Ramsey Park working plan: consultant offers three concepts; council debates whether pool should stay or move to Malibu

Terracon presented a Ramsey (Rumsey) Park working plan that tested three concepts ranging from least-change (Option 1) to most-change (Option 3). All three concepts prioritized separating pedestrian circulation from vehicle traffic, improving safety at two undersized culvert crossings, adding field capacity and addressing an existing parking shortfall. Parks staff reported the park is about 408 parking spaces short of industry-recommended parking if all fields and amenities are active at peak use.

Key findings and constraints: the park sits largely in a regulatory floodway and many options will require drainage adjustments. Synthetic turf fields have a replacement schedule and the south multi-purpose turf field will need resurfacing soon; Terracon estimated turf replacement per field in the low-mid six figures. Other aging infrastructure includes restrooms, the small maintenance yard, certain court slabs (tennis/pickleball), and a skate/play area. Staff and the Parks & Recreation Commission favored Option 1 (least change) because it phases more easily and minimizes temporary loss of playing surfaces.

Aquatics: the meeting included extended discussion about whether to repair/expand Taylor Pool at Ramsey or to build a new aquatics facility at the Malibu site (previously advanced in a separate program), and about programming priorities (senior/therapy use, competition lanes for meets, year-round operation). Staff recommended a focused comparative assessment to estimate schematic costs, parking impacts and interactions with American Gulch drainage work if a larger pool stayed at Ramsey. Council requested park tours, further programming detail (senior/therapy and tournament needs) and a March work session to resolve location and program trade-offs.

Why it matters: Ramsey Park hosts youth and adult sports, school athletics and tournaments; adding an expanded aquatic facility at Ramsey would increase parking and drainage demands and could shift tournament and community uses. Staff stressed that any decision to expand the pool at Ramsey could materially affect the American Gulch drainage design and project cost.

Next steps: parks staff will schedule additional site tours, prepare a comparative site assessment and a rough order-of-magnitude cost estimate for a pool at Ramsey vs. Malibu, and return with findings and a recommended phasing approach for council review during March CIP discussions.