Renovating from the ground up!  

Arneill Ranch Park was developed in 1980 as a five-acre park. Home to fitness stations, a 3 to 12 year-old playground, uncovered picnic tables, restroom, and the city's only non-school running/walking track open to the public. The park sits between Arneill Drive and Sweetwater Avenue in Camarillo. 

Renovation Background 

Thanks to the great community feedback during the 2018 Senior and Community Recreation Center Facility Needs Assessment process along with reoccuring maintenance issues regarding the restroom, track and irrigation system, District staff recognized the need for extensive renovations to Arneill Ranch Park as a top priority.  On January 2, 2019, at the District Board of Directors meeting, staff was directed to pursue options for the redesign of the park. 

• April 15, 2019: the District Board approved a Request for Proposals for Architectural Design srevices for the park. 
• May 1, 2019: The District Board approved a professional service agreement with Withers & Sandgren, Ltd. for architectural design services for the park renovation project. 

The District recognized the park was eligible for Proposition 68 grant funding. 

Planning & Design Process

Taking care to involve our community in this project, the District and Withers & Sandgren, Ltd. hosted four general development and community outreach meetings to gather input from residents on what they would like to see in renovations for the park. Four schematic design development meetings were held where the community was able to give feedback on the proposed designs. The final designs were presented to the Board of Directors on July 29, 2019. 

• The District recognized that improvements needing to be made to Arneill Ranch Park were extensive and this park site was eligible for Proposition 68 grant funding. 
• Taking care to involve our community in this project, four community meetings were held to gather input from residents on what they would like to see in renovations for this park.
• The District applied for Prop 68 grant funding ($4M), to help with the considerable expenses for the numerous renovations that were desired for this park, but unfortunately, did not receive it.
• At the July 7, 2021 board meeting, our board of directors, voted to proceed, After careful consideration of what funds could be budgeted for this project, and what improvements could be made; a total of $1.57 million has been approved to upgrade this park for Phase I.
• Relying on District funds, upgrades for this park had to be separated into phases, to be addressed as funds and resources allow.
• Phase 1 is the start of what the District hopes to be able to complete for this park’s upgrades. This covers the most foundational tasks, which must be completed before others can begin (for example, underground utility work and irrigation must be done before the restroom, playground structures, etc. can be updated). Future phases will be planned, and information shared, as resources become available. 

Phase 1 

The first phase of renovation that has been completed at Arneill Ranch Park includes:

• Improvement of underground electrical wiring 
• Installation of a new irrigation system
• Removal of turf on the outside of the walking track to make way for installation of drought tolerant plants and mulch beds
• Turf maintenance of the central grassy area with hydroseeding 
• Regrading of the walking track with additional decomposed granite
• Installation of meandering paths around the edge of the park 

Thanks to the City of Camarillo and the State of California Department of Parks and Recreation, we were able to add the following two features originally scheduled for Phase 2 into Phase 1 through Proposition 68-Per Capita Grant funding. : 

• Installation of a new, accessible playground. Thanks to GameTime, a PlayCore Company, for providing a matching grant on the play equipment! 
• Installation of a new, modular ADA accessible restroom 

Butterfly Garden partnership is underway More details are coming soon!

For questions, please contact our Park Office at (805) 482-5396.