Saturday, August 25, 2007

CM PRESS # 201


MORE PARKS AND SPORTS FIELDS NEEDED IN COSTA MESA

It should be clear to all who are paying attention, that Costa Mesa simply needs more sports fields--soccer fields, especially--and parks.

As it is now, we're seeing various types of sports activities in some of our parks that, while fine for sports fields, are dangerous to players and others in parks that are not designed for these sports and where they conflict with other uses.

Some folks in Costa Mesa with a political agenda are saying that people should be allowed to play running ball team sports in any park they can find and that it's fine for them to throw, kick, or hit balls in disregard for the safety of others or themselves.

This does not do the players or others who use the parks any favors.

It's just common sense that the City, which is solely responsible for our parks, should ensure that all our parks are safe and that activities that may foreseeably cause injuries should be stopped. The City has done this with golf and bars this activity from all parks that the CM PRESS is aware of.

Because of the increasing popularity of soccer, it behooves the City of Costa Mesa to start buying land and putting in more soccer fields where the players can play without running into trees, or falling on sidewalks, or tripping in sprinkler holes, and without kicking balls into tot lots, nearby streets, or the backyards of adjacent homes.

Where will the money come from for buying park land and soccer fields?

The two most obvious possibilities are a hotel bed tax increase and/or fees from new developments. But, there are others.

The CM PRESS is a big believer in having government close to the people, and we're also a big believer in having the municipal government form citizen committees to explore various possibilities.

So, why not form a citizen committee whose charge is specifically to come up with recommendations to the City Council about new park locations and funding sources? Let's get the people who want more park land and soccer fields, and those who may have professional, semi-professional or a hobby level of knowledge about such things, involved in the process.

Without more parks and sports fields, we're probably going to see increasing conflicts between people with different ideas of how our parks should be used.

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