Elings Park Impact Report Faces Long Road to Revision

» The arrogance of Elings Board on 11.16.09 @ 08:12 AM

wow did they get spanked at the PC hearing. Other than a few overgrown “children” who ride their big ol mountain bikes down every trail in town, no speakers in favor of their bait and switch proposal.
People who were on the Elings Board years ago and resigned are speaking up. Regional park status? No way.  Break the CREF covenant? No way.
Back to the drawing board, Elings board.

» Gilbert on 11.16.09 @ 09:49 AM

You can’t keep saying we need more stuff for our youth to do, and then say not in my neighborhood. Can you imagine if we all stuck by that rule. Let’s just turn it back into a landfill, tell the kids and adults to stay indoors and play video games.

» prsiii on 11.16.09 @ 10:53 AM

It’s bad now.  The relentless onslaught of parties (birthdays, wedding receptions, company functions, etc.) with amplified music and announcements echo far and wide.  Every announcement, every toast clearly audible blocks deep into the surrounding neighborhoods.  Lets not get into the musical selections and relative skills of DJs performing at such events, or their ability to keep such systems from distorting…it’s totally uncontrolled.

Now imagine this during the summer, at it’s peak, 1 on Friday, 2 on Saturday, and 2 on Sunday.  That’s what went down this year.

“Happy Noises”...I’m sorry, PA does not count as a ‘happy noise’ in my book.  If it were my neighbor, I’d call the cops, and that’s exactly what I’ll do with this.

Notice there is no other mention of Soccer, Baseball, or BMX in this post?  Those don’t have PA, yet…

» reply to Gilbert on 11.16.09 @ 12:15 PM

You just don’t get it.

A passive park provides a place where ALL of our youth can go to participate in passive recreational activities and enjoy nature.  Studies have shown that passive activities are much more healthy than playing computer games and the fact is that only a handful ever make it onto a sports team or race on a BMX track.

So the question comes down to a choice of what’s better for the entire community:
1. A passive outdoor recreational opportunity for all youth

2. BMX racing track built for just 100 of the thousands and thousands of youth and one located right smack in the middle of the level South park thus ruining the park for other activities.

It’s much more than 1 acre as it is surrounded by 10 acres of parking lot, access road, accessory building with restrooms and landscaped buffer space.  so the overall facility takes up 25% of the level land on the South Elings park.

» Mantra on 11.16.09 @ 12:23 PM

NO AMPLIFIED SOUND!
NO AMPLIFIED SOUND!
NO AMPLIFIED SOUND!
NO AMPLIFIED SOUND!
NO AMPLIFIED SOUND!
NO AMPLIFIED SOUND!
NO AMPLIFIED SOUND!
NO AMPLIFIED SOUND!
NO AMPLIFIED SOUND!

» retro on 11.16.09 @ 01:18 PM

I guess the opponents to park expansion would rather this property return back to the landfill.  less people, more seagulls.

» Bob on 11.16.09 @ 01:36 PM

One more thing… If we don’t want the park to scamper to try to make money (by creating the community center that they can charge fees to use, instead of providing it for free) they maybe we should have the city or county take over the park and fund it with taxes. That way the monetary situation would be taken out of the equation.

» Get your facts straight on 11.16.09 @ 03:07 PM

The 130 acre south Elings park, which is now designated as only a passive park, was never a dump. 

The dump, was only on the North park which is still owned by the city and leased for $1 per year to the park.

And what’s all this ridiculous talk about converting it back to a dump.  No matter what happens—active or passive—this land will never be turned back into a dump so that is a silly and totally unproductive thing to say except to show us just how poor your reasoning and argument skills are.  Such a ridiculous statement will never advance your cause, rather it will show you up for the childish and uniformed person that you are and just how weak your argument is, if that’s the best you can come up with.

» reply to Bob on 11.16.09 @ 03:16 PM

What a wonderful idea, Bob!

Yes! Yes! Yes, Elings park should be taken over by the City as a park and the recreational uses should be supported by taxes.  There is no better use for our tax money than recreation!  And the city could leave the South park for passive recreation uses for the enjoyment of all 200,000 who live on the South coast instead of ruining it with a BMX race track for 100 bike racers. 

We somehow must get the park away from the money grubbing Elings board who are extremely poor stewards of the land. 
The Elings board would put a noisy drag strip on it if they could make a buck off it!

» reply to SBLifer on 11.16.09 @ 04:36 PM

You object to the use of the word “was relatively pristine. “

O.k. you win, lets pick another word. ” was somewhat natural appearing”

You missed the whole point:

When I purchased my home the Jesuits owned the property and I could look from my back yard and see a relatively natural appearing hillside covered with native grasses and relatively unscarred by grading.  Now that the Elings park had purchased it they have been slowly but surly grading roads and bile paths all without any permits and now when I look at it I see a hillside covered with scars and an ugly extensive cell tower and equipment site.

Now I know I don’t have a right to a view of a relatively unspoiled natural hillside but the only point I am trying to make, for what it is worth, is that the park board has been a poor steward of what was agreed to be a passive park land by extensively scarring it up with extensive grading all over the place—and this is before they have even started with their proposed project.  I can just imagine what it will look like after the park board “stewards of the land” gets through with it.

I fully agree that a community needs active recreation and I’m all for new soccer fields, but thee community also needs passive recreation in locations within biking and walking distance to where they live and where people can go to get away from the hustle , bustle and noise of busy city life and enjoy the beauty of relatively unspoiled nature and reenergize their soul.  A noisy BMX racing track for the enjoyment of 100 bike racers right in the middle of this passive community park ruins it for the enjoyment of tens of thousands as well as causes a very significant adverse noise, light, and traffic impact upon the surrounding residential neighborhood on 3 sides.  A hundred times greater number of homes than are impacted by the current location. 

