Saratoga News Parents, sports leaguers voice support for playfield plans Marshall Lane residents seek support for the site Council stays out of battle By Sarah Lombardo A group of about 15 Marshall Lane- area residents sought support from the Saratoga City Council Dec. 2 for proposed plans to make improvements to playfields at the school site. The council stopped short of entering the debate between residents regarding the playfield plans. Newly elected mayor Jim Shaw did offer words of encouragement: "I appreciate the fact that people came and spoke [on the issue], and really hope everyone is listening," Shaw said. "If we work together, I'm certain that we can bring together something the residents and the city can be proud of." The groups of parents and Little League volunteers said they had heard that a petition from neighbors against the plan was in the works and asked councilmembers to back plans put forth by the city's Park Development Task Force, made up of members of area sports leagues, schools, and Parks and Recreation commissioners. Initial ideas for the school fields put forth at a public meeting Oct. 27 included changing the configuration of the current infields, adding restrooms and a concession stand, replacing a dirt area with hard court, and planting trees along the perimeter of the site. Jay Beals, of Beals Landscape Architecture, told residents the new fields would be used for farm and T-ball baseball games and for soccer practices, which already take place on the property. The October meeting was one of three scheduled at Saratoga sites, including Foothill School and Blue Hills School, at which neighbors had the chance to voice concerns and ideas about the initial plans. The plans will go back to the drawing board, city staffers said, and changed to try to accommodate residents' concerns. The plans were met with disapproval from some area neighbors, who said the plans would only increase traffic in an already congested and dangerous area. "We are concerned about the amplification of the situation," Evans Lane resident and Saratoga Planning Commissioner Mary-Lynne Bernald said at the October meeting. "What I think the city needs to learn is that these safety issues do exist." Residents in favor of the plans said they, too, are concerned about making the area traffic-safe, but that the fields are needed. "We have kids right now in the Quito Little League who are having to leave Saratoga to play," one man pointed out. "We know the neighbors have concerns about traffic and the quality of life in the area, and certainly listen to those concerns. But if we work together, I think they can be gotten past. The kids at Marshall Lane are playing on fields with gopher holes where they are lucky they haven't broken an ankle." [ Back to Contents Page | Saratoga News Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Saratoga News, December 9, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.