How does a project the Master Plan never drew at Cresta Park end up in the budget, while the improvement they ranked first at both parks is still on paper four years later?
The answer is in the Arden Park Recreation and Park District's own meeting records. The district runs Arden Park on La Sierra Drive and Cresta Park on Cresta Way. In 2022 its board adopted a ten-year Master Plan built on input from about 650 people. In July 2026 it adopted a budget that turns Cresta's only tennis court into two pickleball courts. In this district, a project moves when it fits inside a single year's spending. The survey ranking matters less.
The Court Change Came Through the Budget
The pickleball conversion did not arrive as a park project with its own hearing. It was one line in a list of changes to the district's General Fund budget for fiscal year 2026-2027. The same list cut the AED units from two to one, added concrete safety work at Arden Park, upgraded two office computers, and covered repair or possible replacement of the pool cleaner. The minutes of the July 21 meeting, printed in the district's August 18 agenda packet, show the resolution passing 4-0.
A resident spoke against it during public comment, raising environmental impact, more people and traffic in a park that is already busy, existing parking problems, likely noise complaints, and what other parks have run into after similar conversions. The minutes also note her point that the conversion is not in the Master Plan. A director answered that pickleball courts were a highly rated addition that residents had asked for in the most recent Master Plan.
The issue came back in September. Minutes from the September 15 meeting record a director saying many families had contacted him about pickleball at Cresta. He suggested a process to collect resident feedback and said cost had to be discussed, all as part of a larger Master Plan conversation. During public comment, a resident said several people oppose the conversion because it would bring more people and cars to a park that already has usage issues. So the project is in the budget, and a public feedback process is now being proposed after the fact.
What the Plan Actually Drew at Cresta
The director was right that residents rated pickleball well. The 2022 Master Plan, prepared by Gates and Associates, lists "New Pickleball Courts" with 62% support. That item sits in the concept design for Arden Park, next to the new 8-lane pool, the zero-entry water play feature and a sound wall. The Cresta Park design shows something else.
| Cresta Park item in the 2022 plan | Resident support | Estimated cost |
|---|---|---|
| Extended loop path | 91% | $263,840 to $435,336 |
| Improve existing soccer field | 86% | $1,188,000 to $1,960,200 |
| Update existing playground | 81% | $1,073,500 to $1,771,275 |
| New picnic area | 79% | $87,300 to $144,045 |
| New bocce court | 78% | $183,500 to $302,775 |
| New concrete plaza | 41% | $47,220 to $77,913 |
At Cresta, the plan calls for a bocce court. Pickleball is not on the list. Today Cresta has one unlit tennis court, a basketball court, an unlit soccer and open-play field, play equipment, picnic tables with barbecues, and a restroom. Turning that tennis court into two pickleball courts reuses pavement the park already has. Nothing in the plan's Cresta column works that way. Every item there means building something new or rebuilding something old.
Four Years In, Two Items Finished
The October 20, 2026 agenda packet went back over the plan for the board and staff and marked what is done. Two items are finished, and both are at Arden Park. Redoing the basketball court cost $38,863. Repaving the tennis courts cost $171,250. The repaving was the least popular item on Arden Park's list, with 39% support. It still got done ahead of things residents rated far higher.
Here is what is still waiting at Arden Park, with the 2022 estimates:
- Extended loop path: 96% support, $98,400 to $162,360
- New pool: 86% support, $2,701,000 to $4,456,650
- Update existing playground: 82% support, $901,000 to $1,352,250
- New zero-entry water play feature: 80% support, $515,000 to $849,750
- New community center: 65% support, $12,519,125 to $20,656,556
- New pickleball courts: 62% support, $405,600 to $669,240
The update states the limit plainly. The district has run on a pay-as-you-go basis for several years, and finishing every project in the plan "may not be feasible without other funding sources." Part of that funding is fixed. The district's FY 2026-27 Engineer's Report sets the benefit assessment at $91.73 for a basic single-family property and says the amount has not changed since the assessment began. When income works like that, a $38,863 court redo fits in a year. A pool replacement starting at $2.7 million does not, even though it has the support. Arden Park's current pool is still in use. The 2026 public swim season ran June 9 to August 12.
