Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout14 - Use Fees at Upper Newport Bay Ecological ReserveQ aEW ?pRT CITY OF o ' City Council Staff Report Agenda Item No. 14 June 25, 2013 TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL FROM: City Manager's Office Dave Kiff, City Manager 949 - 644 -3002, dkiff @newportbeachca.gov PREPARED BY: Dave Kiff, City Manager APPROVED: =rs l(- TITLE: Use Fees at the Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve In recent weeks, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), formerly the California Department of Fish and Game, posted signs around the lands and waters it owns or controls around Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve (UNBER), suggesting that CDFW would ask that users of UNBER have a "Lands Pass." The Lands Pass costs $4.32 /person /day or $22.68 /person /year. The CDFW Lands Pass system is not a new one, nor is it new to UNBER, but the CDFW's interest in enforcing it and collecting fees at UNBER appears to be new. RECOMMENDATION: Authorize Mayor Curry to send the attached letter asking CDFW to consider rescinding the Lands Pass fee at UNBER. FUNDING REQUIREMENTS: No funding is required for this action Use Fees at the Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve June 25, 2013 Page 2 DISCUSSION: Upper Newport Bay is the crown jewel of the region's estuary systems, and has been of vital interest to the City and area residents. Parts of UNBER are managed by three different agencies, including the City (see Attachment A). The other two partners are CDFW and the County of Orange (County). CDFW owns and manages the waters of UNBER past a line roughly near the Newport Aquatic Center (NAC), and many of the tidal lands adjacent to the waters, as well as Shellmaker Island and the lower portion of Big Canyon Creek wash. The County is a major landside owner, as it owns and manages the Upper Newport Bay Nature Preserve on the northwest corner of the Bay (along Irvine Avenue inland of 23rd Street as well as along University Drive and Santa Ana Heights). The County also owns and manages many of the slopes along Eastbluff and is the trustee of the state tidelands under the Newport Dunes. The County and the City share title to the land near the NAC. The Citys main ownership in the Upper Newport Bay is Back Bay Drive, the major eastern access point to the Upper Newport Bay and to Shellmaker Island. The City, the County, and CDFW jointly manage and fund the Back Bay Science Center at Shellmaker Island, in an effort to align education, restoration and research in UNBER. CDFW, like its predecessor agency DFG, has always struggled within the State budget process to secure adequate funding for reserve maintenance and operations across the state. On several occasions, such as with a $200K/year annuity set up in the early 2000s by then State Senator Ross Johnson (R- Irvine), the City has supported CDFW's efforts to secure additional revenues within the State budget to maintain UNBER. One tool that CDFW uses to secure revenue is its Lands Pass system. The Lands Pass is a daily or annual use pass that attempts to cover some of the costs of lands management at reserves and wildlife areas across California. The daily use Lands Pass is currently $4.32 /person, and the annual Lands Pass is $22.86 /person. Lands Passes are required at seven CDFW- managed reserves (and have been an un- enforced requirement at UNBER for several years, apparently) for almost all non - hunting recreational purposes — these include hiking, walking, running, biking, bird watching, kayaking, stand -up paddling, and more. The seven reserves and wildlife areas subject to the Lands Pass requirement are: Gray Lodge Wildlife Area • Grizzly Island Wildlife Area • Los Banos Wildlife Area Use Fees at the Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve June 25, 2013 Page 3 • San Jacinto Wildlife Area • Imperial Wildlife Area (Wister Unit) Elkhorn Slough Ecological Reserve • Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve Money raised by the Lands Pass stays within CDFW, but we are told that it is not allocated directly back to the specific reserve area where it was collected. In recent weeks, CDFW staff at UNBER have posted signs at UNBER access points stating their intention to enforce the Lands Pass requirement at UNBER as well as to collect the fees associated with the passes. Initially, CDFW staff has expressed intent to collect the fee from many different users of UNBER, including persons using Back Bay Drive but possibly excluding the volunteers who donate time to UNBER such as the Newport Bay Conservancy members. At this time, the City believes that any fee to use Back Bay Drive is inappropriate, given the City's ownership of the road. However, stepping off of Back Bay Drive would subject a walker, runner, or cyclist to the Lands Pass obligation. While this is less the City's worry than CDFW's, we are also concerned about how CDFW will be able to enforce this new requirement. There are many access points to UNBER, including virtually every foot of