OAK PARK : Advisory Council Backs Deerhill Park

The Oak Park Municipal Advisory Council has approved a proposal for a new park that had been debated by community residents for more than eight years.

Turning aside a compromise proposed by Ventura County Supervisor Maria VanderKolk, the council voted 5 to 0 on Tuesday in favor of Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District’s plan to develop Deerhill Park at Deerhill and Doubletree roads.

The County Board of Supervisors is expected to make a final decision on the 12.5-acre park later this year.

Park officials first drafted plans for a recreational facility on the vacant lot in 1983. But the proposal drew opposition from some residents living near the site who were concerned about increases in traffic and noise, Councilman Ron Stark said.

Deerhill Park will have a soccer field, softball field, basketball court, two tennis courts, restrooms and two play lots, said the park district’s planning and development administrator, Dmitri Hunt.

It will cost about $1.7 million to develop, he said.

After a series of public hearings on the proposal, park officials decided in late 1990 not to put lights in the park and to increase parking by about 30%, Hunt said.

After those concessions were made, opposition dwindled, Hunt said.

However, VanderKolk recently proposed that the Oak Park Unified School District swap land with the park district. Under her proposal, a new school would be built on the Deerhill site.

But the council rejected VanderKolk’s proposal, saying it would leave the east side of the community without a recreational facility, Stark said.

VanderKolk could not be reached for comment.

No residents spoke in opposition to Deerhill Park at Tuesday’s meeting, Stark said.