Calabasas to seek public input on city’s future parks

By Michael Picarella Acorn Staff Writer

Have a good idea for a park? The city of Calabasas is listening.

Between 4:30 and 6:30 p.m. next Mon., Nov. 10 at city hall in Calabasas, residents are invited to voice their opinions at a workshop.

It’s called "Envisioning Calabasas Parks" and it will review final decisions for the newly updated draft Parks and Recreation Master Plan. The document includes ideas for Wild Walnut Park at Old Topanga Canyon Road and Mulholland Highway, and conceptual designs for a future park at Lost Hills and Las Virgenes roads, adjacent De Anza Park.

"As part of the master plan process, we have currently done two community workshops or forums where we have taken input from the community on the future parks and on our park and recreation master plan and what they’d like to see in the future," said Calabasas director of community services Jeff Rubin.

"We have done a site tour of our two future park sites and we have done a teen forum in conjunction with the Las Virgenes Unified School District at the middle school and high school levels."

The city also sent out a survey to Calabasas residents regarding parks. The results and input at previous meetings were incorporated into two site plans for the future parks and the updated parks and recreation master plan.

"Those plans still have not been approved by the (parks and recreation) commission or the council," Rubin said.

Rubin wants residents to review the plans before the approval process begins, he said.

"We’ve seen a lot of consensus," Rubin said. Participation in workshops and the survey was good, he said. "I thank the community for all their input and I hope we get a good turnout at the final forum," Rubin said.

The council will likely examine the plan as it adopts a new budget in the next couple months, according to Rubin. "I would like to begin implementing the plan as soon as it’s adopted by the council," Rubin said. It’s a long-range plan and will take about 10 years for completion, he said.

For more information about the public workshop, call Rubin at (818) 878-4225, ext. 231.