Neighbors press Turlock council on park design, field lighting and city accessibility; police outline traffic enforcement steps

Residents at the Nov. 4 Turlock City Council meeting used the public comment period to raise safety and communications concerns, urging the council and staff to revisit plans for a neighborhood park, consider lighting at the regional sports complex and improve public access to city services.

A speaker identified in the transcript as "Sargon" told the council he and neighbors who live on Haverford Drive were surprised to discover a landscape improvement plan for the site referred to in the meeting as "former mayor John Lazar Park." Sargon said they had not received notice about the proposal and that the plan appears to place play equipment at a corner adjacent to private yards. "We did not receive any notice," he said, and asked that council and staff review the plans with neighbors.

A neighbor who followed said the playground should be centered in the park rather than concentrated at one corner and said that seating children running near cars would pose a hazard. Those concerns were directed to city engineering staff; council and staff suggested the resident meet with Director Fisher and the city engineer to review plans and landscape improvement drawings.

Shannon Solomon of Central Valley Football Academy read a letter asking the city to install field lighting at the Turlock Regional Sports Complex. Solomon said the nonprofit serves "approximately 330 competitive players" and argued that lighting would allow evening training during fall and winter, support working families, expand programming and make Turlock a destination for tournaments that could benefit local businesses.

A separate speaker criticized the city's accessibility by phone and said many residents lack email or prefer live contact. The speaker also urged more enforcement of traffic laws near schools, saying people frequently run stop signs and red lights. In response, Interim City Manager Dr. Borrego asked Police Chief Hedden to address the traffic concerns.

Chief Hedden said the city recently added a third traffic motor officer, bringing the unit to four plus a full‑time sergeant, and has deployed auxiliary motor officers and expanded countywide integrated traffic patrol days. He reported each integrated deployment writes "anywhere between 120 and 150 citations" and said the traffic unit is writing more citations than ever; he encouraged residents to call the traffic unit hotline (664‑7380) to report problem locations so staff can target patrols and speed‑education resources.

Other speakers included Nathan Alonzo, a government affairs representative for Pacific Gas and Electric, who introduced himself, apologized for recent construction impacts and said PG&E would attempt to improve mitigation after receiving city correspondence.

City staff suggested residents speak with engineering and parks staff about park plans and indicated additional design or parking‑access work is being evaluated for the senior center area and nearby facilities.

Next steps: staff encouraged residents to meet directly with the appropriate department staff (engineering, parks) to review landscape improvement plans; the police traffic unit encouraged residents to report hotspots using the provided phone number so targeted enforcement can follow.