The beach has always presented a free option for summer fun—a place where families can spend a day soaking in the rays and splashing in the chilly surf without spending any money.
However, no-cost visits to the local jeweled coastline may soon belong to a bygone era, as officials are seriously considering charging $3 to $8 to park cars at six county beaches.
The county’s Board of Supervisors granted conceptual approval of the idea in May, and on June 23, the county’s Park Commission held an informational meeting in Santa Barbara to discuss options for fee collection, including whether pay stations would be staffed or self-pay.
Affected beaches include Ocean Beach Park and Guadalupe Dunes Park in the North County, and Goleta Beach Park, Arroyo Burro Beach Park, Lookout Park, and Rincon Beach Park in the South.
The Park Commission meeting drew locals concerned the proposal could limit access to the beaches and questioning where the revenue generated from the fee collection might go.
According to Interim Parks Director Brian Roney, the Parks Department estimates it would collect anywhere from $3 million to $8 million each year from the fees, depending on the amount charged. He said the revenue would help the department chip away at a $20.5 million cost for deferred park projects and repairs the department needs but currently can’t afford.
“We have such an infrastructure deficit at a lot of these park properties: lift stations, restrooms, ADA issues, and parking lots that need to be slurry sealed,” Roney said. “We would obviously be pumping some of that money back into those six parks, because we have a lot of deferred maintenance,”
At Guadalupe Dunes Beach Park, which draws 73,640 visitors each year but currently has only a temporary walkway for pedestrians, the construction of a $220,000 bypass road would allow vehicles to access the parking lot. Roney said the road would be at the top of the list for projects funded by the parking fees.
“Our goal is to get a bypass road, but again we don’t have any money for that,” Roney said. “If we were to get beach parking revenue, that would be one of the projects we would attack.”
If parking fees are ultimately approved, Roney said implementation would likely come during the off-peak season. The amount the county might collect from tourists alone is unknown.
Ocean Beach Park, which lies west of Lompoc and draws close to 42,000 visitors annually, lies under the jurisdiction of 3rd District Supervisor Doreen Farr, who said supervisors have yet to take any official position on the pay-for-parking plan.
“We are looking at a number of ways to make the Parks Department at least revenue-neutral and not be a continued drain on the general fund,” Farr said. “We may not choose to do it in the end, but we feel we need to look at all the various options that the departments can bring forward to generate more revenue.”
The idea isn’t a new one. Supervisors bandied it about as recently as 2008, but were reluctant to consider it then. However, given the enormous deficit the county faces, Farr said, the concept deserves a serious second look.
“Our beaches are a wonderful resource, and we are having to look at all different ways to generate revenue, including to keep beaches open,” Farr said. “I think that would be the worst thing, to have to close some of them on various days because we don’t have the money to keep them open.”
Farr added that most other city and state beaches throughout the state already charge for parking and that Parks Department has had to increase fees and amenities at Cachuma Lake and Jalama Beach just to keep some revenue coming in.
The county Park Commission has approved a tentative timeline for moving forward with the plan, holding a series of stakeholder meetings followed by four public workshops—two at Cachuma Lake, one in Santa Maria, and one somewhere in the South County—over the next two months.
Roney said the Parks Department would likely return to the commission in August or September with a recommendation. If the commission agrees to move forward, the plan would go to the Board of Supervisors for consideration, likely by October.
When the matter comes back to the board, Supervisor Farr said she’d like to see an array of options, including periodic free days or weekends and discounts for county residents, seniors, veterans, and frequent beach visitors.
“Certainly, we don’t want the beach to be something that’s exclusive in any way,” Farr said. “We do want to keep the beaches open and accessible as much as possible. We just don’t want to limit who can use it because of the cost.”
Contact Staff Writer Jeremy Thomas at jthomas@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jun 30 – Jul 7, 2011.