Christmas 2007

Best Wishes for a Joyous Holiday Season!

IMPORTANT: The Mar Vista Soccer Field fence re-design public hearing previously scheduled for Tuesday January 29, 2008 has been postponed due to a change in Los Angeles Rec and Parks Shoreline district management.

First post of 2008 will cover the details of that shift, and preparation for the upcoming public hearing in February 2008.

GAME ON!

‘The wisdom of crowds’

Report: Mar Vista Soccer Field public meeting, 12-3-2007:

A VERY big thanks to all of you who took the time to attend this pivotal public meeting, and a special shout out to Kathy, who generously translated for our Spanish speaking soccer stakeholders.

A packed room of community soccer field users finally were heard: AYSO youth soccer; club youth soccer; community service organizations; park soccer program moms; daytime MVCC stakeholder players; UCLA Student Housing residents; Archstone apartment dwellers; and concerned neighbors.

We all want SAFETY for our youth and adult soccer players at Mar Vista.

Park soccer program moms pointed out, logically enough, they NEED extra space to watch their toddlers while older children play. They don’t want to be forced outside a fence with limited access, next to a busy intersection. There are many parents with small children on the sidelines because the highly popular Mar Vista Rec Center soccer program uses the field space CROSSWAYS for more capacity.

Youth soccer representatives emphasized the importance of safe clearance for officials, players and parents. The field is used by local schools for training and CIF competitive games, not just neighborhood pickup games. Fifteen feet, the distance proposed by Rec and Parks from touchline to solid fence, is simply not safe.

About ‘overuse’ causing damage to the field: synthetic turf websites indicate these high tech fields are designed to sustain 12-14 hours of team play per day. Mar Vista Soccer Field use never approached that threshold even during the summer of 2005. There never was an 'invasion of hundreds.'

Real problem, according to the PAB minutes of October 16, 2007: field seams were not sewn AND glued: the preferred installation method for synthetic turf fabric durability.

The Park & Rec employee moderating the meeting stated several times that she must ‘listen MOST’ to adjacent residents.

While ‘good neighbor’ policies are appropriate, this approach potentially results in holding our KEY regional public sports field resources hostage to personal aesthetics. Probably not the sort of citywide precedent we want to set for our public sports fields in an increasingly dense Los Angeles.

Meeting participants suggested reducing fence costs by eliminating the expensive brown coating. The existing east side fence’ coating—the five foot fence—is already flaking off after short exposure to the elements; rendering it useless for sound reduction after only 24 months.

Speaking of muffling sound, I can’t find any municipal ordinance in the country regulating ‘soccer ball hitting chain link fence’ noise pollution.

You know, I imagine our Mar Vista Community stakeholders farther to the north, who DAILY suffer SIGNIFICANT noise and health impacts due to FAA sanction of big fat polluting jets at Santa Monica Airport, would have something to say about the absurdity of claiming a healthy active sports field is some kind of nuisance use, don’t you?

You don’t get cancer from sports fields.

NEXT STEPS: The Rec and Parks rep finally agreed, at the very end of the meeting to go back; get costs on various options for a safe fence.

There will be another public meeting after the holidays. Call it GAME ON: THE RETURN.

A preliminary date of Tuesday, January 29 at 6:30 pm at Mar Vista Rec Center Auditorium has been set to preview the reworked plans.

Please mark your calendars.

GAME ON!

GAME ON!

Important:

COMMUNITY HEARING ON THE MAR VISTA SOCCER FIELD FENCE TO TAKE PLACE MONDAY DECEMBER 3, 2007 AT 7PM, MAR VISTA REC CENTER

"Mukri said in an interview Friday that every council office has been informed of how much Quimby money it had and that it takes time to find effective ways to spend the money."[Los Angeles Times article, 10-20-2007 "Few parks, but L.A. is sitting on pile of green" by Steve Hymon]

We ALL invested months to find those ways, then LARAP changed the rules.

Our community consensus effort was red carded without any explanation on September 10th

On September 10th, Rec and Parks presentation of the proposed master plan for Mar Vista Rec Center was held.

It was billed as the first of two meetings for public comment.

“the Department of Recreation and Parks requires a community process and as part of that community process when presenting plans we never present them as Final plans, as this denotes meetings and decisions were made without the larger community having input… Once we present the concepts and receive input then final plans are developed."

The plan shown included a soccer field fence on the existing mow strip, a placement deemed too close to the touchline for the sideline safety of parents and players by youth soccer proponents. A couple of cut outs for bleachers and a small space on the Palms side of the field were also shown.

