Sunnyvale residents press council for more ballfields and park improvements

Multiple residents asked the Sunnyvale Town Council on Jan. 27 to accelerate construction of additional ballfields and park improvements, saying the town’s youth programs now far outpace available playing space.

The requests were made during the public-comment period by parents and volunteers who said one maintained town field—at Jobson Park—is insufficient for the number of teams that play in Sunnyvale. The speakers asked the council to prioritize park upgrades and take action so another generation of children does not lose out on local sports opportunities.

The most direct appeal came from Ross Mericle, who identified himself as president of Sarissa and the Sun Devil Raiders Youth Sports Association: “Currently, our baseball and softball teams utilize one baseball diamond at Jobson Park,” he said. He and other speakers described a compressed schedule and difficulty scheduling practice time without lights.

Several other residents and coaches echoed Mericle. A speaker who said he was directly involved with local baseball for eight years reported that Sarissa has “135 plus baseball players” registered this season and said the league faces roughly 13 teams that must share a single town field. Another speaker said the town’s small T-ball field lacks lights and that families routinely must borrow high-school facilities to accommodate demand.

Speakers urged using town-owned land at Jobson Park to add fields and noted prior planning conversations about expanding parks that have not yet produced construction. One resident suggested working in partnership with Sunnyvale ISD and homeowners to add lighting with limits to reduce neighborhood impacts.

Councilors and staff discussed the parks program later during the capital-improvement-plan briefing. Staff said concept planning for Jobson Park and Sandler Farms North Park is underway and that final design and construction timing will depend on which improvements the council approves after upcoming public briefings. Staff also said some less-complex improvements—trails or passive-recreation features—could be constructed sooner, while larger projects would take longer to design and build.

Residents pressed for a faster timeline. A council member said they would “push it forward,” and several residents pressed the council to avoid repeating past delays that have left successive cohorts of children without access to fields. Staff described Q1 2026 as an approximate completion target for design for some park work but emphasized that the final construction timeline depends on the scope of improvements the council approves after the next round of public input.

The public comments and the subsequent CIP briefing made parks and sports fields a recurring theme of the meeting, with volunteers asking the council to convert planning discussions into sooner action so current youth teams can use expanded facilities.