Castaways plan goes to council

June Casagrande

At first, it seemed like a godsend: City staff had come up with a

compromise to please people on both sides of a debate on how to

develop Castaways Park. But after talks with two environmental

agencies, the idea of using a native grass to create a turf-like

picnic area is clearly not the panacea some had hoped for.

Community members have squared off over whether the 17-acre park

should include a 2.5-acre patch of turf grass where people can

picnic, throw Frisbees and fly kites. Others say this idea violates

the intent of park planners, who designated the area as a passive,

natural park with all native plants. More important, the turf idea

was out of whack with the terms of a nearly $100,000 grant from the

California Coastal Conservancy and a $50,000 grant from the Nature

Conservancy. Those grants were for developing the park to an

all-natural state.

Staff members working with plant experts came up with what

appeared to be the ideal solution: a species of sedge grass that

would create a meadow area similar to turf grass but that is

technically a native plant.

In a meeting with City Manager Homer Bludau, though, Coastal

Conservancy and Nature Conservancy representatives said this solution

was a no-go.

“A meadow that would be planted in one grass species regardless of

what that species was, would not be acceptable under the provisions

of the two grants. The purpose of the grants was to educate the

public about a variety of native plants,” Bludau paraphrased their

responses in a staff report.

Tonight, the council will try to settle the question of how to

develop the park. If they create a meadow area, they lose the grants.

But they also free themselves from an agreement that would have given

the environmental groups oversight of the park for 20 years.

“There are a number of issues,” Bludau said. “One is the question

of how active the park is going to be. Another is whether we want to

accept $149,600 that’s ours only if we’re willing to live with the

restrictions over the next 20 years.”

The councilmen will consider seven options tonight that come with

varying pros and cons and varying price tags.

Councilman Don Webb supports creating a meadow area with native

plants, even though that would mean turning down the grant money.

“We need to encourage people to use that area up there and make it

really available for passive uses, and that’s why I will be

supporting the larger meadow grass area,” Webb said.

Councilman Tod Ridgeway, however, believes that it’s bad business

to revisit the council’s decision to accept the grant money and to

accept the terms that come with it. Though the city has been approved

for both grants, it has not yet taken possession of the money.

“To me, it’s a contract, and you can’t renege on that contract,”

Ridgeway said.