ROLLER-HOCKEY RINK BACKERS, FOES FACE OFF.

Byline: Lisa Van Proyen Daily News Staff Writer

In a sometimes heated debate, supporters and opponents of Los Angeles' first municipal roller-hockey rink, proposed to be built at Beeman Park, met with the Studio City Residents Association on Tuesday night to air their concerns.

As proposed, the outdoor rink would be situated in the 9.5-acre community park at Rye Street and Beeman Avenue at the Studio City Recreation Center.

The Los Angeles Board of Recreation and Parks Commissioners has approved the rink. But Councilman Mike Feuer, whose district stretches from Fairfax to Sherman Oaks, has put a hold on the rink to encourage opponents and supporters to reach an agreement.

Feuer also expects feedback by Monday from the Recreation and Parks Department, which he directed to study rink issues.

For at least two months, the two sides have met on and off to do just this.

Some 1,400 opponents have signed a petition against the plan, contending that the park is too small and that the rink would bring in more noise and traffic. They say officials should look more closely at larger parks, such as Van Nuys-Sherman Oaks Parks, to build the rink.

``You just cannot put a square peg in a round hole. No matter which way you turn that peg or how hard you push it, that large peg still will not fit in that small, round hole,'' said Paul Matloff, a member of STOP, or Save the Overused Park.

But parents from SCORE, the Studio City Organization for Recreational Enrichment, argue that the rink is sorely needed by youngsters as an athletic outlet.

In an effort to appease opponents, SCORE members have proposed reducing the size of the facility from 180 by 75 feet to 145 by 60 feet, the minimum regulation court size.

Among other changes, they have agreed to eliminate public address systems, to relocate the facility 60 feet east of the residence-lined Beeman Avenue and to place size and scheduling limits on the program.

``We have talked. We have whittled it down. We have bent over backward to accommodate our neighbors. . . . We have not even gotten a whisper of compromise,'' said James Fox, a parent representing SCORE who spoke at the Carpenter Elementary School auditorium, which was filled with more than 200 people.

For the past three years, kids have played the ever-growing sport of roller hockey in Beeman Park's parking lot, forcing park visitors to instead park on the streets. This prompted the rink plan, with supporters raising at least $130,000 in private donations for the facility, with the remaining $10,000 cost plus operational costs expected to come from the voter-approved Proposition K to improve parks.

Since the debate began, all hockey play at the park has been suspended.