‘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!