Skate park makes list of city recreation needs

Lolita Harper

In a Southern California city where the sun shines brightly most

of the year, recreation has proven to be a big issue lately. Playing

fields for children and adults, tot lots, playgrounds, tennis courts

and skateboard parks -- or the lack of one -- are all issues that

Costa Mesa residents feel strongly about, according to a preliminary

recreation master plan released last week.

RJM Design Group Inc., based in San Juan Capistrano, released its

breakdown of the various recreation needs in Costa Mesa compiled from

hours of resident input, telephone surveys, interviews and analysis

of recreation trends, demands and current facilities.

The report is an “incredible first step” in a process set to serve

as a guide for development and management of the city’s recreation

programs and facilities, officials said.

The document was also created to update the Parks Recreation and

Open Space Master Plan, which was adopted in 1996, to account for

changes in population and needs in the last six years.

The completed report is just one of many stages in the city’s

quest for a comprehensive recreation master plan, said Stacia

Mancini, the city’s recreation manager.

The recommendations outlined by RJM Design Group will be

scrutinized and fine-tuned by city leaders to fit the community’s

needs, Mancini said.

The report’s release followed an extensive community outreach

effort in which city officials and the consultants held four

recreation workshops to gather as much input as possible from

residents. Mancini said the turnout was more than double the average

in other cities, with about 80 people at each session.

Jim Gray, a former professional skateboarder and leader of the

movement to get a skate park in Costa Mesa, was in large part

responsible for that turn out. Gray motivated all his fellow skaters

-- young and old -- and parents of skaters to attend the workshops to

illustrate the need of a skateboarding facility. Gray said he wanted

to make sure city officials could no longer ignore the need for a

skate park in town.

Even beyond the input from the skateboarders at the meetings,

Mancini said outside research, including a telephone survey, also

outlined a skate park as the No. 1 recreation need in Costa Mesa.

“We’ve got a lot of politicians right now all saying they are

going to fight for a skateboard park,” Gray said about the five City

Council candidates who have all highlighted a skate park as one of

their primary issues. “We’ll see when they actually get elected but

at least now with this master plan if they start waffling we can say,

‘Hey, just look at your own data.’”

The City Council and the Newport-Mesa Unified School District have

agreed to work together to study the possibility of a skate park at

Davis Elementary School, a process in its very preliminary stages.

Mancini said she is excited about that possibility and looks forward

to adding a skate park to the city’s recreation facilities.

Even with a skate park at Davis, the report still outlines a need

for an additional park, based on the number of skateboarders in the

city. The document also highlighted a need for more adult softball

fields, youth baseball fields, tot lots, picnic tables, walking,

jogging and bicycle paths and tennis courts.

Mancini said she hopes the community will continue to be as

involved as it has been up to this point. Residents are invited to

view the 203-page master plan at City Hall or online and are

encouraged to give public comments at the Parks, Recreation and

Parkways Commission meetings on the subject. The report will be

reviewed by the commission in mid or late November and will then go

onto the council for final approval sometime in January.

* LOLITA HARPER covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4275 or by e-mail at lolita.harper@latimes.com.