This layout represented a radical departure from the community driven compromise MVCC Blueprint Plan for the soccer field, which was worked out over several months by all parties, including residents who initially complained.

It's NOT about the money, either:

"...some council districts have significant sums of unspent money. Councilman Bill Rosendahl's district, on the city's far west side, has nearly $12 million yet to be earmarked." [Los Angeles Times article 10-20-2007 , "Few parks, but L.A. is sitting on pile of green" by Steve Hymon]

Yet, I and the audience were told by Rec and Parks staff there would be NO discussion allowed on fence placement and safety, or cost saving design alternatives. It was a 'done deal'; 'there is no Blueprint plan.'

Rec and Parks refused to receive any larger community input on fence location.

Mar Vista was silenced.


Call me crazy, but I found it unusual--and unacceptable--to be told by another City chartered entity that I, a duly elected, certified neighborhood council representative, could not ask questions about safe design at a public meeting about a major public works project at a public park within my community council's boundaries.

That's my job-to ask these questions on behalf of the stakeholders I represent and to get answers.

I drafted a resolution, and took the matter back through the Mar Vista Community Council Urban Planning/Land Use Committee, the Recreation and Open Space Enhancement Committee, and the full MVCC Board of Directors.

The Mar Vista community’s support for a compromise on safe soccer field fence placement and design was reaffirmed unanimously by the MVCC BOD.

I’ve asked the CD11 office to obtain both a copy of the September 10th soccer fence site plan and an advance copy of this ‘final’ PUBLICLY funded project proposed layout for a PUBLIC PROP K soccer field enclosure at a REGIONAL PUBLIC PARK.

I hope to post these plans here on my blog so you, the PUBLIC, can exercise your right & evaluate the proposed design of the soccer field fence for field utility and safety--the primary concerns of all of us who support youth soccer activities.

COME OUT ON MONDAY DECEMBER 3RD, 7 PM AND BE HEARD.

DON'T BE SILENCED.

GAME ON!

The MVCC resolution:

Whereas, the Mar Vista Community Council recognizes the significant community building and health benefits of recreation activities with regard to well being of Mar Vista stakeholders, and

Whereas, the Mar Vista Community Council recognizes Mar Vista Recreation Center as a key resource providing opportunities for these activities within MVCC boundaries,

Be It Resolved that the Mar Vista Community Council therefore re-affirms its support of its motion for a 3Blueprint for a Better Mar Vista Recreation Center and Parks that it passed March 13, 2007 as a compromise document between the various community groups with a strong stake in park usage.

Be It Also Resolved that the Board of Directors of the MVCC therefore asks the General Manager of the Department of Recreation and Parks and his team to work in cooperative partnership with the MVCC and the Mar Vista Community in order to better implement these community goals and objectives for the benefit of all Mar Vista Stakeholders.

ACLU; Mar Vista Soccer Field; Quimby Fees: championing public access & safe play

Some people don't like democracy in park uses
Some people don't like change
Some people don't like soccer

Some people are unhappy with overall increased
sports activity at Mar Vista rec center.

They blame ONLY soccer and the new synthetic turf
surface.

There are two very popular gyms, outdoor basketball
courts, two picnic areas, pool, baseball diamonds, and
a superbly renovated small children's play area
which draws parents from all over West LA.

For the moment, no one is calling for reductions
in these other uses. Just soccer.

Some people want a 10' perimeter fence around the field
ostensibly to prevent play after park hours.

However, fence proponents have quietly pushed
for a rigid lock down operations policy--meaning
all individual soccer players would have to
buy a permit. They want restricted hours, reduced
events, limiting use of the field to 'family style play'
weekend afternoons, and even using the field for
'capture the flag'...as if there weren't a very large
baseball field a few steps away to easily accommodate
other, non soccer, activities.

These inflexible policies would apply only to
the synthetic field and to casual soccer players--
who are mostly local residents walking or biking
to use the field.

The park installed extra bike racks, donated by
the MVCC, by the way.

No one is calling for individual basketball or
baseball players, joggers, dog walkers, etc to be
individually permitted to use the park's other
amenities.

OR asking them to pay fees to do so. Just soccer.

Lock down would mean pay to play: only groups
with paid permits would have access to the field.

Groups need hours after school and work.
Consequently, the field, funded by OUR Prop K
bond money, would be empty most of the day.


















Take a look at the sign in this photo:
it says, 'no soccer playing in this area'.

Someone tell me, what choice did this child have?

Those gates were locked when this photo
was taken summer of 2005.

Community outrage prompted removal
of this first fence. 500 Mar Vista stakeholders
and regular field users have already petitioned
Councilmember Bill Rosendahl requesting
preservation of public access to the field.

