ENCINITAS — A new neighborhood park is being built in Leucadia next year and the city is looking for input from residents on what to name it.
The 3.1-acre Standard Pacific Park site is located at the southeast corner of the intersection of Piraeus Street and Olympus Street. The park’s amenities will include a zipline, walking paths, benches, picnic tables, a lower hillside playground, an adventure path upslope, a multi-use sports court, a bike/skate feature, shade structures, bike racks, and playground equipment.
“We are excited to get this park named and built for our residents,” said Jennifer Campbell, parks and recreation director in Encinitas. “The land was given to the city by the home developer that built houses in that area.”
The city has criteria for naming public places that includes historical relevance, geographic location, geological features, community identity, significant financial contribution, degree of community support.
Residents can suggest park names through an online survey until Nov. 1. Once the city receives the name suggestions, staff will bring the recommendations to the Parks and Recreation Commission on Nov. 19, which will then make a recommendation to City Council.
“It is an effective and efficient way to solicit feedback from our residents,” Campbell said. “We have also used surveys before for the Parks Master Plan and playground improvements at two other parks.”
The park is being designed by RRM Design Group, who has designed parks in other cities including Sinsheimer Park Playground and Santa Rosa Park, both located in San Luis Obispo, Sapwi Trails Community Park in Thousand Oaks and the San Lorenzo Community Park Master Plan.
Construction is expected to begin sometime after Jan. 1, 2020. The city has not yet gone to bid for construction.
The total amount budgeted for design is $585,000. The total amount budgeted for the park site is $3,662,238, which includes consultant studies, design, project management and construction.
There are currently 19 parks in Encinitas. Some, like Orpheus Park, D Street Viewpoint Park, and Las Verdes Park, are named after the streets they’re on. Some are named for people, such as the Leo Mullen Sports Park, the Paul Ecke Sports Park and the Mildred MacPherson Park.
Mullen is a longtime Encinitas resident who founded the Encinitas Little League; Ecke is a German immigrant known as the “King of the Poinsettia” after he transformed a relatively unknown field plant from Mexico into the country’s best-selling potted plant; and MacPherson was a landscape architect and educator who in her will donated her land on Vulcan Avenue between I and J Streets to the residents of Encinitas.
According to the city’s naming policy that was approved by City Council in 2014, some exclusions apply when it comes to naming land, facilities and amenities. Names that will not be considered include those that promote drugs, alcohol, gambling or adult entertainment; discriminate on the basis of race/ethnicity, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, disability, medical condition, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status or age; include religious symbols, references or statements; include political symbols, references or statements; cause confusion due to duplication or names sounding similar to existing locations within the city; or recognize the birth, marriage or anniversary of specific individuals.
To submit a park name, visit the Standard Pacific Park site webpage at www.EncinitasCA.gov/StandardPacificParkSite and click on the park naming button.
