Public suggestions help to direct state funding for parks and open space changes

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The California State Parks Department has grant funding available and it is doing outreach with communities in more than 40 areas to receive community suggestions on how it should be spent.

A meeting was held in Santa Barbara Tuesday morning at MacKenzie Park and, later in the day, a similar gathering was held in Paso Robles.

Assistant Santa Barbara Parks and Recreation Director Jazmin LeBlanc said, "we keep an active eye out for every grant opportunity available and try to strike when the iron is hot, when we've got a project and there is a grant match, we try to pursue that."

The meeting was held "in the round" where community members sat in a circle and exchanged ideas.

Coastal Band of Chumash Nation Tribal Chairman Gabriel Frausto said, "the state sees that there is a real need to hear the native and non-native community's concerns."

Val Selvaggio, owner of Xanadu Skate Boutique, said, "just hearing people come alive with all the  amazing things you can do no matter what your age level, your gender, anything, you can do in Santa Barbara."

The outreach was appreciated by those attending. Frausto said, "being able to sit here and look at community members in the room and come up with ideas to better serve the people here  locally it is a great opportunity to be able to give some insight."

Some of the suggestions included using the grant money to maintain better overall access to open space areas, to make them as safe as possible, to also have more all-inclusive parks, like Gwendolyn's playground, that's in the development stage now and also to add more areas for recreational swimming.

There was also a recommendation to offer a space for roller skating.

Selvaggio said, "all we need is, just a flat surface, that is all we need."

The Santa Barbara Parks and Recreation Department says the grant funding will help with long-range planning. "Every big project that you see in town is years in the making. So this will help us design those projects that will be coming later in 2027, 2028, and so on."

LeBlanc said some of the ideas won't need the state funds. "We heard a lot of great ideas for what we can do to our park systems and some of it we can do now, some little changes to our program, and work with different partners. "

The state says the funds can be uniquely helpful to specific projects, and the input is valuable.

State Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan Supervisor Sam Cadeaux said, "were looking forward to going to a couple of other areas, Paso Robles is one of them. We are also going up to Monterey and Santa Cruz so hearing those voices on the Central Coast is going to be impactful looking forward into our plan."            

This outreach and the future use of the funds will improve the quality of life for both local residents and visitors.

"The parks and these community spaces are what makes Santa Barbarans happy to be here so it is always something that is important to fund," said Le Blanc.