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Another Beach Parking Meeting
updated: Aug 14, 2012, 12:59 PM

By Edhat Subscriber

Beach Parking Fees are on the agenda for County Parks & Recreation Commissions' meeting on Thursday August 16, 5:30pm. Attend meeting and voice your disapproval or you'll be paying to park at your favorite beach.

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

COMMENT 308130	2012-08-14 01:28 PM
Based on their online survery, it seems like the decision has already been made to implement a parking fee structure. Why is this not a ballot measure?
COMMENT 308133	2012-08-14 01:31 PM
Seems only fair for the County to charge parking fees to help fund the maintenance of said beaches.
COMMENT 308136	2012-08-14 01:34 PM
I'm not against it at all. Seems reasonable to me.
COMMENT 308140	2012-08-14 01:42 PM
I'm guessing @133 and @136 don't go to the beach often
COMMENT 308143	2012-08-14 01:49 PM
@140 I'm guessing either they're rich enough where a parking fee is inconsequential to them or they own property on the waterfront. Parking fees disincentivize the poor from using the beaches. Therefore, the rich may frolic without bumping into the unwashed masses.
COMMENT 308146	2012-08-14 01:53 PM
Written by people who rarely, if ever, go to the beach. We already pay for beach maintenance, via taxes. Go to meeting and protest this vehemently. Or just be a body so Supes will get the message. Once the fees are in place, they will only go up. This may be okay for tourists, who expect to pay for parking everywhere they go. But what about the locals, who want to take an evening stroll, take the kids for a swim or just want to watch the sunset from the beach? Why should we have to pay for beach access? What's next? Parking fees to go to City parks? This is a VERY BAD idea, and as for it becoming a ballot measure----good luck with gathering signatures throughout the entire county. My experience with ballot measures, as initiatives (put forth by voters), is that a lot of people will give lip service and then vanish when it comes time to take signatures. Hard work. Supes won't put this on a ballot. They know it wouldn't pass.
COMMENT 308156	2012-08-14 02:27 PM
maybe this will lead to more people bicycling to the beach! hehehehehehe
COMMENT 308161	2012-08-14 02:46 PM
Litter pick up on Hendry's is done primarily by anonymous individuals, some of whom have little extra cash, and already contribute. Having a large dog with a bad knee, walking to the beach is not an option. Unfortunately, neither is paying for parking. Attend the meeting!
COMMENT 308162	2012-08-14 02:49 PM
The surrounding neighborhoods (ie., Alan Rd.) and the Boathouse will suffer with this measure because locals will not pay (nor should they have to - isn't that what taxes are for?). It's a nice thought that they might cycle in but realistically that won't happen. They will clog the neighborhoods or go elsewhere. Bad, bad idea.
COMMENT 308163	2012-08-14 02:49 PM
Most major beach cleanups are done by local citizen volunteer groups...these groups will now have to pay to clean up the beach for the county....
COMMENT 308164	2012-08-14 02:52 PM
IF they implement beach parking fees the residents should be allowed to purchase monthly or yearly parking passes at great discounts. Those that do visit the beach often will at least have a little reprieve from the parking charge. Maybe besides the issue of the transients occupying East and West Beach those parking fees are also a deterrent to the locals and tourists that would like to spend a day at the beach. Ever notice how vacant our beaches are? I remember the days when you would see many locals at East Beach in front of the bath house just enjoying a day at the beach. I guess the beaches will be totally taken over by the transients when the locals no longer visit the beach area anymore due to the parking fees.
COMMENT 308169	2012-08-14 02:58 PM
fees suck
COMMENT 308170	2012-08-14 02:59 PM
KEEP IT FREE
COMMENT 308174	2012-08-14 03:12 PM
The fees they are trying to collect will NOT go for the upkeep of the beaches - it will go into the general fund. I go to the beach almost every weekend all year and I don't have a problem paying a resonable fee to park if I know the money is going to be used for the beaches. I DO have a problem when it's just another fee and I don't have any say on what gets funded. I have a Waterfront parking pass (that money goes for upkeep of Waterfront parking) and would buy a parking pass for the beaches if the money was going to help the beaches but it's not so I'm going to the meeting on Thursday night to voice my opinion and I hope to see the rest of you there too! Thanks for your support!
COMMENT 308198	2012-08-14 03:54 PM
If you're going to the beach soooo much that a $5 fee would alter your finances significantly .... you need to move to a cheaper town. And what good is FREE ACCESS when a stupid Plover can shut the beach down completely?
COMMENT 308201P	2012-08-14 04:01 PM
The plover doesn't shut down the beach; those who refuse to follow the warning signs - and they are plentiful - are responsible. Good luck on Thursday! Wish I could attend!
COMMENT 308206	2012-08-14 04:06 PM
Alienate anyone who wishes to use the beach regularly to make it into a "business" that charges the rich and tourists. Awesome. Sell the town out some more why don't you... Volunteer groups spend more time than the city does cleaning up the beaches, so what is the money going towards?
