BREA : County Will Waive Park Entrance Fee

The city and the county have reached a joint-use agreement under which Brea will be able to utilize Craig Regional Park for youth and adult baseball, softball and soccer games without levying county vehicle entrance fees on participants.

Of the park’s five baseball fields, three will be set aside for city use Monday through Saturday. The remaining two fields will continue to be available for drop-in use on a first-come, first-served basis.

Craig Regional Park is off State College Boulevard south of Imperial Highway. It’s partly in Brea and partly in Fullerton.

Hailing the agreement as “a sign of progress,” County Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez, whose district includes both Brea and the park, said the arrangement will increase use of the regional facility.

The unique agreement, the first between the county and a municipality, “will allow youth organizations to utilize Craig Park during the week, when the park is not getting maximum use,” Vasquez said.

The park’s athletic facilities have been used mostly for informal pickup games and by groups of picnickers. The county’s $2-per-vehicle entrance fee proved to be prohibitively high for some athletic leagues.

The county’s decision to waive the entrance fee, however, made the city-county agreement possible, said Leonard MacKain, a county parks commissioner and a Brea-Olinda Unified School District trustee.

The city will issue passes to members of the leagues and install a device at the park’s entrance that will allow pass-holders to enter the park without paying the entrance fee.

The agreement, which is expected to be approved by the City Council on Tuesday, will probably take effect in January.