YORBA LINDA : 2 Firms Will Run Park’s Campground

The county has reached a tentative agreement with two private firms to take over the campground at Featherly Regional Park, which officials say will save taxpayers at least $400,000 a year.

Under the agreement, St. Clair Investments and Mobile Modular Development Inc. will pay the county rent of at least $25,000 annually and allow the county to transfer 11 of its 12 employees at Featherly to other county parks. The companies will bring in their own employees to staff the park.

The companies also agreed to invest $500,000 to improve the park during the next five years and up to $4.5 million over 35 years, eventually increasing the number of campsites from the current 119 to 400 and adding a convenience store. The companies will increase the rate for overnight parking from $10 a day to $15 a day, officials said.

County officials said they were spending $700,000 annually to run the park, but were receiving revenue of less than $300,000 a year.

“This will be a good thing for the county,” said Richard Adler, senior planner for the county Harbors, Beaches and Parks Department. “It will free up personnel and still allow the park to be open and operating as a campground. The alternative would have been to close the park.”

Attempts to reach officials at the two companies were unsuccessful Monday.

Adler said the companies have agreed not to force out several homeless people who rent spaces in the park and live there for up to 15 consecutive days, which county ordinances allow.

But the increased rental fees might force them out anyway, some of the homeless say.

Grant Davis, a custodian who has lived in the park for much of the past year, said the proposed 50% increase in camping fees will cause many of the homeless to spend more nights sleeping on the streets, rather than the secluded park. He said the wilderness park’s isolation, safety and beauty make it an attractive place to stay.

“Those who could afford to spend 15 days a month here, will now only be able to spend 10 days here,” Davis said. “They’ll be out in the cities, getting in hassles, rather than staying here and obeying the law.”