Off-Roaders’ Park Hits Political Wall

SACRAMENTO — A controversial proposal to build an off-road-vehicle park on Otay Mesa crashed into a political wall Monday when lawmakers decided they would rather use the money to help ease the state’s huge $14.3-billion deficit.

Separate proposals by Gov. Pete Wilson and Assemblywoman Carol Bentley (R-El Cajon) asked to use up to $9.8 million from the state’s “green sticker fund” to build the off-roader park on 1,300 acres to be leased from developer Roque de la Fuente over the next 20 years. Wilson included the park in his budget and, as political insurance, Bentley introduced a separate bill calling for the project.

But members of an Assembly Ways and Means subcommittee said Monday they were incredulous that the Wilson Administration would make a pitch for the off-road park while asking for cuts in trauma centers and other social services.

They all but dashed hopes for the park by voting, 4 to 1, to transfer the $9.8 million in green-sticker money to the General Fund, where it will be used to mitigate the budget shortfall.

“I find it hard to support (this) in light of the $14-billion deficit,” Assemblyman Richard Polanco (D-Los Angeles) said. “That’s a real inconsistency.”

If the committee has its way, it will be the third year in a row that budget deficits have scuttled plans for a border recreational park for San Diego off-roaders, who have long sought a place within the metropolitan area to ride their all-terrain vehicles (ATV), dune buggies and dirt bikes. State officials say San Diego, with 70,000 registered off-road vehicles, has among the highest per capita registration in the state.

Despite Monday’s bad news for off-roaders, committee members left the door slightly ajar for Bentley by saying they would consider authorizing the project if she can find new money--preferably from off-roaders themselves, who now pay $21 every two years for green stickers to put on each ATV, dirt bike and dune buggy they register.

Assemblyman Jack O’Connell (D-Carpinteria) suggested to Bentley that she ask the off-roaders to pay more for the green stickers, a suggestion she eschewed after leaving the hearing room.

“I have a problem in going back to the people who have been paying the money all along and say, ‘Trust me, we’ve taken your money in the past. But we’re going to raise it . . . and we won’t take it again,’ ” she said.

The Legislature has borrowed money before from the green-sticker fund, which off-roaders consider to be off-limits except for the maintenance of their recreational parks throughout the state. In the 1980s, lawmakers borrowed $21 million to shore up budgets and, last year, another $1.3 million to help a beleaguered fish and game department.

Lawmakers have justified the transactions by saying that the fund is “fungible” because 60% of it comes from gas tax money rebated to off-roaders for the fuel they buy but don’t burn on public roadways. Relatively little comes from the green sticker fees, they say. Increased gas taxes approved last year by California voters provided a green-sticker windfall this year that would have paid for most of the proposed Otay Mesa park.

In turning back the proposal, Assembly members Monday also raised questions about terms of the proposed lease with De la Fuente. Of particular concern were provisions that would have paid De la Fuente from $6.2 million to $6.6 million up front, instead of incrementally over the 20 years, and the fact that the land would revert to his ownership once the lease expired.

The committee was unconvinced by arguments from Henry R. Agonia, state director of parks and recreation, that its action could scuttle the proposed lease, which would only escalate with new appraisals.

“If we’re not buying the property, who cares what it’s worth,” Assemblyman Gerald N. Felando (R-San Pedro) said about De la Fuente’s land. “I don’t care if it’s worth $100 million.”

De la Fuente said late Monday that the committee’s decision to take the off-road money and switch it to the General Fund was “taxation without representation.” An off-roader himself, De la Fuente said he was looking forward to riding on the courses proposed for his property by state officials.

He also did not reject the possibility of negotiating further with the state, but added that it may cost more if the park deal is delayed until next year. “The matter becomes a question of price,” he said.