News - Local

Friday, Jun. 19, 2009

Entrance fee an option for Montaña de Oro

County must come up with money to help maintain the park because a decade-old agreement with the state is about to end

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The county Board of Supervisors may decide Tuesday whether to allow the state to collect $5 or $6 per car to enter Montaña de Oro State Park — or to pay about $50,000 a year in lieu of those fees. The money would help the state defray the estimated $1 million a year it costs to maintain the popular 8,500-acre park south of Los Osos.

A decision is being made now because the county and State Parks forged a cooperative funding agreement in 2000 that expires at the end of this year. During that time, the state agreed not to collect entrance fees but requires the board to decide which option to implement in January. While Montaña de Oro is owned by State Parks, the road that leads in and out of the park, Pecho Valley Road, is owned and operated by the county. If the supervisors decide to charge the entrance fee, the county could install a kiosk on Pecho Valley Road to collect the fees. A third option the board has — which county and state officials say is off the table — would be for the county to end its working relationship with the state. County staff and most community advisory committees along the North Coast support installing a day-use kiosk because the financial burden of $50,000 is too much to pay during the current economic downturn, according to county documents. The Los Osos Community Advisory Council strongly opposes a kiosk. Members say that it would be dangerous on the narrow road and too expensive, making the park unaffordable for some families.

“I have no idea why they aren’t looking at other sources for support of the park,” said Carole Maurer, former chairwoman of the Los Osos council. Maurer said that corporate sponsorships and collection boxes inside the park would be a better solution.

“The cost of building the kiosk and staffing it is out of line from the fees it will collect,” she said. The park, which now costs about $1 million annually to operate, generates about $175,000 in camping fees for the state. State Parks officials have estimated that charging for day use could bring in an additional $300,000 a year, which would then go back into park maintenance.

Nick Franco, superintendent of the San Luis Obispo Coastal District of State Parks, said a kiosk will not necessarily be required if the county agrees to begin charging for day use. Public meetings would be held on how to best handle collecting day-use fees, he said. “The main fear I hear is the kiosk would overdevelop the park,” he said. “There may be ways to collect day use fees within the park without using Pecho Valley Road,” suggesting the kiosks could be placed on other roads, parking lots or areas. While many park users have opposed implementing fees, any fees collected would be used only at Montaña de Oro. Part of the agreement between the county and State Parks requires that the funds generated at Montaña de Oro not go into the collective pool of all state parks, Franco said. That future revenue could help build and maintain trails and help the park expand into the Irish Hills.