Title
a. Consider Board Referral 2017.20 requesting a lease agreement between the City of Salinas and the County of Monterey for the City of Salinas to implement a BMX Bike Track and Skate Park; and
b. Provide direction to staff.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Board of Supervisors provide direction to staff regarding the desire and priority for pursuing a lease agreement between the City of Salinas (City) and the County of Monterey (County) for the City of Salinas to implement a BMX Bike Track and Skate Park on County property.
SUMMARY:
On September 26, 2017, Supervisor Alejo assigned Referral 2017.20, which states:
Lease agreement between the City of Salinas and the County of Monterey regarding County’s parcel adjacent 855 East Laurel Drive in Salinas for the implementation of a BMX Bike Track, new Skate Park, and sidewalk on East Laurel Drive adjacent to this property (between Sanborn Road and Constitution Boulevard).
This referral was closed on May 7, 2019 following approval of plans to develop about 1.87 acres of the site with a new homeless shelter - construction of the shelter started in December 2019. Supervisor Alejo re-initiated this Referral on November 19, 2019 (hereafter, “referral” or “project”).
In response to this referral, staff is providing information regarding resources required for this referral to be added as a project. Due to limited staff resources, staff is also seeking Board direction regarding 1) whether this is a project to pursue; and if so, 2) the priority for applying staff resources to the subject of this referral over other active projects. Processing the terms of the lease, plan review, and performing inspections is estimated to take about 110 hours of County staff time. This report also provides suggested considerations to incorporate into the lease agreement for development of a BMX and Skate Park.
If the Board directs staff to pursue this project, County staff would need to collaborate with City staff regarding the development of a BMX Bike Track and Skate Park, negotiate the terms of the lease to define the roles and responsibilities of each party, and possibly enter into a cost-sharing agreement regarding design, environmental review, entitlements, procurement, and construction costs. Once the scope of the project, the terms of the proposed lease, and the terms of any cost sharing agreement were defined, staff would prepare a staff report with accompanying lease and cost-sharing agreements for consideration by the Capital Improvement Committee, Budget Committee, and Board of Supervisors.
Other County-City projects in the area include Regional Soccer Complex and soccer fields, a sidewalk along East Laurel Drive, Veterans Park, and Twin Creeks Golf Course. These projects include long-term leases of County land, County transferred land to the City, and joint development on County lands. The MOU for the sidewalk adjacent this property on E. Laurel Drive has been brought forth for consideration in a separate report. Other uses on the County land include: Public Works Yard, Facility Maintenance Yard, County Administrative Office - Fleet Management/Fueling Station, and the Silver Star Resource Center. Staff (County and City) have been discussing options to develop transitional housing in this area in conjunction with the homeless shelter and services. In addition, the City is developing recreation plans for the Carr Lake area.
DISCUSSION:
On January 9, 2020, staff submitted a report to the Board of Supervisors for consideration. The Board of Supervisors asked staff to resubmit a report to focus on the feasibility of leasing a portion of the 855 E. Laurel Drive property to the City for the City to develop a BMX and Skate Park next to Carr Lake and the City soccer complex. The objective is to provide additional recreational opportunities for Salinas youth to have a safe, visible venue for outdoor recreational activities for improved health and quality of life, to promote healthy choices, and a healthy environment in collaboration with the City. The proposed location at 855 E. Laurel Drive would replace the existing City of Salinas skate park located at Natividad Creek Park off Las Casitas Drive. The City’s existing skate part would be returned to an open-space grass area.
Monterey County’s Natividad Campus, located west of Constitution Boulevard, consists of 110.17 acres that includes services such as Natividad Medical Center, Health Department, Sheriff/Jail, Probation/Juvenile Hall, and OES/911. The County of Monterey also owns about 196.91 acres generally located east of Constitution Boulevard and north of East Laurel Drive (Attachment A):
A. 16.24 acres developed with Public Works, Facilities, Fleet, Probation (Laurel Yard)
B. 1.87 acres under construction for Homeless Shelter (County-City agreement)
C. 78.436 acres under long term lease to City for Twin Creek Golf Course
D. 76.967 acres under long term lease to City for Regional Soccer Complex and soccer fields
E. 10.214 acres transferred to City for Veterans Park
F. 0.3 acres to create sidewalk along East Laurel Drive (joint project with City)
G. 23.10 acres vacant with no plans
H. 1.13 acres between the Homeless Shelter (under construction) and East Laurel Drive.
Area H, approximately 1.13 acres, is located between the Homeless Shelter and East Laurel Drive, across the access road from Veterans Park and Gabilan Creek. Carr Lake is located across East Laurel Drive to the South, a wetlands area is located to the east (City-owned). Some encumbrances to consider for Area H include steep slopes, open earthen swale leading to a basin required for the Homeless Shelter storm water management, and overhead utility lines that restrict certain uses below them.
