Sonoma County's Board of Supervisors unanimously rebuffed a State Parks plan to charge fees at 14 state beach parking lots on the Sonoma Coast.
The Sonoma County Board of Zoning Adjustment in January denied the California Department of Parks and Recreation's request for a coastal permit to install signs and self-pay boxes known as "iron rangers" at the beaches.
The proposed day use fee was to be $7 or $8.
State Parks appealed that decision this afternoon to the Board of Supervisors.
The State Parks Department can further appeal the board's denial before the California Coastal Commission.
Deputy Director of Park Operations Matthew Fuzie said the decision to appeal further rests with State Parks Director Major General Anthony L.
Jackson.
"They did exactly what they needed to do," Fuzie said after the Board of Supervisors denied the appeal.
The county's Permit and Resource Management Department recommended the supervisors deny the appeal.
The 20 people who spoke this afternoon against the fees at the state park beaches echoed the comments of the two-dozen people who spoke at the zoning board's hearing in January.
Speakers and the supervisors cited Coastal Act Access Policy 30210 that requires maximum public access to the coastal beaches.
Speakers said charging to park at the beaches would prevent lower income families, seniors and youths from access to the beaches.
Beachgoers would park, as they already have at some beaches, in nearby neighborhoods and risk injury or death by crossing state Highway 1.
They also said damage would occur to environmentally sensitive habitat areas when people cut new trails to avoid paying the day use beach fees.
Some speakers and board members also noted the public outcry when $50 million was discovered in two different State Parks' accounts at the time State Parks was planning on closing dozens of parks in the state.
The Board of Supervisors in August approved a resolution opposing new beach parking fees until the Department of Parks and Recreation accounts for all funding streams and determines no other viable funding alternatives exist to ensure free and open access to parks.
The California Department of Parks and Recreation cited budget shortfalls and a legislative mandate to increase revenue as the reasons for collecting the fees at beach parking lots in Sonoma Coast State Park and Salt Point State Park.
Fuzie said the State Parks' budget for the Russian River District that includes the coastal state parks is $4.7 million a year, and the district generates only about $900,000 annually to State Parks.
State Parks staff have said one option would allow use of multiple parks in a single day with a payment of the fee at the first stop.
State Parks has also proposed an hourly fee at some locations in Southern California. Before denying the appeal, some board members fondly recalled their visits with their families to coastal beaches when they were growing
up.
Supervisor Shirlee Zane noted the county sheriff's office's helicopter Henry 1 rescues beachgoers at state park beaches, and county residents helped keep four state parks open when the state announced plans to close dozens of state parks.
"We've already paid," Zane said.
Supervisor Susan Gorin said, "It's totally unacceptable to price people out of access to the beaches."
Board Chair David Rabbit said there is no exception to maximum public access to state beaches under the provisions of the Coastal Act Access Policy.
Supervisor Efren Carrillo, whose district includes the state beaches, said it is "unacceptable" to agree to the state's plan to charge for parking.
"Access is fundamental," Carrillo said.
Supervisor Mike McGuire also said county residents stepped up to keep state parks open when State Parks said a "budget shortfall" was forcing them to close parks statewide.
"Now the state has to step up," McGuire said.
-Bay City News
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