Park Advisory Board Discusses Safety Concerns, Improvements

By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief

The Pacific Palisades Recreation Center Park Advisory Board met on Thursday evening, April 18, to discuss a number of items on its agenda, including updates on safety concerns, park improvements and pickleball.

PAB Board Member Maryam Zar spoke about ongoing safety concerns at the park, including fights, fireworks, riding of e-bikes and incidents of vandalism, which she cited have improved in recent weeks, but are still being closely monitored, with plans in the works to bring additional security measures to the rec center.

Zar, on behalf of the advisory board and as president of Pacific Palisades Community Council, has been working alongside city officials, including Recreation and Parks staff, to bring security cameras to and around Palisades Recreation Center.

The latest update the community relayed to Recreation and Parks is that it is not seeking the $1 million-plus in infrastructure updates it would take to power security cameras throughout the park, but instead requesting “hot-spot” coverage from cameras stationed on park buildings via existing infrastructure.

Later in the meeting, Brentwood, Pacific Palisades and West Los Angeles Field Deputy for Council District 11 Michael Amster reported that Recreation and Parks was working on an estimate for cameras to be placed on the buildings.

Zar also said she is working with Recreation and Parks to get weekend foot patrol to help mitigate incidents, especially on Friday and Saturday evenings. This cost would be around $4,000 per month.

Another avenue of support Zar spoke on is Council District 11, which can provide discretionary funds to Los Angeles Police Department to allow for additional patrols in the area. Zar said that LAPD has been at the park on weekend nights in recent months, with LAPD motor and Beach Detail being diverted to the area to assist.

PAB Board Member Bob Benton reported that parents that are part of Pacific Palisades Baseball Association’s Pony League—which meets later in the evenings—have expressed that incidents seem to be occurring less, with PAB President Andy Starrels agreeing, as he has received fewer emails from community members reporting incidents.

When it comes to two projects PAB has been working on getting at Palisades Recreation Center—an updated, ADA-compliant restroom and playground—Starrels reported that the city has crafted three concept drawings of an accessible playground that are being reviewed, two of which he said “look terrific.”

For the restroom, PAB Board Member Rick McGeagh reported the board asked for a line item budget for updated restrooms, which were previously reported to be estimated to cost $550,000. The request had not been answered at the time of the meeting.

“It’s important to note, plumbing is already there,” McGeagh said about the project, so even though the restrooms would need to be updated, the project would not be starting from scratch.

Amster reported that it has been approved with Recreation and Parks to move forward with the design/cost-estimate for the restrooms.

Starrels later introduced an agenda item regarding pickleball, with Palisadian Polly Badt providing updates on a proposed plan to bring the sport to tennis court #5.

The proposal draft, which was not ready for public consumption, has a set of rules and regulations laid out, which Badt said would be a work in progress, able to be amended as time goes on if issues arise.

The proposal, as is, stated that one court would be striped for both pickleball and tennis, offer more hours than are currently available for pickleball players at the tennis courts, and limit the number of participants on a court at any one time.

As written, the proposed plan would go into effect for a one-year pilot program to see if it is viable. Starrels encouraged Badt to continue working with Recreation and Parks officials for guidance and feedback before the plan is implemented.

The next regularly scheduled meetings of the Park Advisory Board are slated for Thursday, July 18, and Thursday, October 18.