Parks Plan approved and more at PRCS Commission Meeting

EDITOR'S NOTE: Clarifications about Elenda pickle ball court hours from after the meeting have been added to this article

The first meeting of 2025 for Culver City Boards was full of information as the Parks, Recreation, and Community Services (PRCS) Commission moved forward with a key initiative at its meeting Tuesday night.

Here's what you need to know about that meeting:

Parks Plan Approved for Council Consideration

The Commission approved the Citywide Parks Plan Tuesday night. It will be presented to the City Council for final approval early this year.

Commissioners were given a brief presentation on the final draft, released last Friday. This presentation included a broad cost estimate for the full implementation of the Parks Plan at $812 million, including an estimated $535 million for large-scale building projects, $184 million for site and furnishing improvements, and $93 million for stormwater-related projects in the Parks Plan.

This number was daunting for some commissioners, but Commissioner Maggie Peters emphasized the plan's fluid nature. She emphasized that as the plan is being executed, changes can be made based on what the city needs at that time.

"This is only a plan right now," Peters said. "As we move forward, there is going to be more opportunities for people to have a say."

Vice Chair Crystal Alexander, who has a background in finance, was not surprised by the figure. Alexander inquired about an escalator included in the cost estimates to account for inflation and rising costs.

The escalator kicks in annually starting in 2033, bumping the price by 3% yearly. This escalator does not apply to "soft costs" such as consultant teams the city may need to execute these projects.

Aside from the finances and some minor issues related to baseball fields, commissioners expressed their excitement for the plan.

"We need a road forward so that we can go after grants," Commissioner Palvi Mohammed said. "This is an excellent document that will allow for all kinds of things to help the department."

No Tennis Court Resurfacing for Paddleball

Pickleball continues to remain a popular sport in Culver City, and the PRCS Commission continues to explore ways to improve the city's infrastructure to support the paddle sports community.

However, making major changes to the city's tennis courts to accommodate paddle ball will not be one of those things. The PRCS commission voted not to resurface the city's tennis courts with double stripes while dissolving a subcommittee dedicated to the topic.

A lack of fully available tennis courts was one of the main concerns of the Double Striping subcommittee, which consisted of Peters and Commissioner Marci Baun. While there are officially eight tennis courts in city parks, the commissioners argued that only four or five were truly available for public use, with the remaining courts being reserved for permitted use most of the time.

Alexander also recalled her own experiences playing tennis on a double-striped court and called it "sub-optimal." She noted that the extra striping can make it even more than usual to officiate tennis matches, especially if one is playing recreationally.

"Those balls come a lot faster than pickleball," Alexander said, "which means when they land, you don't have very much time to determine what is in or out,"

While the topic was restriping, paddle sports advocates spoke at the meeting seeking a different goal. While they supported the striping, many came to ask for hours at the Elenda Street paddle tennis courts used by pickle ball players to return to their previous hours, which matched Culver City's sound ordinance by allowing play from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.

This end time was made two hours earlier in response to noise concerns, but sound barriers installed at the courts have been met with positive feedback, including from those who don't play.

Among them was a 12-year-old boy named Zev Goldstein, who lived near the courts. He admitted that the noise was distracting before the sound barriers were installed but praised the impact the approximately $50,000 installation has made.

"It has just made everything so quiet," Goldstein said. "You can barely hear it anymore."

While the double-striping idea was put to rest at this meeting, commissioners gave three nodding heads to put a motion to rescind the changes to hours at Elenda's courts on a future meeting agenda.

However, PRCS Director Ted Stevens said after the meeting that a gradual increase in the hours of the court was possible administratively and that the courts would be open from 8:30 a.m. – a half hour later than previously allowed under the limited hours – until 9 p.m. starting on Monday.

Parks Budget still a concern

The Commission also received an overview of the PRCS budget at Tuesday's meeting, which shows a small increase in the department's operating budget. The overall adopted budget for this fiscal year — which ends June 30 — is $13.1 million, up from $12.75 million in the 23-24 fiscal year.

As in previous years, a commissioner is nominated to write a formal letter to the city council with requests for budget enhancements for the PRCS department. Commissioner Mohammed has written the letters for the last seven budget cycles but elected to defer to another commissioner this time as his term nears its end.

A point argued by both commissioners at the meeting and firm OLIN through the Parks Plan is that the PRCS department has been underfunded for a long time. However, these letters have resulted in several improvements to the PRCS budget, including funding for playground equipment repair, money to install wood grain throughout the city, and allocation for an irrigation technician.

"Your letter [last year] was, from my perspective, successful," Senior Management Analyst Adam Ferguson said at the meeting.

With the current city council configuration, commissioners are optimistic that significant investment into the PRCS department is possible.

"We have a really supportive council...I have talked to Bubba Fish about the parks a bazillion (sic) times," Peters said. "I think we should go big or go home."

While the specific requests and dollar amounts will be nailed down in the future, ideas like a maintenance worker position and further funding for Lindberg Park playgrounds were among the suggestions during this initial discussion.

This letter will undergo a draft process, with each draft presented and reviewed at a commission meeting. It is due in April for the city's annual budget deliberations.