Pinecrest, CA — The Tuolumne County Board of Supervisors spent about two hours on Tuesday discussing the possibility of charging fees for parking around Pinecrest Lake.
The initial proposal floated put fees at $18 for regular spots (352) and $28 for those big enough for boat trailers (42). Under that scenario, it would raise about $1-million to fund enforcement and improvements. It would be enforced between May 31 and September 15.
Several issues and questions were raised at the meeting, such as the legality and difficulty of instead just placing the fees on out-of-county visitors, whether passes can be sold at local businesses, the ability to offer seasonal passes, if the dollar amount should be different, who is the legal owner of the properties being utilized, etc.
The parking fee proposal has been spearheaded by District Three Supervisor Anaiah Kirk, citing public safety reasons. In the end, there was no majority consensus among the board to move the fees forward at this time.
Board Chair Steve Griefer, who wanted more information before voting, proposed tabling the matter until April.
Kirk countered that he would instead like to bring it back up for more discussion during the board’s annual workshop in March.
Kirk said, “If we don’t move forward today, we are going to miss this year’s deadline (of implementing it for this summer). That’s just a fact.”
Kirk said he will present it again at the workshop, and if a majority of the board does not agree that it is a priority, he will set it aside and focus on other items instead.
Kirk received consensus from the board to review it again at the March workshop.
