If approved by voters, the Benicia State Recreation Area is one of several Solano County parks that become part of a regional open-space district. File photo)
Leslie Knope would be proud of the work Sen. Bill Dodd (D-Napa) and Greenbelt Alliance have been putting in at the state legislature. Dodd and the san Francisco-based nonprofit land conservation organization are trying to pass a legislation that aims to improve the parks within Solano County.
The legislation, known as Senate Bill 365, would authorize proceedings for the formation of a regional park and open-space or regional open-space district in specified counties in the state to be initiated by resolution of the county board of supervisors adopted after a noticed hearing, and specifies the contents of the resolution. It would also allow for the formation of a regional district in Solano County to be initiated by a resolution of the Solano Board of Supervisors after a noticed hearing.
This legislation would affect parks in Fairfield, Vallejo, Vacaville and other cities in Solano County. For Benicia, this legislation could potentially impact the Lake Herman Recreation Area and the Benicia State Recreation Area. To approve the Benicia parks into regional open-space districts, it would cost $50,00 for the Lake Herman Recreation Area and Benicia State Recreation Area $285,000 respectively.
If SB 365 were signed by Gov. Jerry Brown, it would let residents of Solano County vote on a resolution for the regional park and open-space or regional open-space district at their ballots. It would take a majority of voters to pass the resolution according to Amy Hartman, the Solano County regional representative for Greenbelt Alliance.
The legislation has already passed in the State Senate and recently passed by the Assembly’s Local Government Committee on June 28. Both Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, who chairs the Local Government Committee, and_ Assemblyman Tim Grayson– who represents Benicia– voted in favor of the legislation.
Greenbelt Alliance has been very supportive of the creation open parks and regional space, Hartman said. She stated that Solano County stands out in the Bay Area county region as the only county not to have open parks and regional spaces. Greenbelt Alliance wants to change that by keeping the momentum alive for SB 365 and making sure the legislation passes.
“What we see there from Greenbelt Alliance is that is tremendous grassroots support to create open parks and regional spaces” Hartman said. “By grassroots, I mean support from residents to create this district. We are just excited to see SB 365 move forward, and we think that’s the right next step in seeing the park district come to fruition. We’re excited about the momentum behind it.”
Sharing is caring!
What will the regional commission do? How will the Greenbelt Alliance factor in (other than advocacy)?
Will the City of Benicia and residents cede any control over city and private property? Assuming that this is going to result in more publicly owned lands, will public access be allowed or will these become nature preserves? Will current property owners be forced to sell, or will the property be purchased at fair market rates? How much will this cost the average taxpayer?
There are two parts to the costs: acquisition and maintenance. The former is one time and can come from bonds or grants or taxes. The latter is ongoing. Forever. Generally that is taxes. With the frightening costs looming for schools and cities as pension deficits mount, a comprehensive look at long term costs is mandatory.
Very well stated. Don’t forget the ridiculous water rate increase, the increase in the sales tax, the proposed increase in bridge tolls (a mere formality since it will be put in place), the bonds for schools, Anyone who doesn’t believe that the sales tax increase passed last year won’t be used to off set the deficit spending needs to pull their head out of the sand and pay attention.
The proposed bridge tolls are an extremely regressive tax and will hurt working people who have to cross bridges to work regardless of distance traveled. And we now have a new gas tax for the same purpose.
Water rates are set on costs. Use went down a lot so rates had to cover costs. I still pay about the same despite the higher rates because my use went down. It balanced out except for the meter charge which is limited in time to cover that cost.
I echo Tom’s comments/questions
What benefit would be gain? Would there be improvements to the Lake Herman trails (more?) If the Open Space district takes over the State Park, who pays for maintaining the area? Will this be one of those bits of bureaucracy where we pay into the Open Space district and then have to fight to get funds spent locally?
I’d like to see more details