Photo by Rich Schmitt
By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief
Pacific Palisades Recreation Center Park Advisory Board met on Thursday, July 20, for its regular quarterly meeting—covering a range of topics, including an upcoming volleyball league, safety at the park, and potential updates to the restroom and playground.
Palisades Recreation Center Senior Facility Director Jasmine Dowlatshahi began the meeting with a series of general updates: the park hosted a basketball camp, and there is a new tai chi class offered two days per week.
Coming this fall there will be a “brand new volleyball league,” for participants age 7 and up, which received financial support from the Toppel family, on behalf of the late Kurt Toppel. Registration will open in August, with games slated to take place between October and November.
Dowlatshahi confirmed that the Halloween-themed Spooktacular would take place this year on October 27. It will feature a family movie screening, using equipment donated from David Williams on behalf of Movies in the Park (which previously hosted screenings at the park on weekends in August).
Around the Fourth of July, Dowlatshahi reported there were “a lot of fireworks occurring in the park”—both during and after park hours. She touched on one incident, which took place in mid-June, involving a minor who was “severely burned” and had “several surgeries since.” She said Los Angeles Police Department is investigating that particular incident.
There was an area in one of the lower parts of the park that Dowlatshahi said she believes kids were setting off fireworks, as there were hot coals, which she said she had removed.
In addition to fireworks, Dowlatshahi said there has been a person driving up the driveway near the tennis courts “really fast” around 7 p.m., doing donuts in the basketball courts and driving back down, in addition to a person who drove a go-kart near the park.
When it comes to safety at the park, items that could potentially mitigate these activities were discussed, including park gates, fences and a set of cameras.
Dowlatshahi said she has previously worked at parks where cameras were installed, and crime was reduced by about 80%, but that she didn’t recommend a fence around the park. Zar reported that the conversation about cameras “is incrementally certainly moving forward” at the city and state level.
A parking gate, like the one at Rustic Canyon Recreation Center, could be beneficial, according to Dowlatshahi, but there would need to be someone to lock and unlock it at the beginning and end of park hours.
The agenda also included a discussion on permitted activities that take place in the park on the weekends, which have triggered at least one complaint from a neighboring residence. PAB Chair Andrew Starrels mentioned operators who are potentially “getting more aggressive.”
Dowlatshahi commented on one vendor, who originally disregarded the staff’s instructions to put away a bullhorn, but eventually cooperated. Dowlatshahi said the park no longer works with that particular vendor, and that the park charges people requesting permits $30 per hour so that there is a staff member to monitor the event. The rest of the money for the permit goes to the city of Los Angeles general fund, Dowlatshahi explained, as part of the city’s policy.
PAB Secretary Maryam Zar commented that things like weekend activities at the park “become kind of a balance,” with the parkgoers and neighbors, as “that tension” will reach the board.
Palisades Recreation Center, according to Dowlatshahi, has been reviewed for its non-ADA compliance, including uneven parking and a path down to the fields. Dowlatshahi said she has put in a job order to get the parking lot repaved, as well as move around some of the accessible parking spaces.
When it comes to a new, ADA-compliant restroom and updated playground, Zar and Dowlatshahi reported updates, which were later discussed in the meeting by Brentwood, Pacific Palisades and West LA Field Deputy Michael Amster for CD 11. The Palisades could receive Measure A or Quimby funds for the projects.
“You always speak with cautious optimism when you’ve been given a promise by the city,” Zar said.
With a new Recreation and Parks Board of Commissioners, Zar attended a recent meeting, welcoming the board and reiterating concerns at Palisades Recreation Center that she and the PAB would like to see prioritized, especially with the opening of George Wolfberg Park at Potrero Canyon.
Dowlatshahi said the superintendent for the area recommended using Quimby funds for the restroom and playground, and Measure A funds for the dog park. Amster reported that there was over $1 million available in both Quimby and Measure A funds, but “they diverge in accessibility.” Quimby funds would be “much faster” to access, according to Amster.
“We discussed the restrooms at length before,” PAB Board Member Rick McGeagh said to Amster, adding that when the board voted, the restrooms were the number one priority.
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