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Board adopts El Dorado County parks and trails master plan and year‑one work plan; asks staff to study revenue options
Summary
After a multi‑year, in‑house planning effort and extensive public outreach, the Board of Supervisors adopted the 2025 Parks and Trails Master Plan and a fiscal year 2025–26 work plan. Supervisors also asked staff to return with options to enhance funding, including potential revenue measures and user‑fee strategies.
The Board of Supervisors unanimously adopted the El Dorado County Parks and Trails Master Plan on March 25 and approved a year‑one implementation work plan that prioritizes trail connectivity, park maintenance, volunteer programs and accessibility improvements.
Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Jennifer Franich and Parks Manager Zachary Paris presented the final draft plan, which county staff produced largely in‑house after multiple rounds of public workshops, a community survey that collected more than 1,000 responses, and consultation with a Master Plan Advisory Committee and partnering recreation providers.
Key findings: county residents consistently ranked trail access and open‑space connections among their top priorities. The plan maps existing county parks and shows many facilities concentrated near populated areas; it also highlights the significant amount of federal and other non‑county open space in the county’s footprint. Staff noted funding constraints: the parks program relies largely on restricted grants and user fees and lacks a dedicated, countywide parks funding source similar to some community services districts.
The plan establishes five goals, 19 objectives and 115 initiatives for the next decade and proposes a flexible work plan for fiscal year 2025–26 with near‑term actions such as updating river management guidance, studying e‑bike access on trails, reestablishing an adopt‑a‑trail program, standardizing emergency access gates and creating a five‑year capital improvement plan.
Supervisors asked staff to return with specific revenue options to support parks and trails — including user‑fee adjustments, potential transient‑occupancy‑tax allocations, and other revenue sources — and to update legacy planning documents cited in the plan. The board also directed staff to correct minor errors in the draft (naming of districts and an acknowledgments page) and to omit a staff member’s name at that person’s request. The motion to adopt the plan and the work plan, with those additional directions, passed unanimously.
