Vasquez Rocks Park Expansion

Revised 01/16/97

There is broad community wide opposition to the idea of converting any portion of the natural area of Vasquez Rocks into an Urban Nature Center and parking lot. The people supporting this idea are a few noisy and well financed individuals that will do anything to get their agenda in place. If anyone go forward to build any new structures or parking lots, there are adequate resources to block the project on an environmental basis.

Let's instead step back, and look at an idea that might work and make everybody happy.

We have numerous properties contiguous to Vasquez Rocks that could be added to the park. For example, on the west boarder is the 11 acre Hacienda Vasquez trailer park. It is probable that that the trailer park will be closed in the near future because of its well documented problems. Expansion of the park to include this property would be good use for Prop A funds to add more open space.

It has direct access to Agua Dulce Canyon Road, electricity, and good wells. While it has inadequate septic facilities for the existing 65 trailers the septic facilities would be adequate for a visitor's center. Also it has a number of buildings and some infrastructure. The area is surrounded by mature trees which will screen the building and the parking lot.

Use the Prop A money to:

1. Acquire this site, which can be purchased for virtually nothing after the Trailer Park closure. The Property is not zoned for trailer park use and cannot be used for purpose except as two home sites. This would make the value is somewhere between $40,000 and $100,000, reduced by the cleanup costs.

2. Purchase some of the adjoining lots to the North and West of the park for added open space where artifacts have been found.

3. Build a nature and interpretive museum on that site.

4. Use some of the funds to improve the ecological care of the main park.

In doing this, both sides could be happy. The park would be preserved as an ecological nature area. This additional property would enhance the park and provide a location for the more "urban like" facilities that involve a museum and interpretive center. In addition it would:

1. Isolate the parking area from the park area
2. Provide a lovely trail to the park across fairly flat land to this new center, entrance, and parking lot
3. Serve as a buffer to the rock art which is in close proximity to that boarder.

Doing this would increase the size of the park and it would eliminate a costly battle over the environmental impact report of the nature center in the park, which the county will lose.

Instead this is a workable solution that we believe everyone will accept and support.

Tana Lampton Agua Dulce Resident
Charles Brink Acton Resident
Howard Carlip Agua Dulce Resident

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