Norwalk park overhaul draws protests as residents say plan removes neighborhood amenities
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Summary
Norwalk officials presented a roughly $51–53 million Hermosillo Park master plan and scheduled groundbreaking for Dec. 2025. Longtime neighbors objected that the plan removes basketball, handball courts and a kiddie pool and said outreach was inadequate; staff said most funding is from state and regional grants.
Norwalk leaders presented an updated master plan for Hermosillo Park on Dec. 2, 2025, describing new synthetic soccer fields, a community building, an outdoor amphitheater and stormwater improvements, with a groundbreaking slated for December 2025 and construction expected to take about two-and-a-half years.
The plan—staff and the presenter said—relies largely on outside grants (City staff estimated roughly $52,000,000 in total project cost and noted most funding comes from state, county and regional sources, with additional potential midyear budget actions). Alan Perdomo, a city staff presenter, outlined completed park upgrades elsewhere and said community open-house meetings will start Jan. 21, 2026, to continue engagement.
Longtime residents told the council the approved design would remove amenities they use daily. Virginia Alvarado, who said she is a neighbor of Hermosillo Park, told the council: "When you're taking it from a community park and making it a city park, that's where it affects the community." Multiple speakers said they had not been canvassed, that a 1978 donor plaque should be preserved and that the loss of basketball and handball courts and the kiddie pool would disproportionately affect older residents and children who rely on low-cost recreation.
Several residents raised funding and outreach concerns. Patty Delgadio said she gathered signatures and contacted Prop 68 administrators, and asserted that grant funds were originally allocated for handball and basketball courts; she said she had "300 signatures" on a petition opposing the current plan. Anthony Tabares, a business owner and longtime resident, questioned the $52 million estimate and said a contractor had told him the project "should have been around 25 to $30,000,000." Those cost disputes were raised as requests for the city to provide clearer documentation of funding uses.
City staff responded that the project has been shaped by multiple rounds of community engagement since 2019 and that some design elements changed to reflect funding limits, evolving needs and grant conditions. Staff also said the city had applied for and in some cases been named a finalist for grant programs, including Prop 68 and the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and that certain future phases may require additional grants or budget adjustments at midyear.
Next steps announced at the meeting include a series of community open‑house meetings beginning Jan. 21, 2026, at Sanchez Elementary and continued outreach as the project moves into permitting and construction. Residents seeking more information were directed to the project email (myfuturepark@norwalkca.gov) and hotline listed by staff.