COMMENT 308220	2012-08-14 04:32 PM
206: Volunteer groups clean up trash on the beaches. They do not maintain parking lots, empty trash cans or clean bathrooms. We have to pay people to do all of these tasks.
COMMENT 308247	2012-08-14 05:13 PM
If you can't attend the meeting, please take a moment to email each of the five County Supervisors. Just google "email contact santa barbara county supervisors" and you will see the individual emails. It only takes a minute to voice your opinion. Keep it simple, short and polite. Let the supervisors know how you feel. They won't know unless you tell them. Be sure and mention which district you're in, when emailing the supervisor for your own district. Tell him/her that you vote, and that this is an important issue for you. Thanks for being active and protecting our beach access.
COMMENT 308249P	2012-08-14 05:22 PM
The goleta beach is taken care of by 2 people who are paid. They live there. I meet them at the recycle and they also get to keep the money from the recycle every day, as well as being paid .The surfrider goup is the one that I volunteer at who cleans up the beaches. We should not have to pay for parking at the beach.
COMMENT 308250	2012-08-14 05:32 PM
I hope the parking stays free, but if not, I hope they have a bunch of 90-min (or some length of time) free spots for folks just going for a short beach or pier walk - sunrise, sunset, date, dog walk, or quick stop at the playground with kid, etc.
GILBERT	2012-08-14 05:45 PM
174 has it right. It was clarified by county staff in the last hearing that these beach access fees will not benefit our beaches directly. The money grab will merely disappear into the black hole of our county budget. Beach access will be restricted to those with the ability to pay and our budget deficit still not resolved. NO!
COMMENT 308256	2012-08-14 05:47 PM
If they pass this then they better pick all the tar off the beach with these funds!
COMMENT 308275	2012-08-14 06:36 PM
I am a bit surprised at the tone of resignation I sense in many of these posts. We pay taxes for our parks, including the beaches. No more new taxes!! Please come out in force and if you can't, write each of the supervisors. It will take 10 minutes of your time.
COMMENT 308279P	2012-08-14 06:59 PM
I think you need to make a correction to the original post. The meeting on Thursday at 5:30 is of the Parks & Recreation Commission -- Not the Board of Supervisors, they will make a recommendation to the Board, so it is important to attend, but don't expect to see the Sups there. Meeting is at the Planning Commission Hearing Room, 123 E. Anapamu Street. Agenda is here: http://www.countyofsb.org/uploadedFiles/parks/Who_We_Are/Park_Commission/1%20-%2008.16.12%20PC%20Agenda.pdf The agenda item is listed as: Beach Parking Fees – For Information and Discussion Recommendation: That the Park Commission receive a presentation on parking fees at 7 beach access points and other County park facilities, hear and consider all public comment, and discuss the following: a) Should the County consider parking fees at all County parks or only the seven beach locations? b) Should the County consider tiered parking fees or a flat rate? c) What should the parking fees be? d) How much should be charged for citations?
COMMENT 308283	2012-08-14 07:11 PM
I would love a fee based government. I would pay my beach, park, road, police and fire taxes, then use the 40k left over to send my kids to a good school and start a business. Since I already pay such a large portion in undirected taxes, I expect things like beaches to be provided just like the police.
COMMENT 308289	2012-08-14 07:28 PM
Ever since California passed a law (I think it was a ballot initiatve) that tax increases required a vote of the citizenry with a supermajority, our politicians have spent much of their energy devising ways to sqeeze more money out of their constituents. Fees are the answer for them. When Schneider jets off to a Mayors Conference, what do you think they're talking about? Creative ways to squeeze more money out of you and I. What they ought to be talking about, and candidates that we ought to be voting for, are those that recognize that they need to do with less.
COMMENT 308311	2012-08-14 08:38 PM
Assume that they are going to pass fees. We need to be sure that everything is done openly. First the county will need to build an attractive kiosk for the beach fee collector. The kiosk will need to pass the architecture board of review and the coastal commission. It certainly should have an environmental review. Maybe check the political leaning of the fee collectors. What is the cost benefit after salaries and capital investments? How many managers are required? We seem to have a rash of government employees using fees for their own purposes.
COMMENT 308332P	2012-08-14 10:12 PM
