I've been actively following the development of the general plan
for Castle Rock State Park, having participated in both public
meetings and advisory committee meetings. I conclude that we
must continue to be vigilant, especially those of us who live in or
near Indian Rock Ranch.
The advisory committee is under tremendous pressure from strong
lobbyists representing millions of people in the Valley. They
far outweigh the best interests of the mountain residents. It
is extremely important that we participate in the upcoming local
meeting at Las Cumbres in January and the following public
meetings in Zayante and Saratoga.
The new general plan implementation will have to be carefully
monitored to ensure that quiet initiatives are not introduced
allowing changes adverse to us who live here. The actual
details of the issues such as trails, and introduction of new
parking locations will not be detailed prior to finalizing of the
general plan.
There are three areas of concern:
 | Conversion of the Caltrans facility
| Trail use
| Parking
| | |
Caltrans Facility Conversion
After the public meeting in June, I engaged our elected
county and state officials about the possible conversion of the
Caltrans facility at Saratoga Gap to public parking. I was
concerned about the impact of new public parking at the
entrance to Indian Rock and about pollution of the San Lorenzo
River headwaters. The result was assurance by Dave Vincent,
District Superintendent, that State Parks would use the Caltrans
facility only for employee activities. More recently Jan
Anderson, Area Manager, assured me that a formal environmental
impact study must be completed before State Parks might acquire
the property. This will likely expose any pollution issue,
but we need to make sure nothing is covered up.
Trail Use
Mountain bikes will not be banned by the general plan. The State will
thoroughly review each trail's suitability and the interested hikers
and equestrians involved in the process. It appears there is not as yet
a well defined process to follow for this purpose; but a statewide effort
is currently under way to produce one. In order to prevent any quiet
initiatives to change the status of any trails in the park we must watch
for opportunities to review and respond before any changes are
implemented.
Currently the planners are not recommending any mountain bike
use in Castle Rock State Park except possibly for the Toll Road
which parallels Highway 9. They point out that this change may
require approval of Santa Cruz County since the trail right-of-
way is leased from the county. This means that we may have an
opportunity to gain support from County elected officials in
limiting mountain bike access. We must be ready to respond if
the mountain bike community gets such an initiative started.
The hiking and equestrian community also should be ready for
this eventuality as well. Since this is a deeded right of way,
adjoining property owners should also have a strong influence.
Parking
The general plan will likely propose some 50 new parking spaces
in the Partridge Farm area. This could be a way to take some
pressure off road side parking along Skyline, but there appears
to be no indication of reducing any of the other parking. All
combined, the parking will likely increase from some 350 to 400
spaces with the combination of the present Castle Rock lot, road
side and the newly proposed 50 spaces at Partridge. We should
press for no increase in parking and to shut down parking along the
highway.
I think the proposed general plan will likely be reasonable if
and only if there is adequate state funding and additional rangers.
At the same time, we, the adjacent property owners must remain
interested and involved to insure proper implementation especially with
the ongoing pressure of the outside special interest groups.
Turning out for the meetings in January would be an excellent way to
support and indicate to State Parks that we are truly concerned and
interested.
