Home

History

Recreation

Stewardship

Agriculture

Community

Communications and Updates

Document Library

Directions

About Us

Donate

Recent Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor written by SHCP Board Members and published in The Independent & The Redwood Times

• Park Project Advocacy Process, by Dennis Huber (SHCP board member), February, 2011
• SHCP Management Plan Response, Dennis Huber (SHCP board member), March, 2011

THE PARK PROJECT ADVOCACY PROCESS

The Southern Humboldt Community Park’s primary goal is to administer careful utilization of park resources for the greatest community benefit. We recognize the importance of protecting current park resources for their own sake as well as to provide for future community needs.
 
That statement from the Park’s website reflects the Park board’s intended role as stewards of the land it holds in trust for community benefit. Stewardship includes the erosion control projects which have dramatically reduced and reversed the deepening of the drainage gullies which scarred the landscape when the Park took possession of the property, the restoration forestry projects which have reduced fire hazards and promote forest health on the slopes along the south portion of the park, and the creation of the 2.2 mile loop trail which makes the Park accessible to walkers, as well as the improvements we’ve seen at the Tooby Park playground.

On the other hand, creation and maintenance of infrastructure for new activities is beyond the usual scope of the Park’s stewardship mission. The Southern Humboldt Community Park's stewardship mission is to further the social, recreational, civic, and educational well-being of our entire community through appropriate use of the Park  The Board's focus is limited to the purchase and overall management of the Park and also to oversee the projects and activities that take place there. The Board provides the place and the community is responsible for developing the projects. This is where Park Use Advocates are encouraged to step in and make their dreams come true.
 
While this Park stewardship model bodes well for responsible and responsive development and management of future Park attractions, it has caused some confusion during the current Park rezoning process. Asked by the Planning Department to provide its most expansive vision of how the Park might be used over future decades, the Park was then placed in the unenviable position of trying to bring into clear focus concepts that are not their own and that may never come to fruition, leading some community members to feel frustrated that the impacts of these possible future projects by others have not been quantified.

Building and maintaining a vibrant Community Park is a monumental task, and SHCP is still in its formative stages. To be successful, it will require the efforts of diverse groups of people, now and forward to future generations. Some projects, like a permaculture demonstration garden, a community potato patch or prune plum orchard, could be developed as soon as a group comes forward with a viable plan. Many other project ideas, like a visitor center, a summer recreation program for area youth, an outdoor venue for weddings, family reunions, and memorial services, or a more permanent skateboard park to name a few, could be county-permitted and developed once rezoning is complete. Higher-impact projects like sports fields and elder housing will require thorough county review and may require extensive on- and off-site infrastructure improvements as a condition of permitting.

Dear Editor,

I read with interest Kristin Vogel’s letter headlined “Community Park Should Have Management Plan” in the March 1, 2011 edition of the Redwood Times. I couldn’t agree more with that sentiment! What Ms. Vogel may not understand is that the first step in the management plan process is to get the County to define the parameters of the possible uses of the property. Then we can resume our community planning process.

We have had a number of brainstorming meetings in the past several years, all of which have come up with virtually the same wish list for the Park. Now we are working with the relevant agencies to find out which of these dreams are possible, and under what circumstances. Once that's determined through this rezoning process we are now working to complete, we will be in a position to go back to the community to resume visioning, prioritizing and creating a long-range plan.
            
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Jim Truitt, who has invested so much of his personal time and resources to help with the rezoning process by providing a conceptual sketch of a possible sports complex. Jim has done this knowing full well that his concept is nothing more than an illustration of one of many possibilities, none of which has a chance of coming to fruition unless the Park has been rezoned, infrastructure, environmental and societal considerations have been carefully weighed, and the many competing ideas for Park usage have been prioritized.
           
Sincerely,
Dennis Huber
Board of Directors - Southern Humboldt Community Park