Parents frustrated and confused after city removes toys at Fanuel Park – San Diego Union-Tribune

Parents and caregivers were upset to find that dozens of public toys were removed from the sand lot at Fanuel Park in Pacific Beach — despite their requests to city leaders to leave the toys alone.

The residents say they were told by a city worker last week that the move was made to clean up the park. But they argue the toys — everything from firetrucks to plastic pails and shovels — were one of the park’s last options left for kids, especially since the city removed an aging play structure last year over safety concerns.

“We already lost our structure; we need this,” said Ally Guerin, whose 4-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter enjoyed playing with the toys.

Residents estimate that a rotating supply of toys has lived at the sand lot for about 15 years. Most have been donated over the years, with new toys often coming into circulation, which parents say keeps it fun and interesting for the kids.

Several families head there each Wednesday after the Pacific Beach Library toddler story time.

The city did not immediately respond to questions about why the toys were removed and where they were taken. The Times of San Diego reported that the city removed them as part of park safety and maintenance efforts.

But the residents say they keep the toys tidy, pushing them off the sidewalk so they aren’t in the way. And if the concern is about whether workers can till the sand, they think that’s a problem the city could work around.

“I kind of get it — like every parent who has ever stepped on a Lego at night and has thought about gathering up all the toys,” said Sara O’Connell, the parent of a 4-year-old boy. “The city actually did it, and it’s such a wildly outsized response to what they say is the problem.”

“If the toys are in the way of raking the sand, then push them aside for a moment,” she added. “They’re not Legos. They’re large toys. It wouldn’t be difficult to do it.”

The community first began pushing to keep the toys in early February, when parents at the park were notified by a city worker that they would soon be removed. On Feb. 5, about 30 residents sent a letter to the city and Council President Joe LaCava asking them to reverse the decision.

“The toys offer lessons in sharing, waiting one’s turn, negotiating, and of course, imaginative and physical play,” the letter reads. “Not all parents can afford group child care, and not all parents were able to move their toddlers off wait-lists and into public (transitional kindergarten) programs, but this free group play experience helps fill the void in their socio-emotional education.”

Guerin says the access to the toys was also ideal for families who live in small apartments and don’t have the space to store many toys.

The residents didn’t receive a response, O’Connell said, so she brought the concerns to LaCava at a community meeting later that month.

He was receptive to resident concerns, she said. But the toys were still removed a few weeks later.

“I was so silly,” O’Connell said. “I thought, ‘Oh, if I get everybody together and we express to our elected leaders that we don’t want it to change, and they’ll leave it alone.’”

In an emailed statement, LaCava said he would support finding a way to keep the toys at the park.

“With the loss of the playground equipment, families would benefit from allowing these items to remain in the designated children’s play area,” he told The San Diego Union-Tribune. “I believe we can find a solution which balances the size and quantity of sand toys without hindering operations of our Parks and Recreation staff.”

But until then, residents say the removal is just another way the city has made it more difficult for children to enjoy the park.

Before the playground was closed last August and later removed, Guerin put in a request through the city’s Get It Done app inquiring about the old and corroded play area.

At the time, she was told to go to another park in the area — but Fanuel Park was the most convenient park for her family, just a half a mile away.

“The park isn’t the same without the structure,” she said.

The city told CBS 8 last year that it removed the play structure due to concerns about children’s safety.

The city said at the time that it needed to initiate a capital improvements project to install a new playground and was determining whether the Mission Bay Improvement Fund could be used to help fund the project.

It did add playground spring riders to the park — though Guerin says that for her son, it’s just not the same.

“We didn’t go this week, just because I knew the toys weren’t there,” she said, “and I knew he was gonna be really sad.”