Days after higher fees for day use and camping at Henry W. Coe
State Park took effect, local officials announced it is unlikely
that Santa Clara County would save the park if the state decides to
shut it down in order to save money later this summer.
Days after higher fees for day use and camping at Henry W. Coe State Park took effect, local officials announced it is unlikely that Santa Clara County would save the park if the state decides to shut it down in order to save money later this summer.
A study completed by the staff of the county’s Parks and Recreation Department released Aug. 20 found that it would cost the county $3.1 million for the first year to keep the park open with its current level of staffing and service. Each subsequent year would cost $1.9 million.
A reduced level of service, which includes closing the park two days a week and fewer staff, would cost the county about $2.1 million.
Neither scenario assumes the county would be able to share or take over the state’s existing vehicles and equipment employed at the park, and if such an arrangement could be made the costs in both analyses would be lower.
Coe park is the largest state park in Northern California with 87,000 acres. About 60,000 acres of the park and the bulk of its developed space are in Santa Clara County, with the remainder in Stanislaus County.
The main entrance to the park is about 13 miles east of Morgan Hill, with a southern entrance about the same distance east of Gilroy.
The county’s entire park system is 45,000 acres, so taking over that portion of Coe park that is in the county’s boundaries would be somewhat of a shock to the system, according to Supervisor Don Gage.
“We don’t have the money, and it’s not our responsibility,” said Gage, whose district includes Coe park. “It’s the state’s responsibility, and they need to live up to that.”
Annual use fees that currently bring in about $100,000 at the park would not come close to offsetting the costs associated with running and maintaining it, he added.
The staff report summarizing the department’s analysis notes that the impending state takeaway of up to $60 million of county property tax revenues includes a $3 million takeaway from the Parks Charter Fund, which funds the county’s parks system.
And since the county cannot likely find that much money to pay for a Coe park takeover this year, it would have to be redistributed from funds already allocated for existing county parks.
Plus, with more than 300 miles of trails and dirt roads in the park, the likelihood of injuries in remote areas is high, and the cost analysis produced by the Parks department does not include insurance premiums, Gage noted.
“If somebody gets hurt, they’re going to sue the county, and once they do that we’ll end up with it forever,” Gage said. “It’s a nice thought, but I think we should pass.”
According to California State Parks spokesman Roy Stearns, Coe park sees about 38,800 visitors per year, placing it in the bottom third of the state’s 279 parks in terms of popularity. Other nearby parks such as Seacliff State Beach in Santa Cruz County and Sonoma Coast State Park surpass two million visitors per year.
The state office is currently in the process of devising a plan to meet $14 million in budget cuts enacted by the legislature and the governor for this year’s budget. That plan will likely include closing up to 100 parks for up to two years or until the economic picture improves, Stearns said. The department will announce which parks will close sometime after Labor Day, he said.
“We are trying to work out ways to have the parks close partially, and if we can have partners it will be less (of an impact),” Stearns said. “But the hard reality is, under the recent reductions there will be park closures.”
He said determining which parks will close is a “business decision” based on attendance and revenue. “If attendance and revenue are low, and operating costs are high, that park could be a candidate for closure,” Stearns said.
The parks department has already enacted part of the plan to recoup some of its losses by raising day use and camping fees at most parks. As of Aug. 17, the day use fee at Coe park is $6 per day, or $8 per day in undeveloped lots. That price is up from $5 per day.
Camping at Coe park now costs $20 per night for drive-in sites, up from $12 per night.
