HomeMy WebLinkAboutStudy Session - Proposed Orange Coast River Park - OCRP - Sa o�Harbor r10
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March 10, 2002 `
FHBP Board Of Directors: . . W 1-.-
Jean Watt, President
Alice Sorenson,Vice President
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Don Thomas,Treasurer
Carolyn Wood,Secretary Mayor and City.Council Members
Garry Brown
Debra Clarke City of Huntington Beach
Howard DeCruyenaere
Marilyn Ganahl 2000 Main Street
Sandy Genis
s Shirley Grindle Huntington Beach, CA 92648
Bob Joseph
Paul Mudge
Stephanie Pacheco Theresa Scars Dear Mayor.Cook and Council Members,
Nancy Skinner -
Connie Spenger
Project Manager, You have been very insightful in suggesting a report on'the Orange
Orange Coast River Park
Bob Fisher Coast River Park Plan on March 11. It is certainly time that we
Supporting Organizations begin discussions of the Plan.
-Amigos de Bolsa Chica gn serous -
Audubon,Sea&Sage Chapter
Bolsa Chica Land Trust
Caspers wilderness Park Our work has been unfortunately, delayed by our Project Manager,
Volunteers
Equestrian Coalition of O.C. Bob Fisher's, recent illness. Now, however, we've taken on new
Environmental Nature Center -
Huntington Bch wetlands Con- members of the Orange Coast River Park (OCE6%P) Committee,
servancv&Wildlife Care Center
Laguna Canyon Conservancy have taken into consideration the many.valuable comments-from
• Laguna Canyon Foundation taken.
into
Greenbelt,Inc. the cities, County and other agencies and are prepared to present - -
Newport Conservancy Sierra Club,Orange Cty Group the final revised Concept Plan. We plan to provide you with a full
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Southeast Huntington Beach Homeowners copy at your study session, March 18.
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Surfriders Foundation,
Newport Beach Chapter ,
Stop Polluting Our Newport Progress has,taken place during the time we were preparing the
Upper Bay Naturalists&Friends I
Wilderness Park Trust Fund Plan. ,Fairview Park plans continue to evolve; the County s Talbert
Advisory Board Marian Bergeson �' Park continues to be restored- more land has been acquired in
Connie Boardman Huntington Beach; the Wildlife Care Center owns its property; the
Marilyn Brewer
Roy&Ilse Byrnes- "Newport Banning" project in Newport Beach is on'hold: and, the
Laura Cohen
Pete Desmone 15 acre "Sunset Ridge" property in Newport Beach has been.
Joe Dunn
Roger Faubel transferred from Caltrans to State.Parks. Most importantly the
Louise Greeley
Tom Harman OCRP Committee and FHBP has been-working closely with the .
Evelyn Hart h outern California Wetland Recovery Pro s ecove Project and helping
- Jack Keating S j to
Vic Leipzig position the OCRP for funding.
Matt Rayl 1�
Bill Rolev,PhD ,
Claire Schlotterbeck
John Scott Reviewing the Draft Concept Plan and answering all the questions
Dan Silver
Jack skinner M.D. that were raised told us that it is timely to be working with a
Jan Vandersloot,M.D. unified approach. It is also clear what more must be prepared and .
Post Office Box 9256
Newport Beach,CA 92658-9256
949-399-3669
provided for a.full understanding of the changing nature of this park. The
first of those is a chart/map by which we can keep track of the changing
boundaries of the Park and ownership of the parcels. This is being prepared.
John Scott and Lena Hayashi of Huntington Beach along with others of the
Committee-will be at your meeting to make a presentation and answer
questions. Since it is important that you have a chance to ponder ahead of
time-what questions you may have, we've attached to this letter a few of the
most critical pages of the Plan such as the Introduction and the
Recommendations. The obvious questions revolve around our`
recommendation of an "authority" to guide.the Park planning and
implementation and how that proposed "authority" would work-.
Thank you once again for the opportunity to present the OCRP Plan and we
look forwar6to the next steps in working together for this great community
resource.
Sincerely,
Jean H. Watt, President FHBP .
Louise S. Greeley, Chairman OCRP
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INTRODUCTION
The Friends of Harbors, Beaches & Parks (FHBP) proposes the creation of a 1,000+ acre Orange Coast
River Park at the lower end of the Santa Ana River, in the highly urbanized central coastal area of Orange
County, California. The initially proposed boundaries are shown in Exhibit 1 on page 3. The park would be as-
sembled from a patchwork quilt of neighboring lands owned and individually managed by three cities (Costa
Mesa, Huntington Beach and Newport Beach); the County of Orange; several regional, state and federal agen-
cies; and a few private entities. Today, all of these parties operate fairly independently of each other with respect
to their properties.
