"Because of continuing uncertainty about the park, we formed an organization," said resident Larry Hiller, spokesman for Friends of Vista Park. "We want to make the park as useful as possible for neighborhood events."

Hiller gathered nearly 300 signatures asking that none of the park's green space be paved over for parking or additional baseball diamonds.

The small, city-owned portion of the park, accessible from 5000 South west of 1950 West, is part of a larger 28-acre expanse, mostly owned by Salt Lake County. The county-owned portion has four older ball fields.

"Youth baseball is a lot about who our community is," said Taylorsville Mayor Janice Auger, naming several awards the city's teams have won at state and worldwide competitions. Between 700 and 900 youths enroll in the city's programs each year.

Plans for expanding the current youth-baseball complex have been in the works since Taylorsville incorporated in 1996.

"The goal is to have a project suitable for regional tournaments and perhaps even a youth world series," Auger said.

Parts of Vista Park once served as a gravel pit, then a landfill. Residents were promised a park for almost 40 years, Hiller said. In recent years, the city made good on that promise, establishing green space with a walking path, pavilion and restrooms.

"This good little park is really a gem, but it's still young," Hiller says, adding that park advocates would like so see more amenities, including lights to extend hours of use. A children's playground, under construction since July, remains unfinished.

Holly Smith and her husband purposely moved to Taylorsville so their two sons could participate in the city's renowned baseball programs.

"For us, it's a way of life. He helps coach - he's the human pitching machine - and I'm president of the Little League. It's entertainment and it helps the kids," Smith said.

However, some say baseball is a bad neighbor.

"I think a large percentage who play ball here are from outside the neighborhood and outside Taylorsville proper," said Shauna Peterson, whose home borders the small park. "That's why traffic and parking are such heinous issues - people sometimes block our driveways."

Residents in this older neighborhood also were promised that lights and noise would end at 9 p.m. But that hasn't been the case, Peterson said.

Baseball upgrades will probably not get under way until 2007. City officials have looked at four designs and favor two that leave the neighborhood park mostly intact. One would double the size of the existing asphalt parking lot.

More parking and additional fields probably will be built on the higher county-owned ground, currently dirt and weeds. Funds from the ZAP tax will pay for most of the upgrades, City Councilman Les Matsumura said.

"Before we move ahead, there will be public hearings," he said, expecting those to start some time next year.

cmckitrick@sltrib.com