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HomeMy Public PortalAboutOpen Space Committee (9) May 17, 2000 The Need for Funding to Acquire and Protect Parks, Open Space, and Farmland in Contra Costa County Prepared by: The Contra Costa County Advisory Committee on Open Space Funding Committee Participants: Agricultural Trust of CC County The value of open space: The variety of open spaces in Contra Costa County--from pristine Bay Area Open Space Council natural parks, scenic shorelines, and productive tracks of prime farmland to neighborhood Bayyvea Ridgearil Council Cparks, trails, and urban creeks--are a crucial component of the qualityof life of local California Slate PD e Parks Department P California Rangeland Trust residents. Collectively, these open space resources provide many benefits: Canyon Community Foundation Central Labor Council • Places for people to hike, bicycle, play, find solitude & otherwise enjoy the outdoors; Community Youth Council for • Protection of the visual character, heritage, and beauty of the County; Leadership&Education(C.Y.C.L.E) Contra Costa Building Trades Council • Food production for local residents and the world; Contra Costa Council Contra Costa Economic Partnership • Habitat for a diverse range of plant and animal species; Contra Costa County Agriculture Dept. • A physical setting and amenities which attract and retain businesses, jobs, a vibrant CCC Community Development Dept. CCC Flood Control District culture, and talented people; CCC Public WorksDepartmentBig nl Opportunities for children and adults to learn about and appreciate the County's human Della Science Center of Big Break PP PP tY� East Bay Regional Park District and natural history; Friends of the Creeks Friends of Five Creeks • A complement to sound land-use planning and to efforts to address traffic problems. Greenbelt Alliance Lindsay Wildlife Museum Mount Diablo Audubon Society Past accomplishments: County residents have a long and remarkable history of protecting Muir Heritage Land Trust their open space resources. A few examples of the milestones and accomplishments of this Plumbers and Steamrihers Local 159 Save Mount Diablo open space tradition are highlighted below: San Francisco Bay Joint Venture • Acquisition of watershed lands aroundpublic reservoirs has protected our water and tens San Francisco Bay Trail Project q Sierra Club of thousands of acres, beginning in the 1910s and 1920s and continuing to today; The Trust for Public Land Trails for Richmond Action Committee • Creation of Mount Diablo State Park in 1921(631 acres in 1921--19,000 acres today); Ric Urban Creeks Council • Formation of the East Bay Regional Park District approved by voters in 1934, during the Depression and before the completion of the Bay or Golden Gate Bridges, creating one of the first regional park districts in the country; much of Contra Costa County joined the District in 1964 & today EBRPD owns 41,000 acres in the County; • Development of an exceptional network of regional bicycle and hiking trails; • Passage of Measure AA in 1988, providing $225 million for substantial expansions of regional (EBRPD) and neighborhood parks in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties; • Restoration and protection of creeks throughout the County, largely due to the work of community-based creek arta watershed groups; • Direct citizen action in open space acquisition through the successful emergence of several well-organized land trusts in the County. Present challenges: The booming regional economy can foster vibrant communities and create economic opportunity for County residents. However, this economic growth must be complemented with continued protection of our many open space resources if our quality of life is to be maintained. At the very least, we should build on the strong history of open space protection in this County and continue to provide parks and trails and other open space resources to keep up with a growing population. But, if we wish to pass on to future generations a community that retains the attractions that drew us here, we need to identify those characteristics of the County that we most wish to protect and enhance, whether these be defining natural features--like Mount Diablo, the shoreline of San Francisco Bay, the Carquinez Straits, and Delta, or the fertile farmland of East County--or backyard open space resources--like neighborhood parks, urban creeks, scenic ridgelines, and hiking and biking trails--that make our developed and developing areas pleasant places to live and work. We also need to determine how we can pay for these future open space actions. Comparison of Urbanization, Open Space, and Future Open Space Funding Among Bay Area Counties Contra Costa Alameda Marin Napa ' San San Mateo Santa Clara Solano Sonoma Francisco Percent of land area that is 262% 25.5% 11.7% 3.5% 81.2% 19.9% 18.7% 8.6% 7.2% developed' Percent of land area available for development 9.5% 7,5% 5.7% 2.3% 7.0% 7.7% 4.1% 6.3% 6.9% Acres of protected open .12 acres per .08 .70 .84 .01 .14 .10 .26 .23 space per capital(Bay area person acres per acres per acres/ acres/ acres per acres per acres/ acres per average=.14 acres/person) person person person person person person person person Secure future funding for Measure AA Measure AA On-going None N/A 0.S.Dist.has Recently None yet '/.cent open spaces(does not