Proposed parking fee at Howarth Park unpopular

<p>The prospect of a $5 parking fee at Santa Rosa's popular Howarth Park is the latest setback for park lovers who already are seeing tangible signs of the faltering economy.</p><p>Weeds go untended, trash goes uncollected and the county is warning that even Healdsburg's popular Russian River swimming hole could become a knee-deep wading area next year because the county can't afford to put up the annual dam.</p><p>“They don't just get squeezed in one place, they get squeezed all over the county,” Forestville resident Sebastien Chevrolet said of people who flock to area parks throughout the year.</p><p>Chevrolet, who visits the linked parks of Howarth, Spring Lake and Annadel two or three times a week, is concerned that the city's plan to charge $5 for parking will discourage low-income families from using the picnic tables and barbecue pits at Howarth.</p><p>“It's one of the last free activities you can do in the county,” he said.</p><p>Carol Petersen of Fulton, who was spending time with her two grandsons at Howarth's playground area Friday afternoon, said the fee is “surprising, it's shocking.”</p><p>“I don't think this park was ever built in mind for charging people,” she said.</p><p>The parking fees, and associated fines for non-payment, are expected to raise about $500,000 for the cash-strapped city. Fees for other parks and recreation programs such as classes, camps and meeting space rentals are expected to go up between 15 and 25 percent.</p><p>Despite deep cuts, the City Council on Thursday passed a budget that has a $3.8 million built-in deficit that the city hopes will be offset by further employee concessions and passage of a $2 million tax measure in November.</p><p>“Our back is up against the wall, financially,” said Marc Richardson, director of the Recreation, Parks and Community Services Department. </p><p>Richardson, a Santa Rosa native who said his first job as a teen was driving the train at Howarth Park, said he understands concerns about some users being priced out of coming to the popular facility that features softball fields, tennis courts, a petting zoo, pony rides, playground, train, carousel and sailing and boating on Lake Ralphine.</p><p>“The notion that a lot of people have, and I think it's a correct one, is that most city parks should be public goods — open and accessible to everyone,” he said.</p><p>A series of public meetings on the proposed parking fee will be held next month and city officials plan to meet with neighboring businesses and residents to hear concerns about park users gobbling up nearby street parking.</p><p>Howarth Park off Summerfield Road can get up to 15,000 visitors a day in the summer, Richardson said. Those users are already finding many park features popular features like the train, pony rides, boat house, carousel and petting zoo closed on Fridays to save money.</p><p>Santa Rosa is not alone in its plans to cut back its parks budget in the face of mounting financial troubles.</p><p>Sonoma County is proposing to slash its parks budget by $1.2 million — a move that includes eliminating the seasonal dam at Healdsburg's Veterans Memorial Beach, which becomes a popular swimming hole in the summer.</p><p>Elsewhere, daily garbage pickup will now likely happen only once a week, and some restrooms will only be cleaned on the weekend. </p><p>The county department cut 16 percent of its budget and is facing another 20 percent this year.</p><p>“There is no way that won't be noticed,” said Sonoma County Regional Parks Director Mary Burns.</p><p>The 44 regional parks currently receive more than 40 percent of their funding from the county, including $4.2 million in general fund money.</p><p>Camping fees bring in about $3 million annually, while $7 day-use fees pull in $1.9 million and sales of annual passes bring in between $500,000 to $600,000.</p><p>Supervisor Shirlee Zane said increasing entrance fees is “always a possibility.”</p><p>But first she is pressing for a partnership with Santa Rosa officials to make street parking around Spring Lake more difficult.</p><p>“The city could help,” she said. “Making some of the area no-parking zones in order to persuade people, or provide a disincentive for parking and walking in.”</p><p>Zane said Montgomery and Channel drives as well as Violetti Road get clogged with park users who drive to the site, park on surface streets, then walk in so they don't have to pay $7 to park.</p><p>“It's avoiding the fee, let's face it,” she said. “It's pretty obvious what people are doing.”</p><p>Danita Mazzoleni of Petaluma paid the $7 fee Thursday afternoon to enjoy a 1½-hour hike with a group of friends.</p><p>Despite the cutbacks, she'll keep coming so long as park safety remains a priority with the limited funds.</p><p>“People come up here for a good time, family time,” she said, sitting on the grass in the Shady Oaks picnic area. “They need to make sure the trails are in good repair, that they're marked and that rangers are accessible.”</p><p>But Mazzoleni empathized with the budgetary woes facing cities and counties.</p><p>“You can't have all this without paying something for it.”</p><p>Staff writer Kerry Benefield writes an education blog at extracredit.blogs.pressdemocrat.com. She can be reached at 526-8671 or kerry.benefield@pressdemocrat.com</p>