HomeMy Public PortalAbout19760318 - Minutes - Board of Directors (BOD) Meeting 76-10
MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL PARK DISTRICT
Special Meeting
Board of Directors
M I N U T E S
March 18, 1976 745 Distel Drive
LAND USE WORKSHOP FOLLOW-UP Los Altos,CA
I . ROLL CALL
President Hanko called the meeting to order at 12 :00 Noon.
Members Present: Katherine Duffy, Barbara Green, Nonette Hanko,
Edward Shelley and Daniel Wendin.
Personnel Present: Herbert Grench, Edward Jaynes, Jon Olson,
Anne Crosley, Carroll Harrington, Jennie George, Robert Garcia,
Phyllis Lee, Norma Kelly, Del Woods, Judy Frosch, Stanley Norton,
John Melton and Ellie Huggins.
SPECIAL ORDERS OF THE DAY
A. Land Use Workshop Follow-Up
N. Hanko stated this Special Meeting had been called for the
purpose of summarizing and clarifying the views of Board and
staff members which had been discussed at the February 28, 1976
Land Use Workshop. She suggested Board members make summary
statements, and then staff would have the opportunity to express
their views.
E. Shelley said he felt the question is how much money will the
District spend for use and development.
K. Duffy said she hoped the District would proceed carefully
and make decisions on a site by site basis.
D. Wendin stated that when the District plans for its sites,
the possibility of future acquisitions in the area must be kept
in mind.
N. Hanko said she thought the District could control advertising
and publicity of its sites. She questioned the effectiveness
of the permit system. She said it was her understanding that the
docent program could be very beneficial in terms of bringing
people onto District sites in a controlled manner. She agreed
that decisions on use should be made in a site by site manner.
Meeting 76-10 Page two
D. Wendin said he would define a staging area as an entrance area
to a site which provides the facilities necessary to handle
visitors (such as parking, restrooms, information center) so
neighbors are not disturbed.
B. Green said she would like to see the District try, on one or
two sites, attracting specific numbers of people to test the cost
and the environmental effect of a certain level of use.
H. Grench said he has felt very serious about the land acquisition
portion of the District' s Basic Policy since he joined the District
as General Manager. He believes one of the functions of the Dis-
trict is to educate the public about open space. He hoped the
Board would place a maximum dollar amount on what the District
would spend on land management. With respect to administrative
costs, he observed that the District had a small organization.
When there are many issues and problems to deal with, the staff
is spread thin, but it tries to handle additional matters without
increasing staff size. There comes a point, however, when exist-
ing staff cannot efficiently deal with the workload, and additional
staff must be hired.
E. Shelley said he thought some additional administrative costs
would occur regardless of how much the land management program
was expanded.
S. Norton said he was one of the original proponents of the Dis-
trict, and the MRPD was represented to be an open space agency.
The strategy at the time the District was created was to delay
opening lands until the pressures were too great, so the land
acquisition program would be as successful as possible. He
warned that costs of land management would rise geometrically
once lands were open and publicized. He felt the District did
have an obligation to inform citizens who took the trouble to
inquire about its lands. However, any affirmative action to
publicize District sites will divert the District from its goal.
He added that he hoped the permit system would be administered
as simply as possible.
J. Olson said he felt the question was what effect land manage-
ment policies might have on the land acquisition program. He
said there was no possibility that land management costs could
remain at 5% of the District' s revenues. However, there is a
great potential for intensive recreation which could occur
because of the concentration of people living in the valley and
the lack of sufficient open space areas to accommodate them.
Increased use may occur with a minimum of publicity about the
District ' s sites.
H. Grench observed that the permit system was an experiment,
and the District had learned from trying it.
E. Jaynes said he agreed with the statements made by H. Grench
regarding the District and its direction.
Meeting 76-10 Page three
J. Melton said he generally agreed with S . Norton ' s statements,
and he felt the District should not encourage use of sites through
advertising. If it did, land management costs would rise and
the land acquisition program would suffer.
