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Board gives GSA discretion to approve routine park permit fee waivers with reporting
Summary
The board authorized the county general services director to approve routine park permit fee waivers under clarified criteria (hardship, community benefit, in-kind volunteer work) and asked for first-year reporting; the change is intended to reduce board workload on small requests.
Glenn Spitzer, general services director, presented a proposed revision to the county's park use permit and rental fee waiver process that would add clearer criteria (financial hardship, community benefit and in‑kind volunteer options) and delegate limited authority to GSA to approve routine waivers.
Spitzer said the revised two‑page application would ask applicants to document hardship, community benefit and whether they plan to perform in‑kind volunteer work (for example weed‑whacking, trash pickup or flag placement). He suggested a discretionary approval threshold as an example ($500 per year) and recommended that routine small waivers not require full board review while preserving an appeal right to the board.
Supervisors asked for one‑year reporting so the board can monitor impacts and for discretion to retain authority in exceptional cases. The board voted to delegate the authority to GSA (motion by Supervisor Neto, seconded by Supervisor Brown) and included an option to have approvals appear on consent in the first year for oversight.
The board emphasized that nonprofit groups remain the primary intended beneficiaries and cautioned against broad use for individual applicants, but also preserved limited flexibility for exceptional circumstances.