The real world choices for the BMX and park board now are leave it close to where it is now or lose it.  Take your pick!  Cause it sure ain’t going on the south park—-unless its over the unlikely event of over the “dead bodies” of literally thousands of opponent neighbors to the south park.

» Greedy Board? On a non-profit?? on 11.16.09 @ 06:57 PM

Wow, I want on the Park’s board.  From the comments here from some of the neighbors, it sounds like they must be getting paid a lot of money.  I guess if the community as a whole doesn’t agree with the neighbors, it must mean that the Park board is greedy and arrogant, right?

I also think the suggestion that the City take over the park’s operations is pretty funny too.  Yeah, the City has the money to do that.  Maybe the City should just take it over and then impose a special district assessment on the immediate neighbors.  After all, they don’t want the rest of the city using the park, shouldn’t they be the ones to pay for its upkeep?  And whoever thinks it doesn’t cost anything to maintain South Park is delusional.  Try telling that to the other neighbors who want the Park to constantly maintain that side to control the fire risk.

There is room for compromise here.  The real losers are the ones that don’t see that.  However, this is just the latest wedge issue for some of these people.  They have hate in their heart and are just looking for various ways to take it out on the rest of the community.

» Gharles S. on 11.16.09 @ 07:42 PM

You mean to tell me that “The Youth” in this town don’t have anything to do?  Let’s see, there’s the new skatepark at the beach, all the waterfront biking, the ocean, the new “Youth Center” on Chapala, Casa de la Raza, the museum, the library, and much,much more.  How about we turn some attention to the youth, and ask them,“Why are YOU so bored in this town?  Then give them a ticket, on a bus (God forbid) to some really boring town to learn what boring is! Geez!  You’re not building a BMX for youth - that’s an expensive hobby and many youth can’t afford it.  Please.  Scrap the lies and just say you mean.

» not a neighbor, so, not a nimby, but on 11.17.09 @ 07:24 AM

More soccer fields? Probably needed but why not use the public school properties in non-school hours? These are fields sitting vacant for much of the day and all summer-long. And they are public property.

Sounds to me like office buildings and parking lots have nothing to do with the youth. As for the noise, I live not far from the Casa de la Raza and also in the sound track of the County Bowl. Those are “happy noises,” but, believe me, they’re very loud! Loud noises are loud noises no matter what the origin.

Where is the EIR? I don’t want to read on disk. It is the responsibility of the requesting entity, the Elings Foundation, to provide EIRs accessbile to community members interested. Perhaps they’ll say, go to the library! but that is not what the law requires, especially now with limited library hours.

—-
Right on, about the Child’s Estate and how it the label has been perverted to suggest that the zoo is part of an estate for children.

» Why not just donate to the Park instead of Paying on 11.17.09 @ 09:20 AM

Everyone who keeps suggesting that the City build new fields, or that the school district take on these facilities, or that the City take over maintenance of the Park, you do realize all of that would require MORE tax dollars, right?  I would suggest you go ask the city council, parks & rec, or the school district if they have the millions it takes to annually keep this place up and running, or if they have the millions it costs to build new soccer fields and maintain them every year.  The answer is a resounding NO.  And Santa Barbara would not support raising taxes for these purposes.  That is why it has been left to a non-profit.

Whoever did the Elings Sparks website sure has a ton of free time on their hands.  It is a funny read too.  I wish that individual would donate that time towards coming up with a compromise and/or solutions to the communities problems rather than just attacking.  Perhaps they can add a 5th page with recommendations for where these various facilities can go and how the community can pay for their construction and ongoing maintenance?

» reply to Why not just donate to the Park instead on 11.17.09 @ 02:02 PM

You keep asking for a compromise.

Well a compromise means EACH side must give something.

In the overall scheme of things, with all the extensive items included in the proposed park expansion a reasonable compromise would be for the park to give up two things: 1. No amplified sound

2. No BMX on the south park (with 85 acres on the North park surely there is someplace they can squeeze in the 1 acre use ( they already have plenty of parking on the North park and you keep saying the BMX facility is only 1 acre)  ( or drop it, as it only serves a tiny fraction of the overall community and is not an income generator)

In exchange the neighbors drop their opposition to the park expansion
a win-win compromise.

Or by compromise do you meant the park drops nothing from its proposal and it’s only the neighbors who compromise.

I thought so!

All this talk on the part of the park about compromise is nothing but empty words.  Talk is cheap.
If you REALY want to compromise then seriously consider how the park can function without amplified sound.  Because that, my friend, is the deal breaker!

» The Elings Board of Directors is not Paid on 11.17.09 @ 02:32 PM

Nice try starting that rumour but that simply is not true.  Every dollar the park makes goes back into operations and maintenance.  Yes, this means that every single dollar paid to rent venues there for weddings or anything else goes back into maintaining the facilities, watering the grass, keeping the trails in good condition, etc., etc.

Ultimately, there is simply no way to make everyone happy.  The Park proposes new facilities to meet recreational demands and people complain.  The Park raises current fees and people complain (see the note by the dog walker above).  So if the neighbors are opposed to new facilities and don’t contribute financially to the Park, and the current users are opposed to higher fees, what alternatives are left?  How about the park start taking tax dollars, since that is the only other solution.