The Field That Has Waited Since 2004
Cresta's soccer field shows this most clearly. The update includes a list of recommendations from the district's 2004 Master Plan for Cresta that were repeated in 2022. Most of them are done: a new restroom and storage building, removal of the old basketball court, consolidated picnic areas, shade trees, security lighting, a drinking fountain. One item has never been finished. It calls for regrading the soccer field and installing drainage "to address problems with the field becoming soggy in the winter." The 2022 plan priced field improvements at $1.19 million to $1.96 million.
In October, the district's general manager walked Cresta with Robert Bohn, a landscape and irrigation specialist. His recommendations recast the problem. He treats the field's main problem as compaction from cleats, with drainage secondary. The fix he describes is annual aeration plus a turf professional's quote for adding soil, small grade adjustments and seeding. He budgets about $20,000 to $30,000 for that work in early spring, and about $2,000 a year to aerate and seed the rest of the park.
That moves a twenty-year-old item from a seven-figure rebuild to a maintenance job a pay-as-you-go district can fund in one year. A resident told the board in September that a proposal to redo Cresta's turf for $10,000 had come in about ten years ago. The specialist's winter list also includes:
- Start a tree binder that records every removal and trim, along with the safety reason for it.
- Keep an 8-foot clearance under limbs, and evaluate leaning trees.
- Remove the desert willows and replant farther from the walkway and light pole, and take out three staked cork oaks that are not developing properly.
- Audit every irrigation station and sprinkler head, then decide whether low water pressure calls for a new pump or smaller nozzles.
He sorts these into short-term work, a winter and early-spring phase, and budget decisions on the pump and a small stand-on mower. If that schedule holds, Cresta's field work would come in early spring. A feedback process on the pickleball conversion would be underway around the same time.
Smaller Costs Already Pressing on the Same Budget
Projects compete for money with everyday operations, and some of those costs are rising this year. Under the September budget review, 32% of the annual fuel budget was spent in the first quarter, even though staff had planned for a larger-than-usual increase.
Closing time is the other cost. The Arden Park Neighborhood Association is cutting its patrols from seven nights a week to five, so the district expects higher security charges in 2027. Its security vendor has agreed to hold current rates through the end of 2026. With the time change, closing Cresta around 5 p.m. would take a separate guard trip before neighborhood patrols start, at an added $435 a month. Arden Park stays open later for activities and rentals. Every recurring cost like this shrinks the room for the next project, whether that's turf, a court or a path.
The Parks Through December
The Cresta decisions will play out at the board's monthly meetings over the winter. In the meantime, the district's calendar is busy at Arden Park, where the community center is. These dates come from the district's events page and its October staff report:
- November 12: Craft Club Harvest Floral workshop, with materials for a fall arrangement, a sweet treat and warm apple cider
- November 14: Characters and Cookies with Spider-Man and friends
- November 15: Introduction to American Mah Jongg, a class for beginners
- November 20: The Great Turkey Bingo Bash at 6:30 p.m., $5 entry
- December 4: Holiday in the Park, 6 to 8 p.m., when Santa lights the 17-foot tree and the community center, followed by local performers, Santa photos and a tree decorating competition
- December 12: Horse-drawn sleigh rides through Arden Park with Top Hand Ranch Carriage Company, up to four adults and two children per sleigh
- December 18: Ugly Sweater Trivia Night at 6:30 p.m., $5 entry, ages 18 and up
Anyone who wants a say on the Cresta court or the soccer field can find agendas, packets and minutes on the district's site at aprpd.org, and every agenda includes a public comment period.
I've worked in Arden Park long enough to see park changes come up in conversations with buyers and sellers. If you're wondering how a change at Cresta or Arden Park could affect your street, I'm happy to talk it through. Reach out to Angela Heinzer for a conversation or a free home valuation.