FHBP proposes a concept plan and program to coordinate development, operation and maintenance un-
der a cooperative agreement—a compact—to provide for inter-connecting trails, shared support facilities and a
wildlife habitat and park management program. FHBP believes that a cooperatively developed, large-scale River
Park will produce greater public benefits than can be achieved by the property-owning entities on their own.
The idea for a cooperatively developed open space and recreational corridor along the Santa Ana River
led to the creation of a Santa Ana River-Santiago Creek Commission which developed a greenbelt plan in the
1970's. Many of those plan proposals were implemented in the upstream reaches of the river. Only the river
bikeway was pursued in the lower river reaches during that decade. During the 1980's,the County began restora-
tion of the northern segment of its Talbert Nature Park, and developed a concept proposal for connecting it
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downstream to Pacific Coast Highway and the river mouth. The County's bankruptcy in 1994 put many such
open space proposals on the shelf, or at least "on hold." FHBP believes that the earlier proposals, indeed an ex-
panded version of a riverside open space,need to be further pursued.
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INTRODUCTION,,cont.
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The proposed park would be developed around three central themes:
1. To restore, protect and interpret the historic variety of wildlife habitat zones as an "Ecological
Staircase, " extending from the mouth of the Santa Ana River inland to the adjoining riverside
and mesa lands;
2. To provide new and regionally significant recreation trails that will make possible a "Seamless
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Passageway"for inlanders to access the beach through a nature park;
3. To create an "Oasis of Tranquility" for nearby residents and regional visitors, in the heart Hof the
densely developed Orange County coastal area.
This document was prepared by FHBP to do the following:
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* Provide a concept plan and implementation program for the park;
* Stimulate interest in and garner support of area residents and local officials;
* Encourage state and federal agencies and other organizations to recognize the regional importance of
connecting the currently fragmented open space parcels, and then to cooperate and financially
assist in creating the larger park;
* Recommend a model institutional arrangement for accomplishing the cooperation needed to achieve
the park proposal. j
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HOW WOULD THE PARK BE DEVELOPED AND MANAGED UNDER THE FHBP PROPOSAL?
FHBP does not advocate a new super agency to own or control the River Park lands.Instead,it is proposed
that a voluntary organization or authority of owners and interested parties be formed to oversee and coordinate the
individual parcels to comply with the greater vision of OCRR The group would incorporate the "building blocks"
shown in Exhibit 15,page 43. It is expected that individual property owners would continue to fund costs associ-
ated with their properties plus a proportional share of nominal costs of an OCRP advisory authority.
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The key is to design an institutional structure where individual participating entities cooperate for the ben-
efit of their own and the larger park interests.
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The OCRP Open Space Authority Objectives would include:
•Create a unified authority of land owners and interested parties
•Advise, review and evaluate optimum use of public and private open space land from a user and environ-
mental perspective
• Provide support and cooperation for individual projects that makeup the greater OCRP
This Authority would require the endorsement and participation of all its governing members. In this
regard, FHBP recommends consideration of the model represented by the Coastal Greenbelt Authority(CGA),
which manages the Laguna Coast Wilderness Park(LCWP).The LCWP is located on both sides of Laguna
Canyon Road and the San Joaquin Hills Toll Road in Orange County.The CGA is comprised of the Cities of
Laguna Beach and Irvine, the County of Orange,and the State Department of Fish and Game, all of which
are property owners in the LCWP. One enviommental group representative also serves on the CGA Board of
Directors by virtue of its long-standing efforts to preserve the parklands from development.
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The CGA members operate in accordance with a formal cooperative agreement(a sort of constitution
or compact) that defines the extent and limits of the CGA's structure, authority and decision-making proce-
dures. This multi-entity arrangement has been operating successfully for nearly ten years. The CGA worked
together on developing a detailed master plan for the park,a set of management policies and procedures,and
a cost estimate for restoration of habitat and construction of visitor-serving facilities. `
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An OCRP open space authority could serve to advise and unite the parties, review/evaluate how to
make the composite of public and private open space work best to serve the environment and users,establish
a vehicle for on-going coordination, monetary cooperation, and support of each others' projects to benefit
the whole rather than the parts.The organization will require all parties'endorsement and participation.
The three cities,the County,and the Federal Government(represented by the Corps of Engineers and
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)need to come together to enhance communication,cooperation and coor-
dination of their plans and programs relative to the OCRP.The Huntington Beach Wetlands conservancy, as
1 a property owner and potential manager of additional wetlands, needs to be fully involved and deserves a
"seat at the table" because of its work-to create the plan and its commitment to help achieve the implementa-
tion of the Park.
