Yes, Virginia, there will be a bigger park on the east side of Santa Monica.
By CLAUDIA HIBBERT Special to the Daily Press
The city planning commission approved earlier this week a proposal for a 3.7-acre expansion of Virginia Avenue Park after hearing three hours of debate from several residents who said the park is being turned into a parking lot.
“It was stunning — a slam dunk,” said Duke Kelso, who has lived in the area since 1985. “All of the issues we raised, they completely ignored, dismissed or didn’t even discuss.”
“All of the issues we raised, they completely ignored, dismissed or didn’t even discuss.” — — DUKE KELSO Neighbor
The proposed expansion includes additional parking, new basketball courts, field areas, a wading pool with restrooms, a changing area and storage space, as well as the renovation of two commercial buildings for office space.
“It was determined through the community process that there was a need to unstuff the Thelma Terry community center,” said Karen Ginsberg, assistant director of community and cultural services, which coordinates the city’s parks and community programs divisions.
Planning commissioners approved the proposal on a 6-0 vote. Commissioner Arlene Hopkins did not attend the meeting. The Santa Monica City Council is expected to vote on the issue Jan. 12.
The park has been the subject of debate since the city started purchasing parcels next to the site in the mid-1980s. Some residents have objected to proposals they thought would bring too much noise and traffic to the area.
Ginsberg said the city answered those concerns in the plan. City staff add that the expansion would better incorporate the farmer’s market into the park.
The park’s campus at Pico and Cloverfield boulevards will be 9.5 acres once completed. It will quadruple its 42 parking spaces, which prompted vehement debate from about 15 people who attended the meeting to protest.
“What we really desperately need and what is invaluable and irreplaceable is open park space — green,” Kelso said. “That’s what you can’t get back. It’s not open park anymore where your kids can go out and throw Frisbees.
“What you’ve got here is local residents who have waited 14 years while the city has spent over $12 million with vacant land that’s been languishing out there, roped off and fenced off except for farmer’s market use.”
Expansion plans also call for 119 additional parking spaces for daily use and 69 overflow spaces during the park’s weekly farmer’s market and special events. The three acres now making up the area for the farmer’s market will be converted to green space. The farmer’s market will move south to a pavilion area.
“The park needed approximately 100 spaces to operate,” Ginsberg said. “The alternative would be to not provide that parking, and the cars would end up in the neighborhood streets. There were just as many people concerned about that.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 22, 2001. Read the original PDF.