Tenor of the debate reached ACLU, which
wrote both the MVCC and the Councilmember
on behalf of public access, emphasizing
Los Angeles' park poor status and benefits
of the field to Mar Vista's disadvantaged youth.

At a time when City leaders unanimously approve
massive density increases, public space access
policies which keep Los Angeles' synthetic soccer
fields empty at any time are wildly inappropriate.

Concerned about player and spectator safety,
and concerned about protecting public use
of the field, the Mar Vista Community Council
stepped forward with a compromise
'Blueprint for a better Mar Vista Park
and Rec Center'.

There is more work to be done to insure equitable
hours, but the Blueprint has two KEY aspects
worthy of regional community support:

1. It places the proposed 10' fence 20' in
from the streets rather than on the
existing mow strip. This is family and kid friendly
design which creates a safe buffer for our kids
to play soccer flat out on a slick, fast surface
without slamming into a double braced fence
chasing down a ball.

2. It says, 'Openings shall be provided for
public and maintenance access, but no
gates shall be installed until such time as
the Department of Recreation and Parks
has provided a comprehensive written plan
for how they would guarantee that any future
gates would open during hours established
by the community.

This plan must be approved by the MVCC
Board of Directors.'

The Blueprint Plan is now in the hands
of LA Rec and Parks for design and budget.
'Quimby' fees, the money paid by developers
as part of the ongoing 'perfect storm' of building
in Council District 11, would fund Phase I
of the proposed Blueprint, including irrigation
relocation for the recommended fence placement.

You can find the complete Blueprint text at
www.marvistacc.org

On the front page click 'committees', minutes'
and then 'march 13 2007' for the document.

One more thing: let the MVCC know you appreciate
their stand on these two provisions of
the Blueprint Plan.

And, that you support use of Quimby fees
to ensure safe sideline space for
our families and kids
at Mar Vista Soccer Field.

You might also want to let
Councilmember Rosendahl,
the LA Rec & Parks Commissioners,
and the Mayor know, too.

You can find their email contact information
at www.lacity.org

Speak up!

Protect Our Soccer Field, Round TWO

Here is the preliminary concept sketch [not to scale]
for the Mar Vista Soccer Field proposed fence and
jogging trail improvements based on public hearings
and stakeholder input:














Note the location of the 10' fence.

The Mar Vista Community Council and
Mar Vista Rec Center Park Advisory Board
approved placement is approximately 20' IN from
all three streets abutting the field. The Palms side
location needs to be adjusted in the final plan
to reflect this.

Additionally, the east side new fence placement should
move back beyond the bleachers and new bike racks--
eliminating unnecessary relocation costs for those items.

Gates are not indicated here; they will likely be placed
on all four sides of the field for safety and maintenance
access.

Too often we see a rush to throw up construction without
practical consideration of consequences.

Our community has collectively designed a
family friendly layout which meets the needs of
both jogging trail and soccer field enthusiasts.

The new fence alignment is a SAFE distance from
the field for players, officials, and spectators: it allows
10' for teams, officials and coach plus 10' for spectators.

It separates joggers and dog walkers from active play
on the field.

It provides a warm up area.

It provides shade.

And, it takes future water needs into account with
non thirsty landscaping.

Face it, another 12 months of drought and Los Angeles'
park irrigation systems will be rationed, or possibly
even shut off, to conserve water and energy.

Beckham bedlam and true democracy

A great city has great parks:

"If only children had as much public space as cars,
most cities in the world would become marvelous."

"For the poor, the only alternative to television
for their leisure time is the public space.
For this reason, high quality public
pedestrian space, and parks in particular,
are evidence of a true democracy at work."

From a keynote address
delivered by Enrique Penalosa, Mayor of Bogotá,
Columbia, to the Urban Parks Institute's
"Great Parks/Great Cities" conference July 2001










Galaxy #23:
the man
and
THE moment

Enter Beckham bedlam: the world's best known
soccer midfielder has joined the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Trying to limit the world's most loved game in our
local parks these days is rather like pretending global
warming doesn't exist.

Fields the length and breadth of Southern
California are filled with young and old alike trying
to 'bend it like Beckham' did on his FIRST free kick
for his new team.

Anyone can play soccer anywhere, anytime,
without special equipment.

All you need is a ball and your feet.

Public space is true democracy at work.