city&grant- (status same property tax yet (parks a tax 8 bond, Initiated a sales tax include Proposition12 and able portion as CCC); increment dept. but bond is parcel tax and for open other state/federal sources— spent;EBRPD Landfill provides for budget) nearly spent. an O.S. space and see below) portion,BO% tipping fee to acquisitions County has District. a county spent,remain- provide parks dept.w/ County parks open space ing 20% alto- significant annual has firm district cated by park o.s.funding. budget. budget Need for new local funding: Meeting the challenge of protecting open space in the future will require money. The recent passage of the state water and park bonds (Propositions 12 and 13) will provide some direct funding to local jurisdictions on a per capita basis, but substantial portions of the bond revenues will be set aside for competitive grants that require or encourage a local match. A new source of local funds is needed to leverage such sources and to provide revenues adequate to meet future open space needs. Some additional reasons we need new local funding are provided below: • Measure AA was passed in 1988 and revenues from it are either spent or nearly spent; • City and neighborhood parks need capital as their Measure AA funds were spent first; • Open space funding can compensate land owners for past and on-going stewardship; • Private organizations like land trusts, creek restoration and regional trail groups present opportunities for partnerships between the public and private sectors; • New funding can complement and supplement the work of the EBRPD and extend local support to new types of resources such as protection of farmland; What should be protected in the future? We have made an initial attempt at defining the primary open space needs in the County, relying on the following category descriptions to explain the variety o o -n space actions that are needed: Cornnrunftp character—Preserve defining features of our landscape such as important ridgelines and other scenic landfonns, green buffers, connections between open space areas, and other unique landscape or community features; Creeks/iyatersheds—Protect and restore urban and other creeks, watersheds, wetlands, and soil, and improve safety and flood plain management; Farmland—Provide conservation easements, buffers, irrigation water or other protections for prime agricultural soils, rangeland, and unique agricultural features; Historic preservation & environmental education facilities—Including culturaUgeological preservation; integration of human/natural history with school curricula; Neighborhood Parks/Recreation—Enhance & create neighborhood parks to improve quality of life in our existing communities and complement revitalization efforts; Shorelines—Protect and restore the shorelines of the Bay and Delta; Trails/Public Access—Close gaps in major Bay Area trails like the Bay Trail and Ridge Trail, unify and connect existing regional trail systems, improve existing trails, public access and equestrian access, and provide new facilities for disabled persons; Wildlife habitat & corridors—Protect/enhance the habitat of unique & valuable plants & animals. t ABAG estimates from"Starts and Trends 2000",based on data front 1995(ABAG Figures do not consider the County's 65/35 Ordinance which would restrict urbanization of the County to 35%of the land area) 2 Greenlnfo Network, 1999 3 East Bay Regional Park District and Bay Area Open Space Council Possible next steps: The above discussion is intended only to explain the need for new local funding for a variety of open space purposes. To advance the dialogue and bring us closer to meeting open space needs in the County, we propose the initiation of a planning process to involve additional interested people and organizations, to further define open space priorities, and to examine options for developing new local funds for open space. This planning process may include the following: 1. Involve additional interested organizations and individuals • invite each of the April 24th meeting participants to participatein developing open space and funding plans • undertake additional outreach to city governments, businesses, labor, landowners, and others 2. Develop an open space action plan • further develop and refine open space priorities (form a subcommittee, open to anyone interested, to begin work on this topic) • develop estimates of the costs of achieving these goals • explore existing and potential new funding opportunities, with an emphasis on potential development of additional, local public funds (form a subcommittee, open to anyone interested, to begin work on this topic) • examine details related to the mechanics of creating new local funds, such as types of funding measures and oversight and expenditure of any new funds Our recommendations will be presented to a subcommittee of the Board of Supervisors comprised of Supervisors Donna Gerber and John Gioia. The subcommittee will consider a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors, who, in turn, will provide policy guidance on this matter. We plan to hold another Advisory Committee meeting on the evening of September 20. We wish to thank Supervisors Gerber and Gioia and the full Board for this opportunity to provide input. We also wish to thank participants in the April 24 meeting for your interest in and consideration of these issues.