FHBP proposes an adaptation of the Laguna Coast Wilderness Park and Coastal Greenbelt Authority
models with which the County is thoroughly familiar. However, there are other models. For example,in the
1970's,the Santa Ana River was subject to a joint powers agency which produced a plan for open space and
recreation along the river. Likewise, a San Dieguito River Park Authority in San Diego County made up
of six cities, the county and many state and federal agencies is creating a major nature park along the San
Dieguito River corridor.
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FHBP suggests the following program of action for evaluating
this proposal and proceeding with the River Park implementation:
• Distribute the Concept Plan to interested organizations and agencies for acceptance,review and recom-
mended revision.
• Distribute a revised Concept Plan to the Cities of Costa Mesa,Huntington Beach,and Newport Beach,the
County of Orange and the State Coastal Conservancy.
• The Cities of Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach, and Newport Beach, the County of Orange and the State
Coastal Conservancy will appoint representatives to an organizing committee.
• The Committee will determine how best to cooperatively review the Concept Plan and work out ongoing
arrangements for creating the River Park.
• Develop an Orange Coast River Park Authority based on reviews of models such as the Laguna
Coast Wilderness Park and Coastal Greenbelt Authority.
• Involve landowners, regulatory authorities and interested groups such as the Friends of Harbors,
Beaches and Parks, environmental advocacy groups, various homeowner associations, and inter-
ested individual members of the public.
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• The Committee will prepare a detailed proposal for consideration by the elected officials of the cities and
the County which would include:
•Draft compact or cooperative agreement
•Work program
• Schedule and funding plan for the River Park Development
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HOW TO HEL4 ER PARK AND STAY INVOLVED... Iadrentare
• Become a member of FHBP with a yearly contribution to elm to hems co a
help with the work on River Park � F Q o a
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Fill out form below to receive announcements Q r c z z
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• Check our Web Site, UVw.ocV0hbp.0r9 for events and progress a: a—a M �� , .��•
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Yes! I'll help the Friends of Harbors, }, cc � cc
Beaches & Parks and Orange Coast River Park. = ca cc �C> o ,i NEWPORT
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FHBP contributions are tax-deductible. Contributors receive news- Imagine ten miles of trail connections c, as i C '� , -
letters and other information on our conservation activities. Please ; creating a seamless passageway through the Orange W = cc Q ?r QQ
check the category you wish. Coast River Park's 1,000 acres. The OCRP will be an '
Friend ($50) Benefactor ($500) ; oasis of tranquility where residents and visitors can enjoy
• Associate ($100) Patron ($l,000+) the serenity of connecting with nature. This vision can
become reality with your help and support. �e.S,
Sponsor ($250) Other ` _ -
' Orange Coast River Park Committee Friends of Harbors, Beaches
New Renewal : A sub-committee of FHBP &Parks Board of Directors N
Louise Greeley, Mike Johnson Jean Watt, Marilyn Ganahl
Name . C"A'"""u Ann Krueger ��1DE"r Sandy Genis
Tom Egan Jean Nagy Alice Sorenson, Shirley Grindle I
Bob Fisher Stephanie VICE PRESIDENT Joseph1
• Address Don Thomas, A park worth
• Sandy Genis Pacheco TREASURER Paul Mudge .�
Lena Hayashi John Scott Stephanie 46" `J
City,State,Zip ; y Carolyn Wood, p i if Y ■
• ty P Justine Howard Jean Watt $ECfiETARv Pacheco \\ _ � -getting excited about.
♦ Garry Brown John Scott
• ' Debra Clarke Theresa Sears3 l
PHONE FAX E-MAIL JOIN THE Howard Nancy Skinner
Please clip and mail to FHBP,P.O.Box 9256,Newport Beach,CA 92658 . DeCruyenaere Bob Fisher,
. P wP FRIENDS TODAY! °��°'RE�OR
SRANGE - COA* RIVER PARK `
An Opportunity to Restore 1,000 Acres of Orange County's Historic Riverside Landscape!
c� ra` Q C�poQ�d� off [ �r� cQ cc[ c paw
1 Who are 3. Would the Three Cities Give up and other contributions being pursued. The 1,000 acres does
the "Friends of ? not need to be completed before the park is open for enjoy-
gTLANT 4k, n Their Ownership or Authority Over Their Areas. ment. The grand park vision can be achieved, incrementally, in
m Harbors, Beaches &
_ ' Z Parks?" No. The River Park is proposed as a cooperative venture of accordance with a plan that insures progress and the appropri-
Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, the County ate end result.
`The Friends is a non-profit organization and private landowners. The Friends believe that the individual
• _= formed in 1997 to promote parks and open space areas will be more valuable and more useful if the
Black-Crowned Night t
.,�- p p y 7. What is the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center.
