COUNTY PARK TO GET PLAYGROUND.

Byline: Daily News

SAUGUS -- Playground equipment has been added to the blueprint for a Saugus park planned for more than a decade and that now is finally becoming real.

Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich directed the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation on Wednesday to add a playground to the proposed Pacific Crest Park in the Mountainview development.

Residents had complained that the blueprint for the park lacked basic amenities such as a playground and restrooms.

``We're always adding something to a park,'' Antonovich aide Tony Bell said.

The county recently allocated $843,000 in park fees paid by developers for an irrigation system, grass, trees, park benches, fencing, a pathway, parking and utilities. More such park funding was identified to add playground equipment, Bell said.

Park facilities have become an issue in the Santa Clarita Valley, where the city of Santa Clarita has ceased giving county residents equal access to its program. The city has extensive parks programs, swimming pools, ball fields and basketball and tennis courts, but county parks built since the city was formed are comparatively spartan.

The 6.8-acre park site is next to Mountainview Elementary School, and under an agreement crafted in 1994, the school district will share it. The county obtained the park from developer Pacific Bay Homes in 2000. Work is expected to start on the park by the end of summer, with completion due in April.