Peanut Lake at Debs Park.
Photo by Laura Matthews for The Eastsider
Montecito Heights—As beautiful as Ernest E. Debs Regional Park is, users have long called for safety improvements and other upgrades to the 318-acre attraction on Monterey Road. Now the opportunity has arrived.
The city’s Department of Recreation and Parks has initiated a process to develop a fresh master plan for Debs Park, which includes the Audubon Center, hiking trails and a turtle-filled pond. Such overhauls are supposed to happen for each L.A. park every 20 years.
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As the process moves forward, people in the area have ideas.
While the park won solid marks for amenities in a recent community survey by the Highland Park Neighborhood Council, respondents asked for some fairly typical improvements for parks: shade, trees and restrooms, according to council President Darren Gold.
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Gold also has his own list of potential improvements, mainly involving upgrading features the park already has: modernizing water fountains and picnic areas, restoring native habitats, improving access, and clarifying distinctions between hiking trails, nature walks, and multi-use trails.
Roy Payan of the Arroyo Secco Neighborhood Council also has a list of work he’d like to see done, starting with new stairs on the east side of the park, vandal-proof bathrooms, solar-powered lights, and shored-up trails.
Payan added that brush needs to be cleared from behind the Audubon Center to prevent adding fuel to a potential fire. Although the idea of letting goats eat the plants has been floated, Payan objects, saying the animals eat vegetation down to the roots, removing soil support.
“This was the worst suggestion I’ve ever heard,” he said.
Plans for financing the master plan involve requesting a grant of $1.5 million from County Measure A funds, which were set up in 2016 for capital improvement projects.
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