Cypress residents’ worries about LARC Park largely unfounded
By Brooklynn Wong
Any frustration that Cypress residents are feeling about the plans for LARC Park at this point is much ado about nothing. At least that’s what the city’s Director of Recreation and Community Services tried to get across at the March 25 City Council Meeting.
Last year, the owner of the Los Alamitos Race Course donated 8.8 acres of land to the city, at the corner of Cerritos Avenue and Lexington Drive, which connects with Denni Street.
Since then, the city has been holding community meetings with residents, attempting to come up with the most mutually satisfactory plan of what to do with the land.
Construction is not set to begin until early 2021, with a goal of having everything finished by the end of that year, but the public’s attention has been more piqued in recent weeks, with some having heard or read online that the park will be used for soccer fields only, will be locked off from the public, or will only benefit one sports organization. They were concerned that the city was not taking residents’ desires into consideration.
However Cameron Harding, Director of Recreation and Community Services, gave a presentation to the City Council, quashing some of these rumors and providing an update on Community Outreach regarding the project.
Residents’ feedback
Jason Dinkle, a Cypress resident, said during Oral Communication that the plans being put forward, at least as he understood them, do not reflect the input the community has given at recent community meetings. The plan many believe they have heard does not represent what the community of Cypress wants, according to Dinkle. He said the residents want to be able to enjoy all of the park, not just a small part of it, speaking in reference to rumors that the majority of the park will be used for soccer fields, and only a small portion will be left for general park use.
Carl Fulbright, a resident whose house backs up to the area where the park will be, echoed Dinkle’s sentiments, saying he feels like the city has already made its decision, putting together a plan without listening to residents.
Ed Kramer, a 20-year Cypress resident who has been to most of the community workshops regarding the park, said the community does not need soccer fields.
The question of what type of material to build the fields on the park with also came up. A resident named Raul Banuelos, who lives near the park and sells turf for a living, actually advised against turf fields, saying it is more prone to causing injuries, and it has to be replaced frequently.
He said he is worried about parking and the increased risk of theft if the park were to be turned into a large sports complex.
Britney Cook, a lifelong Cypress resident, said the “new plan” is “atrocious,” and she too was worried the community was not being heard.
She urged the Council to not let money or political motives make this decision, saying, “This is a park for the community; this isn’t a business deal.”
Sean Clark, who is the commissioner for the Cypress branch of the Friday Night Lights (FNL) youth football program, as well as a teacher at a community school, said it is tough for FNL to secure playing fields, saying they often have to use McAuliffe Middle School in Los Alamitos. He is in favor of a sports field at the park, but wants other groups to be able to use it. Another rumor amongst residents has been that the city has partnered with the LA Galaxy, a professional soccer team with a youth development program, to give them exclusive access to the field. Director Harding would later clarify that this is not at all the case, but Clark said an organization like FNL could really use the field.
Another resident named Amy, who lives on Cathy in the area of the park with her children, said they already have problems with people speeding. She said her kids cannot play in the front yard because of the dangers the traffic presents. And this is all without a sports complex practically in their backyard. She was afraid that if one were built on the land, it would only bring with it more people and more crime.
A man named Peter, a Cypress resident since 1969, said it “should be a multi-use park,” and encouraged the Council to “take the time, slow down; let’s do it right the first time.”
City response
After the people had voiced their concerns, Director Harding gave a previously-agendized presentation on the status of the project. He said this January, the city awarded the LARC Park (its name for now, an acronym for Los Alamitos Race Course) design contract to Community Works Design, however the design is far from decided.
The city is in fact recommending that the park be multi-use. All Council members seemed in agreement with this.
He estimated that 67% of the land will be for fields, and the remaining 33% will be for paths, playgrounds, picnic areas, and other recreational use.
The question of what type of material to construct the fields from resurfaced, and contrary to the resident’s comment, Harding actually recommended synthetic turf over natural grass. He said natural grass would need to be out of commission for three to four months a year for maintenance, where synthetic could be used year-round. The Council questioned this, with multiple members agreeing that children ought to play on real grass, not “plastic,” as some called synthetic.
City Manager Peter Grant said city staff would look into this more and prepare more information, as well as arrange tours for City Council members to see both materials at different locations.
There is also a debate as to whether the field would be locked when an organization is not playing on it. Some residents were not in favor of this, wanting the fields to be open for anyone in the community at any time.
However, Council Member Jon Peat spoke to the value of locking up sports complexes when they are not in use. He works with the Cypress Champions Baseball League, which plays at Oak Knoll Park, and said that when he arrives first thing each Saturday to the unlocked, open-to-all fields, there are always beer bottles, “medical marijuana receptacles” and vomit in the dugouts that all has to be cleaned up before the players arrive.
Staff said that theoretically, only the sports fields themselves would be locked after hours, not the entire park.
As for the rumor that the LA Galaxy would have special or even exclusive privileges in using the field, Harding said the city has “not coordinated with [LA Galaxy] whatsoever.”
He said they “haven’t specifically consulted with them,” they have just had representatives at the community meetings.
No sports organization would have special privileges in using the fields.
Council member Peat said that AYSO is the biggest sports program in the community and could probably use more playing fields. He said he could think of no better purpose than to have the fields be multi-use, available to more than just one sports organization.
Council member Paulo Morales said most of what’s on social media regarding the park at this point is misinformation, and urged residents to contact the city for accurate information.
At this point, the only action that could be taken was that the Council voted unanimously to receive and file the Harding’s report. They will continue to receive more information and input from residents.
Prior to Mackay Park, which opened in the last couple of years, Cypress had not had a new park in 20 years.
As for now, residents can rest assured that any claims that the park would be for soccer fields only, for one organization only, or locked always, are unfounded or at least far from set in stone.
City staff is still in the relatively early phases of planning LARC Park, and will take residents’ feedback into consideration.