Your opinion column of June 25 was literally over the top regarding the legal ruling against Conejo Recreation and Park District's Lang Ranch Community Park project.

Instead of adding a "community-based" voice of reason and moderation, the Acorn's editorial comments serve only to inflame the emotions of CRPD's Little League supporters.

Your vitriolic attack against so-called Lang Ranch NIMBYs (Not In My Back Yard) belies what Superior Court Judge Glen Reiser found to be the facts of this case — that the CRPD board had merely performed "a dance" around the state's Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

Reiser stated that CRPD had not followed laws and mandated procedures necessary to protect the needs of the entire community and preserve the environment. He, therefore, voided the environmental impact report, essentially putting the approval process back to square one, and awarded the Lang Ranch area plaintiffs full attorney's fees and costs.

Perhaps if the CRPD board had actually listened to area residents' needs and concerns, rather than only to the Little League and its supporters, this could have been avoided. Most Lang Ranch residents want a real "community" park, not a regional sports complex.

The CRPD, I read, will continue with the recently begun geological and water table studies. In my opinion, these studies should have been conducted as part of the EIR process due to the acknowledged vulnerability of building on a major landslide.

Importantly, CRPD estimates construction costs of $25 million, based on a "typical park" this size.

However, this site is anything but "typical," and land remediation costs could double or triple the final price, which is exactly what happened with the adjacent Lang Ranch Dam.

Potential damage to the environment, to homeowners and to city finances should be of no small concern to all taxpayers. Jerry Langer Thousand Oaks