Love your contribution 311! Seriously, though, it is a bad idea on many levels. I take my dogs to the Summerland Beach (Lookout Park) almost every day and I see the park used heavily by family groups that I am pretty sure will find it hard to pay the fees. So, I am entirely convinced that if fees are required, people will simply park in the underpass, in the post office parking lot, along the very, very narrow streets of Summerland and to take up all the available spaces that the retail stores now count on for parking for their customers. Stores that have their own lots will have to put up signs and make arrangements with towing companies, and they will have to spend time policing their lots. Sadly, this new bureaucratic debacle will occur just as the new sidewalks are being finished; sidewalks that the Summerland stores are hoping will draw in more business. However, if this is passed, the already limited parking will be taken by beach goers. In the end, the merchants of Summerland will be the ones footing the bill in lost revenue! I do not own a business in Summerland, but I do feel badly that this is about to befall them. Ah, what can we expect? Just typical bureaucrats doing what typical bureaucrats do! Too short sighted to see the unintended consequences.
CEES	2012-08-14 11:25 PM
@311 - good points about all the expenses to build the fee collection facilities and salaries to pay parking lot attendants and/or fee collectors (with lifelong benies no doubt.) Please no parking fees at the beaches!
COMMENT 308434	2012-08-15 08:47 AM
Folks, why should the County not collect parking fees when the City and State already do? Don't want to pay the fee? Simple.... park nearby and WALK. Personally I find the whining about taxes already paid to be disingenuous as public coffers have been running on empty for as long as the recession's been around. People don't want to pay for services but as soon as a service is discontinued the outcry is deafening.
COMMENT 308481	2012-08-15 09:51 AM
@34....."Why not park and walk"....because they'll put "No Parking" signs on all the public roads near by...duh! That's what they did at Jalama and they gleefully give out expensive parking tickets to surfers. At Rincon park they'll have to put no parking signs all up and down Bates Rd for a half mile or their scheme won't work. Bates Rd. has always an easy safe place for overflow parking....ergo there will be no place to park on heavy use days if the parking lot is full. So, we the tax payers of SB county we'll get screwed twice by this travesty, pay if there's room to park or go home if the parking is full (and it's full quite often). It's Orwellian!
COMMENT 308499	2012-08-15 10:12 AM
@34....."Why not park and walk"....because they'll put "No Parking" signs on all the public roads near by...duh! That's what they did at Jalama and they gleefully give out expensive parking tickets to surfers. At Rincon park they'll have to put no parking signs all up and down Bates Rd for a half mile or their scheme won't work. Bates Rd. has always an easy safe place for overflow parking....ergo there will be no place to park on heavy use days if the parking lot is full. So, we the tax payers of SB county we'll get screwed twice by this travesty, pay if there's room to park or go home if the parking is full (and it's full quite often). It's Orwellian!
COMMENT 308518P	2012-08-15 10:55 AM
The cash-strapped County just handed the developers of the Miramar property millions of dollars worth of tax breaks. So now the people have to make up the difference?
COMMENT 308527	2012-08-15 11:03 AM
I am SO against beach fees! We may already be screwed. I think 130 is right... why not a ballot measure? Are they too afraid of the poor and the middle class voting against the fees? This city makes PLENTY of money on parking tickets and DUIs, (one of the highest DUI rates in the entire nation for such a small town). I hope all of you here who oppose the fees will attend the meeting and LOUDLY display our opinion! PLEASE GO! Fight for what should remain free!
BECKY	2012-08-15 11:20 AM
Here is the link to use to email each of the members of the Board of Supervisors to politely (please) tell them that you oppose beach parking fees. http://www.countyofsb.org/bos/default.aspx
COMMENT 308555	2012-08-15 11:32 AM
Unfortunately they will be using a pay in advance box like east beach; no kiosk no full time employee (contracted service-money leaving town). It is quick to implement. I personally remove over 500 lbs of trash per year from Hendry's beach per year. If I have to pay for parking the trash tongs and hauling lines go in the closet. We'll let the county clean their pay-to-park beach.(not)
COMMENT 308585	2012-08-15 12:08 PM
BECKY- Thank you, I just emailed all 5 supes.
COMMENT 308764	2012-08-15 04:26 PM
If you can't go to the meeting email Jessica at jrauch@sbparks.org She is the one who is passing along ALL of these messages to the meeting/hearing. I've done my homework. I'm really against these fees! I've made my voice heard loud and clear, please, please do the same!
COMMENT 309403P	2012-08-17 08:26 AM
I'm in favor of "pay to play". It costs all taxpayers to keep up the beaches even though many taxpayers never use them for whatever reason. A reasonable fee seems totally fine to me.
COMMENT 309406P	2012-08-17 08:32 AM
When the county is in the position of having to cut services needed by ever taxpayer then it seems right to me that those services used by only a few "to recreate" should pay for that. The up keep of the beaches has been subsidized by a lot ot taxpayers that don't get to enjoy them and that is not really fair. A small fee that covers trash pickup, landscaping, etc. seems fair.

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