City nixes new rec center at Forest Cove

Agoura Hills officials announced Jan. 28 that all city parks are off limits for development, which means Forest Cove Park is no longer a candidate for construction of a new municipal recreation center.

Amy Brink, Agoura Hills director of community services, told the City Council at last week's meeting that her department had removed all city parks from the list of possible locations for the rec center.

The center is currently renting space from a church on Thousand Oaks Boulevard, but its lease will expire in 2014. The city decided to build its own facility and Forest Cove was identified in a feasibility study as a potential site.

Mayor Denis Weber said the Forest Cove study sparked a "tsunami" response.

Weber said he was saddened by some residents' "accusatory" tone. People assumed the Forest Cove site was a "done deal."

"Nothing could have been further from the truth, Weber said.

Residents at last week's City Council meeting erupted into applause at the news that neither Forest Cove nor other city parks would be used, but some remained wary of the city's intentions.

Mally Poznansky suggested that the city didn't need a recreation center at all. "We need to be outside," she said.

Councilmember Dan Kuperberg said about 100,000 people benefit each year from the city's community services.

"We need a recreation center," Kuperberg said. "The key question is the place."

Some residents suggested the city partner with the YMCA, which is building a new recreation center on 31 acres in Westlake Village.

Councilmember John Edelston said the Westlake Regional Sports Complex had been discussed as a potential location and is still on the city's "radar."

Pierce College President Robert Garber, an Agoura Hills resident, hinted that the college might be able to join forces with the city for a shared community center.

"It's a very real possibility," Garber said. "I'm hoping we can make something beautiful happen."

"You have to start somewhere," Kuperberg said. "That's what the feasibility study did. If we were to say we were thinking about a rec center but we have no idea where, no idea what size, no one would have shown up."

Council member Bill Koehler said the council made every effort to be "transparent."

"We don't want to be a sterile branch on the tree of public opinion," Koehler said.

A task force consisting of residents, City Councill members, city staff will be formed and will study the matter further, Weber said.