DISTRICT CALLS FOR CONTROL OF PARK TAPO CANYON HAS LONG BEEN CLOSED.

Byline: Angie Valencia-Martinez Staff Writer

SIMI VALLEY - The chairman of the Rancho Simi Parks District board is reviving the idea that the local entity should be given control of Tapo Canyon Park, saying the county-owned park has been neglected and a district takeover would benefit east county residents.

``We're in the business of building and maintaining parks,'' Gene Hostetler said. ``We've got the best parks around. We would have cleaned Tapo Canyon Park and reopened it already. The county can't seem to maintain it and keep it open.''

Hostetler's efforts come after Supervisor Judy Mikels announced last month that the park would soon be reopened.

Hostetler said Mikels' announcement is part of a ``song and dance'' during election year. But Mikels said Hostetler has endorsed her opponent, Jim Dantona, for county supervisor.

``It's political,'' said Mikels. ``The bottom line is the park has been closed because of fire and from the heavy rains. We now have funding to create a regional jewel of a park and that is our intent and we will do it within the next few months.''

Hostetler said the park district would work with residents to determine what to do with it. For example, the Police Department would like to add a shooting range. Nearby neighbors want the county to include an equestrian center, which was originally there. They've volunteered to rebuild the horse arenas.

``Our No. 1 priority is what the people want,'' he said.

The park closed to the public after the 1994 Northridge Earthquake and most recently after the 2003 wildfires.

In 2002, an election year, the district offered to take over the facility from the county and apparently had the support of Mikels, Hostetler said. But after Mikels was re-elected, Hostetler said, ``she pulled the issue off the table.''

Mikels said the reason talks stopped was because the district had no clear direction of what it would do with the park.

In December, Mikels announced the damaged park would reopen this month. She later said the opening would be delayed because of neighbors' concerns over the design, which includes $1 million in improvements.

Friends of Tapo Canyon is upset because the plans don't include an equestrian area.

``The only two things I care about are keeping the horse property there and not letting it turn into an Oak Park - a money-making, trailer camp/RV venture,'' said Jennifer Grosskopf, leader of the group. ``We don't need another trailer park. We need natural open space.''

Proposed upgrades include picnic areas, a children's play area and camper hook-ups for overnight parking, as well as showers. Neighbors fear people will be living at the site for months.

``They're spending millions of dollars doing something we don't need,'' Grosskopf said.

Larry Peterson, the park district's general manager, said Tapo Canyon Park has been discussed for years.

``Our long-held belief is that we would do a better job maintaining the facility,'' he said. ``The park should be passed to our agency to do that.

``Our offer to accept the property was extended and has long been known. I wouldn't rule out that possibility. I'm happy to talk about it and go down that road if necessary.''

Angie Valencia-Martinez, [phone]

angie.valencia(at)dailynews.com