Committee to Meet July 17 at Temescal Canyon Park Before Finalizing Plans
Last June, the City Council approved $250,000 in Proposition K funds to renovate the city’s park in lower Temescal Canyon. Now comes the tough part: deciding how to spend it. Since May, a Local Volunteer Neighborhood Oversight Committee (LVNOC) composed of six Palisadians has met twice to discuss how to renovate a park that many residents consider sorely in need of repair. Stuart Muller has lived above Temescal Canyon Road for 32 years. He hoped that that money could be used to reverse years of deferred maintenance, which has left concrete picnic tables crumbling, wooden pergolas dry-rotting and once-free-flowing streams stagnating. ‘The original vision was to replace all the concrete tables, the pergolas and replace the park’s trails with decomposed granite,’ said Muller, an LVNOC member. But city officials have encouraged Muller and others to pare down their goals: According to the Bureau of Engineering, which manages Prop. K projects for the Department of Recreation and Parks, only $185,000 can be used for actual construction of the original $250,000. The rest is reserved for design, permit and other miscellaneous fees. That lower amount, combined with high construction costs and spending limits imposed by the voter-approved bond, has limited members’ goals. The following priorities have tentatively emerged from the LVNOC’s last meeting on June 20: ‘ To replace the picnic tables at the three picnic areas closest to Pacific Coast Highway. City officials estimate that it will cost $3,500 to purchase and install each picnic table. That high cost makes it prohibitively expensive to replace all 53 tables throughout the park. ‘ To repair’and perhaps, replace’the pergolas at the two picnic areas closest to PCH. ‘ To remove the wooden pergolas at all picnic areas, except for the two sites closest to PCH. Members’ fear of the homeless and brush fires have also prompted recommendations to move picnic tables closer to Temescal Canyon Road, farther away from the canyon. That would leave park visitors with less privacy and more noise. But some members say that the risks to neighboring houses outweigh these concerns. Last fall, a fire that originated from a homeless encampment in the canyon scorched a home’s hillside-backyard before firefighters extinguished the dangerous blaze. And many canyon residents fear a repeat. ‘It’s politically incorrect to say that you don’t want the homeless camping out,’ Muller said. ‘But farther away from my back door is best for me. Some people wanted to move [the picnic tables] farther away from the canyon because they want to prevent nefarious activity from going on’late-night partying, boozing, barbequing. Nobody said that explicitly but that’s what people are getting at.’ LVNOC member Susan Oakley was originally surprised with the city’s estimated costs of construction. But she believes that the committee’s tentative plans could benefit the park. ‘I think we will end up with a more passive park to the north which will allow picnicking of the blanket-under-the-tree type,’ wrote Oakley by e-mail. ‘Meanwhile the southeast side of Temescal, nearest the bathrooms, play equipment and beach will be greatly improved, inviting and safe.’ Before finalizing their plans, LVNOC members will tour the park on Tuesday, July 17 at 6 p.m. They will meet at the second picnic area from the bottom of the canyon. Residents are encouraged to attend this meeting and provide their thoughts. If current plans are approved this month, construction could begin as soon as the end of August, said Cathie Santo Domingo, who is managing the project for the Bureau of Engineering. Domingo considers the project ‘surprisingly one of the simplest’ that the Bureau has. She projects that construction, which would be done by workers at the General Services Department, could be completed by December. —— To contact Staff Writer Max Taves, e-mail reporter@palipost.com or call (310) 454-1321 ext. 28.