Cost analysis of facilities proposed in ORP

Cost Impact of Facilities Proposed in the
Sonoma County Outdoor Recreation Plan

Analysis by CORP, July 2000

Sources: May 1999 Draft ORP (pages 120-121) and June 2000 Draft ORP (pages 135-136)

In the fall of 1999, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors directed staff to increase recommendations for "active use" parks, including neighborhood and community parks and regional recreation areas, which by definition are significantly developed facilities.

This recommendation came despite the fact, abundantly documented in Chapter V of the June 2000 Draft ORP, that public sentiment overwhelmingly favors more natural and relatively undeveloped parks and trails (called "passive recreation" facilities in the ORP). For example, on page 47:

"Public desires indicate that in the future acquisition and development of county park facilities, the emphasis should focus on open space, trails, and other forms of passive recreation. These recreation facility desires and needs were expressed in the 1995 SRI Survey of county residents and at every public workshop held during 1996. The 1997 State of California survey also reflected the same needs and priorities statewide." [Emphasis added.]

The following tables and charts show the financial impact of this sea change in county park planning toward more developed park facilities, in the face of clear public demand to the contrary:

Acqusition and Development Costs

	1989 General Plan	May 1999 Draft ORP	June 2000 Draft ORP
Natural Facilities
Open Space Parks	$33,198,500	$39,406,061	$38,117,725
Multiuse trails (unpaved)	$4,268,000	$31,102,000	$17,678,000
Total Natural Facilities	$37,466,500	$70,508,061	$55,795,725
Developed Facilities
Regional Recreation Areas	$13,274,107	$4,096,609	$34,993,283
Neighborhood and Community Parks	$5,093,776	$1,840,372	$62,544,475
Total Developed Facilities	$18,367,883	$5,936,981	$97,537,758
Miscellaneous
Preserves*	n/a	$13,504,000	n/a
Class I Paved Bicycle Trails	$11,279,000	$17,091,000	$22,790,400
Total Miscellaneous	$11,279,000	$30,595,000	$22,790,400
Acquisition and Devel. Total	$67,113,383	$107,040,042	$176,123,883

* The "Preserves" category in the 1999 Draft ORP had no equivalent in the June 2000 draft. They were to be implemented by agencies other than the county, and are assumed to have limited public access.

The preceding table is summarized in this chart:

ORP Proposed Acquisition and Development Costs

While acquisition and development costs for natural factilities (open space parks and unpaved trails) actually declined from the May 1999 to the June 2000 draft, the price tag for developed park facilities increased 16-fold!

As with up-front costs, so with recurring costs. Here is the same analysis applied to annual maintenance costs for the proposed facilities. (Note that annual maintenance costs for facilities proposed in the 1989 General Plan are not given in any of the ORP documents.)

Annual Maintenance Costs

	1989 General Plan	May 1999 Draft ORP	June 2000 Draft ORP
Natural Facilities
Open Space Parks		$858,031	$924,890
Multiuse trails (unpaved)		$360,910	$614,070
Total Natural Facilities		$1,218,941	$1,538,960
Developed Facilities
Regional Recreation Areas		$499,093	$3,036,025
Neighborhood and Community Parks		$151,289	$3,367,180
Total Developed Facilities		$600,382	$6,403,205
Miscellaneous
Preserves*		$0	n/a
Class I Paved Bicycle Trails		$786,235	$791,445
Total Miscellaneous		$786,235	$791,445
Acquisition and Devel. Total		$2,605,558	$8,733,610

Here is the above data in chart form:

Annual maintenance cost chart

Here, while the maintenance cost for natural facilities increases 25%, the ongoing burden to maintain the developed parks increases over 1000%.