City Orders Study of Parks, Recreation Needs

With a growing number of families with children moving into the city, officials said they need to create a master plan for increasing park space and recreation programs.

So the City Council on Monday selected Takata Associates of South Pasadena to complete a master plan projecting the city’s need for parks and recreation over the next 20 years.

The plan, to be completed by spring 1999, will evaluate existing facilities and programs and identify possible sites for future parks development, said Catherine Walter, director of parks and recreation.

Walter said the increased number of children in Malibu has meant that the few playing fields in the city are heavily used. In addition to creating new fields, she said, the city hopes to be able to build volleyball, basketball and tennis courts.

The biggest challenge to establishing more parks in Malibu will be locating suitable space within the city, which is 26 miles long and less than two miles wide.