Back Bay Drive. CDFW's reserve staffing is fairly limited, and concentrates on basic day -to -day issues like volunteer coordination, restoration and education programs, reserve maintenance, and other land management efforts. It is hard to see how the busy UNBER CDFW staff will be freed up to collect the daily use fee at so many access points in UNBER. As a result of the installation of the signage, we've received some correspondence from many who visit and volunteer at the UNBER asking if this is an appropriate fee and whether the fee can be collected at all. Because of the City's strong partnerships in the past with CDFW and the County in the management and support of UNBER, we believe it may be in the best interest of the City and its residents to further consult with staff at CDFW to see if collecting the Lands Pass fee is something that should or can practically happen at UNBER. Thus, the recommendation to send a letter from Mayor Curry to the director of CDFW asking them to consider rescinding the Lands Pass requirement for UNBER and examining other alternatives to secure important revenue for UNBER maintenance and operations, such as revisiting Senator Johnson's annuity. Use Fees at the Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve June 25, 2013 Page 4 ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW: City staff recommends the City Council find the Mayor's submittal of a letter to CDFW is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act ( "CEQA ") pursuant to Sections 15060(c)(2) (the activity will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment) and 15060(c)(3) (the activity is not a project as defined in Section 15378) of the CEQA Guidelines, California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Chapter 3, because it has no potential for resulting in physical change to the environment, directly or indirectly. NOTICING: This agenda item has been noticed according to the Brown Act (72 hours in advance of the meeting at which the City Council considers this item). Submitted by: Dave iff City Manager Attachments: A. Map of Ownership /Management Interests in UNBER (County, 2002) B. Draft Letter to CDFW from Mayor Curry ATTACHMENT A THIS PAGE LEFT BLANK INTENTIONALLY ATTACHMENT B June 26, 2013 Mr. Carlton H. Bonham Director, Department of Fish and Wildlife 1416 9th Street, 12th Floor Sacramento, CA 95814 RE: Lands Pass requirement for Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve Dear Director Bonham: The City of Newport Beach (City) has long been a supporter of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) as it has managed the critical Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve (UNBER). We think of UNBER and the surrounding County of Orange Nature Preserve as our backyard, and a very special one at that. The stewardship of CDFW, while not always well - funded, has always been strong in protecting the important ecological resource that UNBER has become to the region and state. Knowing the tight fiscal situation that CDFW too -often finds itself in, we can somewhat see the rationale behind CDFW's application of its Lands Pass requirement to places like UNBER. However, we believe that the nature of UNBER is not conducive to collecting fees under the Lands Pass system, nor has our long -term partnership between CDFW, the City, and the County of Orange warranted its application. We (and our residents) partner with you on restoration efforts, educational programs, the Back Bay Science Center, and even enforcement and rescue in UNBER. Dozens if not hundreds of access points allow our residents, regional and state neighbors to access the resources within UNBER, and often they do so on a very brief basis. Our own Back Bay Drive goes across nearly the entirety of the eastern side of UNBER — this is a roadway that we happily maintain and operate, at our cost, to allow people to know and love the Upper Newport Bay as easily and safely as possible. Respectfully, we think that CDFW's effort to collect the fee at UNBER will not be successful. There is a long history of no -fee partnership (including tens of thousands of volunteer hours) between our City, our residents and CDFW, and collecting the fee associated with the Lands Pass changes that long- standing relationship. Therefore, we urge you to reconsider the Lands Pass requirement at UNBER. Recognizing the need for operational funds for UNBER, should the Lands Pass requirement be removed from UNBER, we remain ready to advocate with you to the Governor and to our State Legislators to ensure that CDFW gets the funding from the State budget that its UNBER operations require. We thank you and your local staff for your dedicated service to the Upper Newport Bay and thank you for your consideration of this request. Should you have any questions about this request, please do not hesitate to contact me at 949 - 644 -3001. Sincerely, KEITH D. CURRY Mayor of Newport Beach cc: Members of the Newport Beach City Council State Senator Mimi Walters (35th Senate District) Howard Cork, President, Newport Bay Conservancy