West Sacramento commission reviews proposed Memorial Park league use policy; music, banners and locked fields draw debate

City of West Sacramento Parks, Recreation and Intergenerational Services Commission members received a staff presentation and extensive public comment Feb. 4 on proposed updates to the Memorial Park Organized Sports League (OSL) use policy, which aims to balance organized play with neighborhood concerns.

The policy changes presented by Brandy Dionne, recreation manager overseeing athletics and aquatics, would tighten several longtime practices at Memorial Park, including a reduction in permitted amplified-sound days and clarified rules for field locking and sponsorship banners. "This compromise balances league requests with the neighborhood concerns," Dionne told the commission as she walked through errata changes that had been issued since the agenda packet was posted.

The proposed updates would reduce the number of allowed amplified-sound days that do not require a special-event (amplified sound) permit from 15 to 12, make those days voice-only (no music), require those 12 days to be prescheduled with the parks department for resident notification and staff monitoring, and allow up to four additional special-event days with music if a separate amplified-sound permit is approved. The…