O.C. Park Fees Hike Hasn’t Cut Turnout

As a ranger at Mile Square Regional Park for the last decade, Cornel Stinson had become accustomed to being seen as a savior of lost children or joggers felled by shinsplints and twisted ankles.

But when the county sharply increased park service fees in January, Stinson and other rangers suddenly found they were slightly less popular among park users who were unhappy over the higher charges.

“We got some flak in the beginning,” Stinson said. “People would stop me when I was driving my maintenance truck. They wanted to know where the money was going. We even got accused of pocketing the money ourselves.”

The doubling--and in some cases more than tripling--of parking, camping and other recreation fees was one of the revenue-raising measures taken by the financially ailing county to cope with its bankruptcy losses.

Despite the initial outcry, the public appears resigned to the new fee schedule, and the county’s 18 regional parks have not suffered significant dips in attendance. A busy Fourth of July weekend is expected, though some fun-seekers might detour to the beach if the sweltering heat continues.

County records show that during the busy Easter and Mother’s Day holidays this year, people flocked to the regional parks in roughly the same numbers they did in 1995, when attendance and parking fees were lower. Memorial Day attendance did drop at several popular sites, but officials attribute it to cloudy weather, not the new fees.

Officials plan to closely examine Independence Day attendance totals in search of trends or unusual patterns. But they don’t expect any surprises.

“Even though the fees are up, people are willing to pay,” said Michael Brajdic, the supervising ranger at Mile Square Park who noted that attendance is up this year at several facilities, including Caspers Wilderness Park and the Orange County Zoo. “People definitely aren’t staying away.”

While the new fees are in line with those charged in other counties, they took some park users by surprise. Vehicle entry fees jumped from $2 to $4 on weekends and $5 on holidays. Overnight camping charges rose from $10 to $12.

The fees were approved by the Board of Supervisors last fall with support from user groups and park volunteers who said the extra revenue was needed to help maintain park hours and services in the wake of the county bankruptcy.

“It’s a small price . . . for the beautiful facilities we have,” said Patrick Henry, a longtime hiking trail advocate. “I know the county doesn’t have the resources.”

But along the meandering bike and walking paths of Mile Square Park, some people said the new fees are too high.

“That’s a lot of money to pay on top of our taxes,” said Mike Braniford of Huntington Beach, who was jogging around the park Tuesday morning with co-workers. “Five bucks for [holiday] parking is a lot, even for a nice place like this.”

The new fees have been especially troubling to longtime park users who remember the old days when weekend parking cost 50 cents, not $4 or $5.

County officials said they understand the public’s concerns but insist that the increases are reasonable and necessary to recover more of the costs associated with providing park services. At Irvine Regional Park, for example, the county recently opened a train ride and expanded its zoo attractions.

“Nobody likes to pay more,” said Robert G. Fisher, director of the Harbors, Beaches and Parks Department. “But in some cases, they are getting more for their fees. . . . It’s like when you go to the movies and the prices go up. You don’t like it, but you pay.”

With the new fees, the parks department is attempting to better measure park attendance and determine why the popularity of certain sites seems to fluctuate.

An analysis of Memorial Day attendance found that several parks, including Caspers, Clark and Carbon Canyon, saw increases in the number of visitors, while others such as Irvine, Mason, Yorba and O’Neill experienced declines.

The analysis, which counts users who park their cars in lots but not those who walk into the facilities from the outside, found that Mile Square Park attendance dropped to about 2,000 this Memorial Day, compared with 2,800 in 1995 and 5,061 in 1993.

But rangers said they haven’t detected a drop-off in attendance and suggested Mile Square Park’s location in the center of a urban area make it easy for users to simply park on side streets and walk into the park without paying.

Nearby residents have complained for years about park visitors leaving their cars on side streets during holidays. In response to their concerns, Fountain Valley officials recently created a permit parking program that prohibits everyone but residents from parking in the adjacent neighborhoods on busy park weekends.

Tim Miller, the county’s manager of park operations, said weather is also a major factor, noting that the cloudy conditions on Memorial Day probably contributed to the mixed turnout.

The 90- and 100-degree temperatures this week might also affect park attendance on the Fourth of July. “If the weather keeps up this way, I think the parks will be busy but won’t see capacity crowds,” Miller said. “Because of the weather, you’ll see more people going to the beach.”

One thing is clear: The fee hike has resulted in greater revenue. Memorial Day park revenue totaled more than $40,000 this year, compared with about $25,000 in 1995.

The new $1 entry fee at the Orange County Zoo--which previously did not charge admission--hasn’t deterred visitors, who are lining up to see new exhibits such as Samson the bear. About 8,000 people visited the zoo in January. In April, 27,000 people visited.

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Park Use, Revenue

Despite fee increases imposed in January, park officials say attendance has remained steady. They blame Memorial Day’s mixed numbers on cloudy weather rather than increased fees. Here’s the Memorial Day comparison from some of the county’s regional parks. Data include people who park in lots, not those who walk in from outside.

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1995 1996 Difference Carbon Canyon Revenue $989 $3,174 +$2,185 Attendance 1,437 2,655 +1,218 Caspers Revenue $280 $4,603* +$4,323 Attendance 485 1,579 +1,094 Clark Revenue $1,236 $3,330 +$2,094 Attendance 2,989 5,514 +2,475 Irvine Regional Revenue $8,940 $8,598 -$342 Attendance 9,320 8,076 -1,244 Mason Revenue $1,475 $1,735 +$260 Attendance 2,160 1,143 -1,017 Mile Square Revenue $4,810 $3,247 -$1,563 Attendance 2,886 1,947 -939 O’Neill Revenue $887 $3,372* +$3,285 Attendance 1,634 1,689 +55 Yorba Revenue $2,437 $4,103 +$1,666 Attendance 4,656 3,837 -819 TOTAL Revenue $21,054 $32,162 +$11,108 Attendance 25,567 26,440 +873

*--*

* Includes camping revenue for entire weekend

Source: County of Orange

Researched by SHELBY GRAD / For The Times