Park district agrees to revise plans for Sinaloa Golf Course expansion
Water park, arcade removed from design
By Darleen Principe darleen@theacorn.com

In an act of compromise with residents neighboring the Madera Road site, Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District's proposal to expand Sinaloa Golf Course will no longer include the addition of an arcade or a water park.

Representatives of Irvinebased consulting firm HogleIreland Inc. met with about 60 Simi residents Tuesday night on behalf of the park district to outline revisions made to the project proposal.

Paul Ireland, a partner in the consulting firm, said the park district either eliminated or substantially mitigated a number of elements in the original plan- which previously called for a 5.3-acre water park and a 2,400squarefoot arcade.

"That plan was not well received," Ireland told the Acorn. "Actually, that's probably an understatement. Most of the people in these meetings objected to those elements pretty strongly."

Not long after hearing the park district's October 2006 proposal to transform the public golf course into "Sinaloa Park," neighboring residents were expressing strong opposition to the project, citing a potential increase in crime, noise and traffic.

In response to that outcry, park district officials removed the two most controversial elements from the plan and replaced them with more "passive" features- walking paths with bridges, streams and lakes, and a rubberized children's splash pad similar to the one at Rancho Tapo Community Park.

"We have a park here that the district feels would be aesthetically pleasing, that fits in a lot better with the current neighborhood, that offers the current neighborhood a recreational area to walk and still offers a recreational opportunity for people who don't live in the immediate surrounding areas," said Leisa BrugKline, community outreach coordinator for Hogle-Ireland. "This is a huge compromise. As you know (the park district) wanted to go wholly more aggressive."

According to the revised plan, the existing 18.9-acre, nine-hole golf course will remain, but three of the holes will be reconfigured to accommodate several additions, such as a new golf teaching area that will include a practice putting green, pitching area and sand trap.

The plan still includes three 18hole miniature golf courses, a clubhouse building with a pro shop and concession area, two picnic shelters, a seasonal ice rink, a children's playground and a 4,850-square-foot community room that can be used for meetings and special occasions.

The park district also added a sand volleyball court near the proposed community room and split the 275-car parking lot into two sections to better accommodate the locations of amenities.

Following the initial presentation of the plan, many residents Tuesday still questioned details concerning the project budget, site lighting and noise.

Ireland said the elimination of the arcade and water park will scale back the budget, originally estimated at more than $16.5 million, to $12.5 million. The park district already has about $5 million set aside and anticipates receiving about $2 million from existing golf course profits. The district plans to acquire the remaining funds from bonds and hopes to earn about $700,000 annually from the entire facility, he said.

Joe Schmidt, a nearby resident, said he thinks the project as proposed is a waste of money.

"My feeling is that it's still not cost-effective," Schmidt said. "It's just financially irresponsible."

He said he thinks the money could be better invested by using less of it to simply upgrade the existing golf course.

"I don't think miniature golf and regulation golf go together," he said. "The people who go there now use it as a quiet golf course. What they're proposing just leads to more noise and more traffic. I think they would lose their existing clientele."

The consultants said the park district's goal is to make further refinements to the plan before getting a preliminary proposal to city officials in January.