Theme Water Park Rejected by Oceanside

OCEANSIDE —  City councilmen reluctantly denied promoters of a theme water park the right to seek a city permit to build the park near Mission San Luis Rey on Wednesday.

Although Bill Lee, one of the promoters of the proposed recreational park, promised the city that it would blend into the landscape and not detract from the historic mission, the Rev. Michael J. Weishaar, mission director, expressed concerns about what the commercial attraction would do to the “ambiance” of the area.

Other opponents expressed concern over projected traffic, parking and noise problems the water park would cause.

Backers of the enterprise were seeking only the city’s signature on a city permit application for the park because the project is proposed for city-owned park property. But council members voted 3 to 2 to reject the request.

Councilman Ted Marioncelli said he could not support the seven-acre water park proposal “in any way, shape or form” if it were on the Ivey Ranch adjacent to the mission. However, he and the four other council members supported a staff search for city land that would be more appropriate for the theme park and would bring the city revenue.

The council also voted unanimously to allocate part of that future revenue to the improvement of a recreational area for the handicapped that is being developed at Ivey Ranch, if and when the commercial venture opens at another city location.

Monica MacGowan, a founder of the Ivey Ranch Park for the handicapped, said that revenue from the water theme park on the site would have provided funds to complete an aviary and to build a campground, day care center and multipurpose building with a gymnasium--all for use by disabled youngsters.

“Sadly, the needs of the disabled have been pushed aside again,” she told councilmen.

Lee said that developers of the theme park had searched for other suitable sites throughout the city and had found none because commercial property, where the venture would be more suitably located, was too expensive.

He unsuccessfully urged the council to authorize the permit application at Ivey Ranch, so that the proposal could go to public hearings and “be judged on its merits.” The water park could have opened as early as next summer, he said, if the council had approved the application.