Area A currently supports approximately 100,000 square feet (sq. ft.) of County facilities, including workspaces, maintenance yards and storage. Area A is accessed through Veterans Way off East Laurel Drive. This facility is regularly accessed by drivers for various local agencies who drive service trucks, sheriff’s vehicles, county fleet vehicles, public agency/law enforcement vehicles, public works heavy equipment vehicles, and personal vehicles with a constant flow of vehicle and equipment usage during the Monday through Friday work week. Veterans Way is also the only vehicle access point for the Mission Trails Regional Occupational Program (ROP) pursuant to the ROP Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) and the future 100-bed, 24 hour Homeless Shelter (Shelter) which is currently under construction (Area B).
The County does not currently have alternative plans for use of Area G. However, RMA staff often receives requests from other County departments with a desire to either lease, construct or remodel existing facilities in strategic community locations to best serve the community. At one time this site was considered for a re-entry facility. More recently, City and County staff have been evaluating the possibility of developing transitional housing, which is contemplated in an MOU with the City at 1220 Natividad Road. After further review, there could be efficiencies of shared services by locating housing in close proximity to the Shelter, which would allow planning space at the Natividad Campus for additional Health and Social Services.
There are three (3) main County campuses in Salinas, which service the largest population in the County; 1) Government Center at 168 W. Alisal Street; 2) Government Center at 1441/1448 Schilling Place; and 3) Natividad Road/East Laurel Drive Campus which is comprised of multiple parcels between Constitution Blvd., East Laurel Drive and Natividad Road. The latter, being the largest and most versatile campus, is the most sought-after location for County development as it provides close proximity to essential services. With limited resources, consideration should be made to ensure compatible uses to optimize development opportunity.
Currently, there are three (3) major County capital projects under construction at the Natividad Road/East Laurel Drive Campus; the 78,441 sq. ft. New Juvenile Hall, the 134,000 sq. ft. Jail Housing Addition, and 16,000 sq. ft. Shelter. It is also the site of the proposed pilot project for the recently adopted Referral 2020.4 to achieve net zero by 2030 and energy independence where a large area of land will be needed to install ground mount photovoltaic panels in order to achieve the energy needed to run critical 24 hour facilities.
In January when this matter was presented to the Board, City officials attended to express their desire to relocate their existing BMX/Skate Park. Attachment B illustrates the current proximity of the current City of Salinas BMX park in relation to the proposed location. Locations are approximately one (1) linear mile apart.
Attachment C shows a potential layout of a BMX/Skate park in Area H using the existing City of Salinas facility as a scaled reference. Some encumbrances to consider are the 25% or greater slopes at E. Laurel Dr. and Veterans Way restricting development to the flatter part of the proposed site. There is also an open earthen swale leading to a basin needed for the Shelter storm water management that will eliminate development at the south end of the proposed site. The extent of grading through the 25% slope to meet driveway slope requirements may require parking and ADA path of travel to be accommodated off site. Analysis should be conducted to ensure safe egress to the park facilities from the heavily utilized vehicle traffic roads on both East Laurel Drive and Veterans Way. Due to the proximity to the Shelter, staff would suggest possible lease terms limit usage to only daylight hours to minimize disturbance to the shelter occupants and require the facility to be entirely enclosed with a fence as a way to control access and minimize crossover activity.
OTHER AGENCY/STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT:
In 2017, the City of Salinas engaged in a two-year community wide outreach referred to as “Vision Salinas”. The objective was to create a unified focus that captures the topics most important to the residents to guide in the future development of Salinas. In July 2019, the City of Salinas published the Parks, Recreation & Libraries Master Plan on their website. Attachment D is an excerpt from Chapter 4.2 Community Survey which illustrates the participants response to Prioritization for Recreation. Skateboarding or BMX received 25.2% of the participants support. However, it was noted that respondents to the Spanish language survey were notably more likely to support improvements for skateboarding/BMX.
County staff participates in a monthly coordination meeting with the City of Salinas to collaborate on matters related to downtown, East Laurel Drive/Natividad Road, and other services in general. If the Board directs staff to pursue this project, staff would collaborate on the design and development of the proposed project, defining the roles and responsibilities of the parties, and negotiating the terms of the lease, and any corresponding cost sharing agreement to achieve the County’s and City’s objective.
FINANCIAL ANALYSIS:
Staff time involved for developing the terms of the lease and any corresponding cost sharing agreement is approximately 80 hours. An additional 40 hours of staff time is estimated for oversight of design, plan review, environmental review, and site inspections during construction. This equates to approximately $30,000, assigned to general administrative staff time.
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS STRATEGIC INITIATIVES:
Board initiatives contribute to the health and wellness of Monterey County residents by supporting the development of recreation for the improved health and quality of life through a County supported policy to promote opportunities for healthy choices and a healthy environment in collaboration with local communities.
__ Economic Development
__ Administration
X Health & Human Services
_ Infrastructure
__ Public Safety
Prepared by: Lindsay Lerable, RMA Chief of Facilities, (831) 755-6051
Checked by: Shawne Ellerbee, RMA Deputy Director of Administrative Services
Approved by: Carl Holm, Director, Resource Management Agency
The following attachments are on file with the Clerk to the Board:
Attachment A - Natividad and Laurel Campus Map
Attachment B - Proximity Map
Attachment C - Area H
Attachment D - Section 4.2 City of Salinas Parks, Recreation & Libraries Master Plan