Sinaloa Park project is a terrible idea
We have a serious situation in Simi Valley that affects every citizen that lives here.

The Simi Valley Recreation and Park District has spent almost $1 million (so far) to develop what is called the "Sinaloa Park project."

This project includes plans for fourstory water tubes and an electronic arcade area so teenagers can have a place to hangout. It will also include multiple miniature golf courses and a restaurant that will serve alcohol. The capacity is for approximately 1,000 people.

This project will be partially funded by the sale of the BMX track on Sycamore Drive.

This information came from the PR firm of HogleIreland during a Sept. 13 meeting at the park district main office. Hogle-Ireland has already received approximately $500,000 from the park district. This is your money, Simi Valley. They do not live here, but the park district and City Council people do.

This arcade will become a major problem for drugs and alcohol and a real potential for pedophiles.

The four-story water tubes are only to be operational during the summer. The other nine months you will be looking at oxidizing water tubes every time you drive up and down Madera. This project is slated to be put at the Sinaloa Golf Course property at Madera and Irvine roads.

The park district wants to change the zoning from "Park" to "Commercial/Recreation." This will also require specialuse permits. The key to stopping this is to stop the zoning change. If the zoning change goes through, then there will be nothing to stop the park district from selling the land to outside developers. Then, it will be too late to save our city.

Go to www.sinaloapark.info and www.sinaloapark.com to be informed.

In addition please sign the petition at: http:// www.ipetitions.com/petition/ savesycamorebmx/ to save our track which has trained kids who are going to the Olympics and the Worlds in Canada.

This is the wrong project in the wrong place. Deborah Bassham Bucci Simi Valley Editor's note: According to Ed Hayduk, park district assistant general manager, there are no plans to shut down the BMX track. Over the years, there has been discussion about possibly relocating it to another site to ensure that it remains available for the public. The Hogle-Ireland contract is for $369,300, which includes all permitting, environmental studies, and public outreach for the project.