Loading...
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 I D- Minutes of March 18, 1976 N- Hanko asked S. page two, Norton for clarification of a graph paragraph five, p sathanged to The a second sentence Statement on strategyhe time read -It in that encouraging the District h's understandingpara - not be g intensive use of was created t that the notsuccessfulbdidissipated and the land so that resources to avoid Possible. " acquisition program would be sasould N• Hanko state f; of March Ig d the consensus of . 1976 be a the Board that pproved as amended. the minutes i i