Heron grows ready wildlife preserves in Orange County. The are fashioned into one great park. The three cities, the County
for release from $ Friends' membership is made up of and the State Coastal Conservancy have endorsed the concept. The Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center is a non-profit facility
Wildlife Care Center. " responsible citizens from throughout the Each has assisted financially toward the cost of preparing a plan i dedicated to treat and rehabilitate injured and sick wildlife and
Interested volunteers County who are concerned about protect- to define and illustrate the park and its advantages. educate the public about the fragile ecosystem of our area. It is
(the human kind)may = g and promoting environmental quality. apart of the Oiled Wildlife Care Network and has responded to
call 7141374-5587 '- _ 4. What are the Expected Benefits of the a number of oil spills.
_ �s concern is accentuated by a predicted p
to join in. Q population increase of 500,000 over the Friends' River Park Proposal?- next 20 years. The Friends' Board of A unified 1,000-acre park would... 8. How Can You Get Involved?
Directors includes former mayors of , Join the Friends of Harbors, Beaches & Parks($50.00 annual
'f Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach O Lower overall taxpayer cost due to economics of scale in dues, with the bulk going toward our River Park effort). Let your
development, operation and maintenance.
- NUNTINGTON and Newport Beach, business p p friends and neighbors know about the park. Enlist the support
owners and long-time park volunteers O Increase the likelihood of attracting state and federal grants of your elected officials.
BEACH and community activists. and private donations due to the importance of the unified
2. Where and What is the 1,000 acre park.
Orange Coast River Park? O Enhance wildlife diversity and protection due to a compre-
I The Friends envision a 1,000-acre park and hensive plan of operation for the entire area.
nature preserve at the mouth of the Santa O Expand enjoyment by visitors due to interconnecting trails
Ana River-- in the heart of the Orange and coordinated parking, restrooms and security services. For further information, please contact:
County coastal area. (See map) For perspec-I The Friends of Harbors, Beaches & Parks 0 tive, this compares in size with the Golden O Provide better protection of neighboring homes due to P 0 Box 9256, Newport Beach, CA 92658
k_ Gate Park in San Francisco. The River Park expanded security agencies. Phone: (949) 399-3669 • www.odohbp.org
• would extend across 10 separately owned
properties. Portions of the park would lie 5. What Will This Cost Taxpayers?
.. , within the cities of Costa Mesa, Newport The cost to restore degraded lands for wildlife habitat and recre- Ort,
Beach, and Huntington Beach, and under the ation has been estimated at $20 million. This sum can be raised .
by combining already planned expenditures of the public agen- .�
jurisdiction of the County, State and Federal q
ties with additional grants and donations. The State Park Bond
- Governments. The park would also incorporate Act of 1999 makes funds available. Our park concept will help 1 ' ' r
that are now privately owned but
LEGEND r properties p y us compete for these funds. _ 4
could be included in the park when purchased �y /
jO4 with available state and federal 6. How Long Will it Take to Create the Park.
STAGING AREA C 4 funds.
�;•PEDESTRIAN ACCESS c 4 l Approximately 300 acres have already been developed and '® -
1,.. -
,> another 100 acres is planned soon. The remainder could take 5°VEHICULAR ACCESS Join use Be a Friend of River Park i __ to 10 years, depending on the availability of grants, donations .
7' RIVER �►RK
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CONCEPT PLAN 3/16/02 �
A proposal by The Friends of Harbors, Beaches and Parks G�
BENEFITS:
1. Enhanced wildlife habitat value
2. New and greater enjoyment for recreational visitors.
3. Improved public safety.
4. Enhanced area image and property values.
5. Expanded pool of potential maintenance volunteers/docents.
6. Greater attraction for public and private donations and grants.
7. Economies of scale to reduce operational, security, and maintenance expenses.
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OASIS OF TRANQUILITI°'_
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ORGANIZATION:
This Concept Plan is proposed by The Friends of Harbors Beaches and Parks(FHBP). FHBP is
a non-profit California corporation established in 1997 to promote the protection, enhancement,
and expansion of Orange County regional parks, open space preserves, recreational trails, and
coastal recreation facilities. The development of this draft concept plan has been made possible
by grants from the State Coastal Conservancy, the County of Orange, Cities of: Costa Mesa,
Huntington Beach, and Newport Beach, and contributions by individual members.
IMPLEMENTATION:
Upon review and acceptance of this draft concept plan:
1. The Cities of Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach, and Newport Beach, the County of Orange, and
State Coastal Conservancy will appoint representatives to an Organizing Committee.
2. The Organizing Committee will prepare a detailed proposal including: a Final Concept Plan
and a work program with a detailed development schedule, funding plan, and environmental
documentation; and establishment of a representative Orange Coast River Park Authority.
3. Elected officials will then review and adopt these cooperative provisions.
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