LAGUNA HILLS : Effort to Continue on Renaming of Park

Laguna Hills High School students were unable to get the City Council to rename a park after a friend who died in a car crash last year. But that doesn’t mean they’re giving up.

Several of Brian Voight’s friends will be back before the council tonight to renew their request to change Clarington Park to Brian’s Life Park, say parents.

“I know them well enough to know that they weren’t going to give up,� said Lynne Voight, Brian’s mother. “They will be there.�

Brian Voight and schoolmates Heather Zito and Tracy Myers were killed April 5 when Voight’s 1985 Mustang went out of control and swerved into the path of an oncoming car.

California Highway Patrol investigators say speed caused the accident.

Lynne Voight disputes the CHP’s assessment, saying her family has filed a claim against the county for unsafe road conditions.

Students say the park was a drug-free hangout for Brian Voight and friends. They want to declare the park a drug-free zone for teens in the city.

The council turned down the students March 14, saying that renaming a park is against park and recreation policy.

Instead, they made the city’s annual donation to the high school prom under the name of the three deceased students.

Voight said the students felt they needed more explanation of the council’s denial.

“There is no policy written anywhere that (city staff) has been able to give us,� she said.