SANTA PAULA : Park’s Neighbors Back Alcohol Ban

Santa Paula residents who live near Teague Park say a proposed ordinance that would ban alcohol from city parks is desperately needed because violence and alcohol abuse have driven them from the neighborhood park.

The six-acre park, bordered by Harvard Boulevard, Laurie Lane and Steckel and Santa Anna streets, was once a refuge but has turned into a hangout for boisterous youths and soccer fans, residents say.

“They want to come here and do all their yelling and screaming,” 17-year resident Kenneth Rushing said. “I thought it was supposed to be a neighborhood park, not a gang park.”

The 16-year-old park features a playground and soccer fields, but few neighborhood children use it because men drink and urinate in public, residents say.

Margaret Blankenship, whose home faces the park, said the noise has forced her to seek tranquillity elsewhere.

“If you want peace and quiet on the weekend, you have to leave your home,” Blankenship said.

The proposed alcohol ban was also prompted by advice from the city’s insurance carrier, said Norman S. Wilkinson, public works director and city engineer.

The ordinance would also prohibit littering, removing recyclables from bins in the parks, playing baseball except on designated fields and allowing animals to defecate in the parks unless owners properly dispose of the waste.

City officials have agreed to erect a $6,700 chain-link fence along the southern border of the park to curb parking on Santa Anna Street. Once alcohol is banned, residents say, loud music, broken glass and litter would disappear from the park. But neighbors say police would have a difficult time enforcing the ordinance.

“I don’t see how they could enforce it unless they beef up enforcement,” said Richard Barnett, who has lived near the park for nine years. “The manpower of the police is already maxed out.”

In June, a 27-year-old Santa Paula man was shot to death in Teague Park.

The City Council will consider the proposed ordinance at its March 16 meeting, City Clerk Stacey B. MacDonald said.

Residents say they can wait until then.

“We deal with it on a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week basis,” Barnett said.