The debate over the future of Aromas Park may finally end
tonight when the Monterey County Parks Commission decides whether
the park should remain as it has been for decades or be
remodeled.
Hollister – The debate over the future of Aromas Park may finally end tonight when the Monterey County Parks Commission decides whether the park should remain as it has been for decades or be remodeled.
Those in favor of leaving the park alone say that it is a rustic, historic park and the people of Aromas want it to stay that way. Proponents of remodeling the park see it as overgrown and unusable, and they want to turn it into a kind of town square or plaza. Tentative plans for the remodel have included grand stands, band stands, irrigation and landscaping.
The 9,000 square feet on the corner of Blohm and Carpenteria roads has been a Monterey County park since 1987. Local residents bought the property, which had previously been privately owned, to use as a park and gave it to the county. Some residents say the park’s roots stretch back 60 years.
“It’s a little corner park,” said George Mortan, a member of the Aromas Park Volunteers. “It’s something you find in a little town, not something in a mall landscaping plan.”
According to Mortan, his organization has done a good job of maintaining the park for nearly two decades, and Aromas residents want it to remain a bucolic, small town park. Five polls conducted by the park volunteers have shown that 80 to 88 percent of Aromas residents favor keeping the park as it is, he said.
“Look at San Jose. It’s the opposite of that,” he said. “It’s relaxed … in the middle of the day you can hear the birds singing.”
Those who want to remodel the park, on the other hand, say the park is overgrown and they want to turn it into a town square or plaza.
“Right now it’s overrun with shoots of old plants and piles of rocks,” said Martha Van Dyke, a member of the Aromas Town Square Committee. “It is the overgrown remnants of a past garden.”
The town square committee was formed a year ago to push for the remodeling. Van Dyke, however, said she has wanted to see the park turned into a town square since it was officially established in 1987.
“I’ve always considered it a town square … to make it more usable, a gathering place for people to come together,” she said.
Now the future of the park hinges on tonight’s decision of the Monterey County Parks Commission.
Mortan said he hopes that, at the least, the commission will vote to conduct a poll to once-and-for-all determine whether the majority of residents want the park to remain as it is or be remodeled.
Van Dyke said she wants the commission to create a committee that would oversee the park.
“I hope we can set up some kind of committee that the community can accept to oversee the development and care of the park,” she said.
John Pinio, director of the Monterey County Parks Department, said that his department has not made a decision either way about the future of the park. Each faction has told him it represents the desire of the majority of residents, he said, but neither has been able to satisfactorily show that they represent the desire of the majority of residents.
“The parks department is totally neutral in this situation, he said.
Pinio is anxious to see the issue decided and hopes the parks commission does just that tonight.
“It’s getting like the Hatfields and McCoys,” he said. “It’s been going on too long.”
The meeting will be held tonight at 6:30pm at the park in Aromas on the corner of Blohm and Carpenteria.