Public Access to Public Spaces

Los Angeles just released zoning controls for downtown:

http://www.laweekly.com/news/news/a-zillion-new-neighbors/16946/

Meanwhile, the city remains incredibly park poor
and our precious little available public park
field space might not necessarily be accessible:

















Above:
Lafayette Park synthetic soccer field locked &
empty at midday. Families play ball in the dirt,
on the hill in the background, in the picnic area,
or on the basketball courts. They have to
play everywhere except the space donated
and built for soccer.

At Mar Vista's synthetic field, players engage in
healthy activity during the entire day:


















Why is that?
The answer is simple: the previous local park advisory
board championed the Prop K for Kids rec improvements
line item which paid for this specific regional treasure...
...and withstood pressures for gates and locks
because they wanted maximum public access.

Fencing the synthetic soccer field at Mar Vista
would have closed off one third of the park's available
sports field space to casual users--hardly what
city voters had in mind when they approved Prop K,
the 30 year residential property tax assessment
to fund Los Angeles rec and parks capital improvements
meeting the active rec needs of our youth.

Indeed, when the city did put up a fence across the entire
west end of the park right after the field was completed,
cutting off all walk-on public access, the ensuing community
rebellion forced its complete removal.

Packing working families living downtown into units
potentially as small as 300 square feet without any
city planning provision for adding green spaces
--including spaces sized for team sports--
is a recipe for future urban blight.

Green spaces also need to be open to the public.

Otherwise the trend towards synthetic ball fields
will result in very large portions of our public parks
literally made off limits to us all.

Not enough field space…

What, you say? How is it possible there is not enough field space in West Los Angeles?

Take a look at existing public park field spaces south of the 10; west of the 405 and north of the 105 in the City of Los Angeles:

Facility	Park Area	Fields	Soccer fields	Base ball fields
	Acres	Acres	#	#
Admiralty Park	6.19	0	0	0
Ballona Wetlands/ Playa Vista LL	556.01	5.57	0	3
Burton Chase Park	9.66	0	0	0
Carl Nielsen Park	8	5.48	1	2
Culver Slauson Park	1.99	0	0	0
Del Rey Lagoon Park	10.64	1.26	0	1
Dockweiler State Beach	249.81	0	0	0
Glen Alla Park	4.79	0	0	0
Mar Vista Gardens Park	2.28	2.28	1	1
Mar Vista Park*	18.45	7.65	2	3
North Venice LL/Ocean View Farms	14.39	4.35	0	3
Oakwood Rec Center	3.64	2.23	1	2
Penmar Park/Golf Course	62.08	5.83	2	5
Venice Beach	211.97	0	0	0
Vista Del Mar Park	1.06	0	0	0
Westchester Rec Center/Golf Course	96.97	7.86	2	3
Westminster Park	2.17	0	0	0
	1260.1	42.51	9 fields	23 fields
	Total Acres	Playable Acres	Soccer	Base ball

Note: Playa Vista’s totals not available yet; development under construction

A whopping 3.3%, 42.51 acres out of 1260.1 acres--that is the total amount of field space available to youth and adult field sports: soccer, baseball, softball, rugby, American football, Aussie football, and so on. Not to mention shared uses by numerous independent schools with little or no field space of their own for athletic programs.

Sobering, isn’t it?

Now, consider future demand for this space as the Westside builds out along transit corridors.

Field space requires sizable chunks of real estate: about 1.25 to 1.5 acres for a soccer field, for example. Or, 3.5 acres for a baseball field.

The problem is there isn’t a mechanism built into the community planning process in Los Angeles to realistically estimate the amount of space needed to accommodate this impending growth.

Imagine the demand in a decade…

New Year’s Day 2007: Mar Vista Soccer Field

Some of the most entertaining soccer you will ever see is right in your own back yard…

I wandered over to our regional rec center about 3:30 PM New Year’s Day to discover for myself a treasured local community holiday tradition: a men’s soccer tournament.

Although the field was full of spectators, ambient noise from local traffic drowned out all but the referee’s determined whistles and the occasional shot blasted on target from midfield.

Walking the perimeter, I spoke with many participants, onlookers, and organizers, who have been coming to this field to engage in recreational soccer for well over a decade…long before it was renovated with a synthetic all weather surface and permanently anchored goals [a rarity in our public parks, to be sure].

My guides pointed with pride to multiple generations present--their children and grandchildren romping about the sidelines. And they noted three young servicemen [Marines, I think they said] home for the holidays playing in this tournament for fun and relaxation. A wonderful family atmosphere.

After the days play ended, they planned a celebratory barbecue over in the picnic area.

It was enjoyable; I lingered to watch the final game.

Step overs, bicycle kicks, speedy precise passing, fantastic headers, great saves…awesome.

This is what a public soccer field is all about: building community.