For Prunedale residents Cindy and Jack Hawkins, democracy is thwarted by a locked gate at the entrance to Manzanita County Park.
“Parks are for the people!” says Cindy, who prefers to drive her horse trailer past the gate, into the parking lot, to ride the park’s trails.
The Hawkins are part of a group drawing battle lines over the renewal of a concessionaire’s agreement at Manzanita. For decades, the North County Youth Recreation Association (YRA) has rented 56 of the park’s 464 acres for $1 per year.
YRA members open the park entrance gate only when they’re using the ball fields. The Hawkins and their allies want the gate to stay open in the daytime for motorized public access.
When the gate is locked, which the Hawkins say is more often than not, cars can stack up in the small outside parking area and spill onto Castroville Boulevard.
“They [the YRA] act like they own this,” says Jack, standing by the ball field bleachers on a sunny afternoon. “All we want is access.”
Cindy notes the YRA’s rental premises do not actually include the entrance gate. The agreement with the county doesn’t mention the gate either, but parks managers let the YRA control it.
“We don’t want them to give anything up,” she says, “just coexist with other park users.”
But YRA board member Steve Tansey says the community volunteers who raised funds and built the youth sports complex in the late ’70s deserve to control the gate.
“When folks come in and say they have a right to [the rental premises], that doesn’t seem fair to those of us who put our sweat, time and money into it,” he says. “This was not a county-built project. It was built by the community.”
Under the agreement, the YRA is responsible for maintaining and paying utility bills for the youth sports complex.
The Hawkins say the deal allows too much private control of a public resource – similar to the case made by opponents of proposed ball fields at Toro County Park.
The Make Manzanita Park Accessible Facebook page, which had 135 likes on July 1, alleges the county isn’t doing enough to help. “[District 2 County Supervisor Lou] Calcagno’s office… continues to refuse to address this issue,” reads a March 14 post.
Calcagno, who met with the Hawkins in April, says he hopes the county can buy a 23-acre property off Prunedale North Road and build a new parking lot there.
Only problem: The land is listed at $529,000, and County Parks is short $4 million this fiscal year.
“We’re trying to make some type of offer that would be acceptable to the sellers and the county,” Calcagno says. “We’d have to find some money within the system somewhere, and at this point we haven’t been that creative.”
Parks Planning Manager John Akeman refers questions to Interim Director Nick Chiulos, who’s on vacation.
Another hangup: The 2001 concessionaire’s contract has been expired for more than three years. Officials expect the renewal to come before the Board of Supervisors within the next few months.
If YRA leaders are forced to keep the park gates open all day, Tansey says, they might impose a vehicle entrance fee, like the $6-$8 one at nearby Royal Oaks County Park.
“We don’t want to charge,” he says. “[But] I don’t see any other way of paying for the extra care the park is going to need.”
(9) comments
I can't believe the YRA is even suggesting charging the rest of us $6.00 or $8.00 to drive into our park when they have for decades enjoyed ridiculously cheap rent ($1.00 per year) for 50 plus acres of public lands, not to mention free water courtesy of the tax payers and complete control of a gate and road situated on park property. If they really want to demonstrate a sense of community they would strike an agreement with the Parks Dept to keep the gate open during regular park hours.
Instead of spending 500K on separate entrance and tearing up more land for a parking lot, how about stationing one of the surplus rangers from Nacimiento or San Antonio up at Manzanita to keep the gates open and provide security for the park, It would be a more ethical choice and a win win for all park users.
This is a continual issue wth YRA blocking access to this park. If they want to Protect their area, then they should fence that off and lock it so it isn't accessable to the rest of the park users. I have no problem with that. Blocking the other 400 acres to County Residents is wrong, and must not be allowed. We want to enjoy our park too. We want to ride there, hike there and enjoy it like we used to before YRA came in and locked us out.
If YRA has been able to use the road up the hill all these years which is situated on Park property and outside the scope of the "leased" premises, it seems only fair that the citizens of Monterey County should be able to use the parking lot inside the park to access the trails and that equestrians should be able to drive through the “premises” to the safe trailer parking area on the other side. There is a strong possibility that the people who use and care about Manzanita park trails would be willing band together to take care of the park in order to avoid fees, it could be a win win situation for all. It would be ridiculous to impose a $6.00 or $8.00 daily fee on people when there are really no facilities aside from trails for non sports affiliated park users. If necessary some sort of nominal yearly pass fee would seem to be a more realistic option.
Those who are against turning public pastoral parks used by thousands of people into private softball/baseball facilities used by just a few should "like" the Save Toro Park facebook page and the Make Manzanita Park facebook page. Also write emails to each Board of Supervisor member and those in charge at Monterey County Parks. Save Toro Park facebook page has all the contacts you need to make your voice heard. It also has over 2,500 "likes". The Manzanita Park situation shows exactly what will happen to Toro Park if the softball proposal goes in.
To who it may concern: It is my belief that Manzanita Park has no Handicap access, unless the gates are open for Baseball or Soccer and other Special Interest groups. I depend on this park so as to be able to walk on some what level ground and get exercise strengthening my legs, due to the many surgeries I have had and at the same time get cardio exercise. Walking up a hill such as the entrance to Manzanita Park, or any kind of grade is not an option for me with COPD and other Agent Orange medical issues I received while fighting for this nations freedoms. These gates need to be opened for all, not just for Baseball, Soccer and other Special Interest Groups held at the Park.
It is my opinion that this was a peoples park not just for special interest groups. The County Should be ashamed of themselves for allowing or limiting the access and control of the gates to Special Interest Groups. I DO NOT believe they are ADA compliant. I think it is time that Sam Farr, Lou Calcagno and Other Government officials be notified of this NON- COMPLIANCE of The ADA requirements. I think it now might be time to I look into what legal action can be afforded me so I and the other people can access there County Park and use it for what I believe it was acquired.
Unfortunately Lou Calcagno has received many letters regarding this park, and has chosen to refer it all to a Park Director who was very sympathetic to this, but was not able to change any of this due the power this small group of YRA folks have weilded to control this park.
I was under the impression that YRA has also lost the lease at this point and really should have no control over the park being closed unless they are using it. This is a public park, it should be accessible to the public from dusk to dawn.
The park is county property, not private. The YRA acts as if they own it, which seems a bit discriminating against the rest of us. As Cindy said, parks are for the people.
This park contains sensitive habitat and rare species that should be protected, yet they build whatever they want without going through the proper surveys and permits. What makes them so special?
All we want is safe and equal access to public lands.
We have no interest in use of the rental area as Mr Tansey states, all we want is drive in access to safe parking for use of the other 464 acres! Park users should not be subjected to break-ins and unsafe parking outside the gates because of the exclusionary practices of the YRA, it is a public safety issue. Also all of MC tax payers are paying for repair and maintenance of the well that supplies water for the fields, it is only fair they should have equal access.
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