Time & Date: Tuesday, April 5, 2016 @ 7:30 PM (Social hours and free beer for members at 6:30)
Directions: From Highway 101 at Santa Rosa go west on Highway 12 to Stony Point Road Exit. Go straight from the middle lane at the light onto Occidental Road. The Round Table Pizza is on the right just down the road.
The Rock Ice & Mountain Club will host an informative meeting and open discussion on the latest California State Park’s Fee Collection Project for the Sonoma Coast and Salt Point State Parks. We have been following this Fee Proposal for several months when the climbing community learned about a proposed fee kiosk on Goat Rock Road which would have eliminated essential parking and access to Sunset Rocks. In response to this Fee Proposal, the Rock Ice & Mountain Club, with support from the American Alpine Club, Access Fund, Bay Area Climber’s Coalition, Vertex Climbing Center and the B-Rad Foundation, started a petition which received over 1,670 signatures. A link to the on-line petition can be found here.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/994/314/983/stop-the-sonoma-coast-fee-proposal-keep-access-to-sunset-rocks./#sign”
Fortunately, State Parks revised their Fee Proposal once again, based in part to our collective opposition to the kiosk on Goat Rock Road, and removed the proposed kiosks at Goat Rock Road, at Bodega Head and at Willow Creek.
Although State Parks has reduced the locations that they propose to install these fee collection devices, they still want to charge the public to access our State Park beaches. State Parks is attempted to bypass Sonoma County’s denial of the project by going to the California Coastal Commission for approval, which will set a statewide precedent if approved. State Parks is also claiming that this project is except for California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review, which allows them to not perform the basic Initial Study research and assessment for this project.
A copy of the Day Use Parking Fee Collection Device Proposal to the California Coastal Commission is linked to this State Parks webpage.
http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=28717
At the general meeting, we will provide the background information and latest developments about this Project, give a history of climbing at Sunset Rocks including the group trips provided by Vertex and B-Rad Foundation, and open the meeting to a discussion of the Project.
