Plans for cricket pitch at Sacramento park creates Natomas neighbor dispute
SACRAMENTO — It's neighbor versus neighbor in one Sacramento neighborhood over a plan for their public park.
The clash was over a proposed cricket pitch in Northlake Park in Natomas. The dispute has led to online petitions on both sides of this controversy.
"I'm a lover, so cricket is in my blood," cricket pitch supporter Hemant Tawi said.
"I grew up watching Indian cricket and I love cricket," cricket pitch supporter Namrata Yevle said.
However, the idea is not scoring points with everyone there. Some homeowners are concerned the cricket matches will make traffic miserable.
"It's huge," cricket pitch opponent Rob Lo said. "Because my house as you can see is adjacent to the park."
Lo signed a petition opposing the pitch. There is no parking lot planned, meaning limited street parking will be a visitors-only option.
"I'm not a cricket hater at all," Lo said. "I like cricket, I like all sports, but it's problematic because there's no parking."
Jennifer Chawla created the opposition petition. Besides parking concerns, she is worried cricket is not an accessible sport for women.
"I think there is a grassroots push now because I think there's been attention brought to the matter – where they're bringing kids in, they're inviting women, but we're nowhere near where we need to be where we can call it a co-ed sport," Chawla said.
Sacramento's Youth Parks and Community Enrichment program describes Northlake Park as the most suitable location for a cricket pitch and reports currently permitted users of the city's only other cricket field are co-ed.
"It's going to attract the cricket leagues which span all of Northern California," Lo said.
Despite the opposition from neighbors, Sacramento City Councilmember Lisa Kaplan confirmed to CBS Sacramento Wednesday night that the decision to build the cricket pitch was final and that it should be built in the next year.
