Despite petition, new parks unlikely
New neighborhood parks in unincorporated local communities like Myrtletown and Cutten are a long way from reality, despite a petition started by a local resident that has garnered dozens of signatures for the cause.
The Change.org petition calls for parks to be built in areas covered by the Humboldt Community Services District. At press time Monday, the petition has 145 signatures; its goal is 200.
“HCSD already receives money from property taxes that can be used for this and if they invoke their park powers, more funding will be accessible through grants and other sources,” the petition info states.
“The county also owns “surplus” land that could be used for parks but will likely be sold to developers unless residents act soon,” the petition info continues.
The creator of the petition, a user named “dave zdrazil,” did not respond to a request for comment on Monday.
It’s true the community services district could seek a new property assessment or special tax or grant funding for parks. But the district’s general manager Jim Latham said Monday the endeavor should be taken on by Humboldt County officials.
“We are not chartered to (create new parks), and at his point in time it isn’t something we’re going to do,” Latham said.
At present, the special district exists to provide only three services: Water maintenance, sewage and street lighting.
The city of Eureka proper has its share of community parks, but unincorporated communities like Myrtletown or Cutten don’t have as much public space at their disposal.
At the Humboldt County level, officials mainly take on larger parks projects that encompass at least several acres of land, not small community parks, said county public works director Tom Mattson.
More than that, there may not be room in the budget for building new parks any time soon given the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, he said.
“We support parks, but all of us are filling a major budget crisis right now and it’s not likely we’ll fit a community park into our plans for 2020 under the current situation,” Mattson said.
Latham said the creator of the petition had spoken at a previous community services district meeting. In the petition, “dave zdrazil” asks for interested parties to contact officials at the district to get a parks initiative off the ground.
“Please get involved and support this effort if you are concerned with inequities and want to improve the quality of life for everybody in your community!” the petition states.