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Board delays approval of East Ranch Phase 3 plan, orders site visit over floodplain and maintenance concerns
Summary
After hours of public comment and board debate about floodplain placement, maintenance responsibilities and funding, the Cambria CSD board voted unanimously to continue action on the East Ranch Community Park Phase 3 plan and hold a joint site visit with the PROS committee before taking the matter up again.
The Cambria Community Services District board on March 12 delayed formal approval of the East Ranch Community Park Phase 3 plan and directed staff to schedule a joint on-site review with the district’s PROS (parks and recreation) committee and district engineers.
The board’s action followed more than an hour of discussion in which directors and members of the public raised concerns about components shown on the plan being located within mapped floodplains, unclear maintenance cost estimates and the long-term funding needed to operate new park features. Director Scott said she visited the site and asked that the board “go out and make a field trip…to see exactly what the terrain looks like” before final approval. Director Gray pressed for explicit lifecycle maintenance costs for each project element, saying, “maintenance is a…life-cycle cost” that must be addressed before the board votes.
Shannon Sutherland, representing the PROS committee, told the board the community has supported the plan for decades and that volunteers are prepared to form a nonprofit to help fund and maintain park features, but she said that any 501(c)(3) would need clear terms before raising money. “We have the paperwork ready to go,” Sutherland said, and urged the board to signal its support in concept while clarifying what the district will and will not fund.
Legal counsel cautioned that adopting a plan that is later materially modified because of floodplain constraints could require returning to the county for additional permitting and studies. Counsel said the board could adopt the document as a concept plan but warned “a lot of these facilities probably can’t be built in the locations they’re currently depicted” without more work.
President Farmer summarized the mood: the board and many residents remain committed to a community park, but members asked staff to flag floodplain boundaries on the ground, bring the district’s engineer and maintenance staff to the site, and return with refined cost, permitting and maintenance information. The board voted unanimously to continue items 7c and 7d and schedule the joint site visit before reconsideration.
