San Marcos Council names two new parks: Old California Row Park and Skyview Park

The San Marcos City Council on July 8 adopted resolutions to name two forthcoming parks after a public nomination process run by the Parks and Recreation Commission.

The council voted unanimously to name the park within the Restaurant Row redevelopment "Old California Row Park" and to name the new park in the North City area "Skyview Park." Both naming recommendations were developed by Parks and Recreation subcommittees after public outreach and review.

The naming recommendations were presented by Jay Franklin, a member of the Parks and Recreation Commission. "I'm here to provide an overview of the inclusive and thoughtful process that the Parks and Recreation Commission used to develop naming recommendations for 2 new public parks," Franklin said, summarizing the commission's outreach methods and evaluation criteria. The commission said it solicited suggestions via the city's website, social media, newsletters and public events and convened subcommittees to evaluate submissions against the city's naming policy.

Sasha Smith, a parks commissioner who served on the Restaurant Row subcommittee, said the group considered roughly 50 nominations and prioritized names that preserved local recognition. "We wanted to keep the row part in there," Smith said, adding that many residents and visitors already refer to the area as "Restaurant Row." Letty Robles, another commissioner, said the commission weighed historic identity and the planned design of the development when recommending names.

For the North City park — a 16.5-acre vacant site bounded by Discovery Street, Twin Oaks Valley Road and North City Drive — the subcommittee considered geographic and topographic references and names that would not duplicate existing parks. Commissioners proposed several options and recommended Skyview Park to reflect the site's elevation and planned open-space features.

Mayor Jones moved to name the Restaurant Row site Old California Row Park; the motion was seconded by Deputy Mayor Sunnella and passed unanimously. A separate motion to name the North City site Skyview Park also passed unanimously. The council did not record named dissenting votes during either roll call. Five council members were present for the votes.

The Parks and Recreation Commission said both naming processes followed the city's policy on municipal facility naming and a resolution establishing the park-naming process. The Restaurant Row recommendation referenced a longstanding local identifier — "Restaurant Row" or "Old California Restaurant Row" — and the subcommittee sought to preserve that historical place-name within the park name so the location remains recognizable to residents and visitors.

Commissioners also explained limitations they followed: names honoring individuals were excluded per city policy, and subcommittees checked for potential confusion with existing park names in San Marcos and neighboring cities. For Restaurant Row the subcommittee cited the site's address at 1020 West San Marcos Boulevard and the community's frequent use of the "Restaurant Row" name during outreach as reasons to retain that element in the park name.

Council members thanked the commissioners and volunteers for the outreach and the recommendation work. The council did not specify additional administrative steps or implementation dates during the meeting; the council clerk will enter the adopted resolutions into the official record as a routine follow-up to the votes.

Notes on process and context: the commission formed naming subcommittees for each park, evaluated dozens of nominations, and applied criteria including geographic relevance, distinctiveness, and consistency with city naming policy. Presentation materials referenced the city's naming policy and a resolution cited by the commission as governing the municipal facility naming process (resolution number read aloud in meeting materials as "20 20 four-nine 370" in the transcript; the commission described it as the city resolution establishing the official park-naming process).