We argued for a park that would complement the environment and be a safe and healthy addition to our community. We wanted a community park where the whole family could picnic and play- - in our backyard.

The blame for this lawsuit and for the concomitant delays and expenses rests directly with CRPD, not with homeowners.

CRPD's unwillingness to compromise or negotiate in good faith, and for pushing the environmental envelope too far, left us with no alternative but pleading our case in court.

We did, and we prevailed.

In his terse admonishment to CRPD, Superior Court Judge Glen Reiser stated: " . . . the only thing that has substantively changed about this project after the initial study five years ago has been the addition of more ball fields." He went on, "CEQA is not just a procedural 'dance' that a public agency masters by proceeding through certain compulsory statutory motions. All public agencies, including local park districts, are required in projects of certain environmental magnitude to give 'major consideration . . . to preventing environmental damage, while providing a decent home and satisfying living environment for every Californian.'"

"For all the reasons stated above, CRPD has failed to properly observe this standard."

Had you an understanding or knowledge of the facts, you'd have realized that the 1986 Lang Ranch settlement as well as the city's General Plan guarantee that the property will never be anything but a park, not even apartments. Ron Siegel Westlake Village