E. Shelley said he did not feel the Basic Policy implies that
the land management program should be minimized.
C. Harrington said she believed that District is responsible for
educating the public about open space. She felt the District
should proceed cautiously with opening and publicizing its sites.
E. Huggins said the docent program has had more applicants than
can be accommodated. Once the docents are trained, the District
should be able to take care of many of the people who wish to use
its sites.
A. Crosley said she agreed with the statements made by H. Grench
and S. Norton. She said she felt administrative costs would
continue to rise without an increase in land management commit-
ments, and land management decisions would have a substantial
effect on administrative costs. She observed that it was some-
times difficult for staff members to adjust to the continuing
change in emphasis from land acquisition to land management con-
cerns.
J. Melton said he would support a "lid" on spending for land
management. This will serve to clarify the District 's priorities
and force discipline in budgeting funds.
N. Kelly said she felt there was some urgency to continue a
strong land acquisition program before the cost of purchasing
open space land became prohibitive.
J. Frosch said the permit system does take time to administer,
but its purpose is to control the numbers of people using a site.
In deciding land management policies, the Board must determine
if it wishes to set up a preventative patrolling system or if
it would prefer to wait until something happens. She noted that
some of the historical use of a site has been destructive. ..
R. Garcia said patrolling a site where people are encouraged
can be as expensive, or more expensive, than keeping people out.
Attracting people means both responsible and irresponsible
users will be on District lands. The District has a responsi-
bility to take care of the people it attracts as well as the
land. In keeping with his view of the function of an open space
agency, R. Garcia felt there should be areas specifically used
for plant and animal preservation and habitat.
Meeting 76-10 Page four
D. Wendin said the District could not afford to disintegrate
its base of support in San Mateo County. One of the questions
which must be addressed is what level of effort will be required
in the field. He cautioned that land management problems would
eventually begin to overwhelm the time of the District ' s top
management - there will be a greater impact on staff time that
will shift emphasis from land acquisition to land management.
S. Norton said .access will lead to more and more people "spread-
ing the word" about the District ' s sites. Then the District
will no longer be able to get along with preventative measures.
Greater public use will inevitably occur - the question is how
long will it take.
J. Melton observed that the docent program alone is a form of
advertising.
E. Shelley said he felt the pressures already existed to provide
greater public access.
P. Lee said she felt it was important to remember that agricul-
tural use of open space lands was a part of the District ' s Basic
Policy. Whether or not more land will be required for recreation,
it may be vital for cultivating food some time in the future.
Mr. Harry Turner, 481 La Mesa Drive, Menlo Park, said he hoped
as much budget as possible could be directed to the land manage-
ment program without adversely affecting land acquisition. He
felt it was politically important to continue efforts to acquaint
people with District lands. He said it was probably a good idea
to experiment with one site.
Ms. Dorothy Jennings, 441 East Meadow, Palo Alto, said she was
encouraged by the day' s discussion. She felt there was a com-
monality of thought among Board and staff . She said setting a
dollar limit to the amount of money to be spent on land manage-
ment was probably the best tool to use.
N. Hanko distributed copies of a preference poll on use of specific
District sites, which she asked that Board members complete in
time for discussion at the March 24 , 1976 meeting. She said the
purpose of the poll was to help Board members more clearly under-
stand how each Board member views the possible use and management
of District sites.
E. Shelley suggested a subcommittee of the Board draft a state-
ment of Board policy with respect to land use which would hope-
fully represent a consensus.
H. Grench said he felt it was important to have some decisions
made on the issues which have been raised for purposes of pre-
paring the Action Plan, budget, and land management plans.
Meeting 76-10 Page five
After discussion, N. Hanko stated the consensus that a Subcom-
mittee composed of Directors D. Wendin and E. Shelley would
try to prepare a statement on land use policy that represent
the thinking of a majority of the Board.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 1:58 P.M.
Anne Cathcart Crosley
District Clerk
1
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D- Minutes of March
18, 1976
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