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At this time, it appears that most long-delayed maintenance needs will continue to be deferred. In his 2007 State of the State address, the governor committed to work with the Legislature to rebuild the state’s infrastructure. He did not mention state parks infrastructure, however. Although a one-time augmentation of $250 million for deferred maintenance was in the 2006-07 state budget signed by the governor, the proposed 2007-08 budget would take away $160 million of this approved amount, according to the State Parks Foundation.

Proposition 84, approved by voters in November 2006, allocated $400 million for park needs, including acquisition, development, and restoration. “We got $400 million, and this year [2006-07] we are spending $90 million, mostly for wastewater infrastructure,” said Coleman. At this writing, only a few improvements are proposed for the 2007-08 budget year, including new day-use facilities at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park and the new campground at Crystal Cove State Park. Also coming soon at the new Fort Ord Dunes State Park in Monterey County will be public access to a beach long off-limits as part of a military base. The outlook for the rest of the deferred, as well as ongoing, maintenance needs is bleak.

Income-Generating Options
Could more money or services be generated for State Parks from other sources, such as its concessions? More than 190 concession contracts in the 278 park units contribute a total of over $10 million a year in rents, with about $7 million of that coming from the 76 coastal parks. Most concessionaires are small businesses. They provide horseback-riding tours at Andrew Molera State Park in Big Sur, yellow beach umbrella and bicycle rentals at San Buenaventura State Beach in Ventura County, and hot showers at Leo Carrillo State Park north of Santa Monica and at MacKerricher State Park in Mendocino County.

The two biggest and most lucrative concessions--Asilomar Conference Grounds at Asilomar State Beach, and many of the shops and restaurants at Old Town San Diego State Historic Park--are operated by Delaware North Company, one of the largest privately held firms in the United States. Delaware North runs gaming enterprises and holds concessions in airports and convention centers, as well as in Yosemite National Park and other parks. It does not disclose its earnings, other than to report a “more-than-30-percent increase in the last few years alone.” Is this the best deal for State Parks?

Within the past year, for the first time, State Parks signed two contracts with nonprofit organizations. Unlike the other concessionaires, which pay a set amount of rent and keep any profits, these two will plow funds back into the parks where they operate. The first is the Crystal Cove Alliance, which rents out restored beach cottages to overnight visitors at Crystal Cove State Park in Orange County. The second is the Point Cabrillo Lightkeeper’s Association, which manages the Lighthouse Inn at Point Cabrillo in Mendocino County.

At Crystal Cove, a clutch of unique historic beach cottages lies at the base of a bluff, out of sight of the Coast Highway and, seemingly, of 21st-century southern California. During minus tides, a rocky reef and tidepools are exposed on the nearby beach. Strangely shaped circular rock formations are scattered across the sand.

Laura Davick grew up here; her parents met at the cove beach and later settled in one of the cottages, most of them built between the 1920s and 1940s. In 1979, the State acquired Crystal Cove State Park, but long-term leases kept the cottages in private hands until 2001. Today Davick runs the first partnership between State Parks and a revenue-generating, but nonprofit, concessionaire. Under a contract signed in May 2006, the Crystal Cove Alliance rents out 14 of the beach cottages, and also manages the Beachcomber Café and Crystal Cove Shake Shack and interpretive store.

“We’re doing really well,” said Davick, “and $150,000 in profit from the park interpretive store this year will go into restoration in the park.” The Alliance pays rent based on a percentage of gross receipts, some of which are also allotted toward future improvements. “So far, $400,000 has gone into the facilities improvement account,” said Davick. Any proceeds that remain after paying rents and costs go toward the Alliance’s long-term goal to restore the remaining beach cottages.

The cottages have been phenomenally popular. “We had 100,000 hits on the website the first day,” said Parks Director Coleman. “A month at a time is booked, and within minutes they are all gone.” Rates start at $31 per night for one person in one of the dorm-style cottages; the two-bedroom Painter’s Cottage sleeps four to nine people and rents for $179 to $334 (prices effective July 1, 2007). These rates are moderate compared to $20 to $35 family campsites at Orange County’s Doheny State Beach and a $795 ocean-view room at Laguna Beach’s Montage Resort.

Could the Alliance be a model for other state parks? “It requires a certain level of expertise,” Davick said, “but there are certainly other parks where this model could be used.” The Alliance was born out of opposition to an earlier State Parks plan to convert the 46 historic cottages at the cove into 73 luxury resort units. “We felt that would be a terrible precedent for state parks,” said Davick.

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