Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-11-25 - AGENDA REPORTS - PRIORITY REGISTRATION (2)Agenda Item:i� CITY OF SANTA CLARITA AGENDA REPORT NEW BUSINESS City Manager Approval: Item to be presented by: Rick Gould DATE: November 25, 2003 SUBJECT: PRIORITY REGISTRATION FOR PARKS AND RECREATION PROGRAMS DEPARTMENT: Parks, Recreation & Community Services RECOMMENDED ACTION City Council approve implementation of priority registration for City residents at City developed facilities for impacted Parks, Recreation, and Community Services programs. BACKGROUND There has been considerable discussion regarding the issue of City parks and City recreation programs, with respect to those who benefit from them and those who subsidize them. Members of the Parks, Recreation, and Community Services Commission have regularly voiced their desire to move toward a priority registration or resident/non-resident fee structure for Parks, Recreation, and Community Services programs. This issue has also been mentioned as a concern of the City Council in several workshops. The City currently provides priority registration to residents in the youth basketball program, to returning teams in the adult softball program, and to returning participants in Primetime Preschool. It does not show favor when accepting registration for any other Parks, Recreation, and Community Services program. There is no advance registration for residents, no classes "reserved" for residents only, and no surcharge for non -Santa Clarita residents. Staff believes that this practice in Santa Clarita stems, in part, from the quitclaim restrictions placed by Los Angeles County when the City took over maintenance of County -built parks. The City now has completed construction on several new parks and facilities, with construction anticipated on several more over the next two years, which do not have constraints on priority systems. The City is prevented from providing preferential treatment to residents participating in programs at Canyon Country, Newhall, North Oaks, Valencia Glen, Valencia Meadows, Bouquet Canyon, I , y 9 - ANN P11 Nf MME �1 I I � Old Orchard, and Santa Clarna Parks. In addition, any portion of a park constructed with Proposition A funds could also be prohibited, based on legal opinions provided by the County. However, steps can be taken to provide a resident protection at Begonias Lane, Central, Pamplico, Bridgeport, Creekview, and Oak Spring Canyon Parks and at the George A. Caravalho Santa Clarita Sports Complex and the Community Center. Further, staff does not believe the quit claims can be reversed at this time, and believes increased reliance on City -constructed facilities has begun to offset the need to make the quitclaim revision. The major concern expressed by both the Commission and the Councilmembers is ensuring that the greatest number of City residents possible have access to City Parks, Recreation, and Community Services programs. There are several possible ways to provide a benefit to residents when registering for Parks, Recreation, and Community Services programs. Some have fiscal ramifications, while others do not. These methods include priority registration for residents, reserving spaces in classes for residents, and increasing fees to non-residents. Briefly, these methods are defined as follows: • Priority registration for residents is handled by designating a period of time in which registration is processed for City residents only before all others, at which time, all registration becomes first come, first serve. • Reserving spaces in programs for residents is another method to create a priority registration for residents, without actually designating a separate registration period. • Charging a higher fee for classes and programs to people who do not reside in the City of Santa Clarita. Number of Participants The City's Geographic Information System (GIS) staff assisted Department staff with a review of the registration records to determine the number of resident participants in Parks, Recreation, and Community Services programs versus the number of non-resident participants. Of the 62,050 records in the Recreation database, 36,537, or 62% are City of Santa Clarita residents. The data further shows that at least 24%n of the participants that have registered for a Recreation program live outside of the City. The remaining 14% are unknown, but the majority probably are City residents. These numbers are significant, and have far reaching impacts on the City's ability to serve our residents and collect revenues, in that at least one-quarter of the programming and efforts are directed at non-residents. Comparisons For the last two years, the Department has reviewed the fees it charged for a variety of programs and services. Ultimately, both the Parks, Recreation, and Community Services Commission and the City Council agreed that the fee structure needed to be revised, and increases were made to some of the Department's programs. During these reviews, the City made comparisons to fees charged by Parks and Recreation Departments in nearby cities. Staff has conducted a review of these cities to determine if they provide any preferential treatment to residents for purposes of registration. city Priority Resident/Non-re Note Registration? sident fees? Azusa No Yes Depends on program. Bellflower Yes No Beverly Hills No Yes Depends on program. Burbank Yes Yes $2 for youth, $5 for adults per class. Carlsbad Yes Yes 10 -day priority registration period. Claremont No Yes Has a fee structure for non-residents who work in Claremont. Chino Hills Yes No Glendale No No Lancaster No Yes $345 per class. Norwalk No Yes $5 per class. Palmdale No Yes $5 per class for some programs. Pasadena No Yes 10% discount for residents. San Clemente No Yes $3 per class. West Hollywood No Yes Depends on program. Conejo Yes No Recreation & Park District Pleasant Valley No Yes 25% surcharge for out of Recreation & district residents. Park District Rancho Simi No No Recreation and Parks District A review of dozens of brochures from other Southern California cities reveals that charging non-resident fees is a common practice, while priority registration does not seem as popular. It may, however, be the case that some cities practice priority registration without advertising it. Parks, Recreation, and Community Services Commission Action At a Parks, Recreation, and Community Services Commission meeting held last fall to review the issue and advise the Council, the Commission unanimously approved a motion to make a recommendation to the City Council to implement a type of priority registration that would provide benefit to City residents. Recommendation Development Based on the Commission's action, staff evaluated a variety of options that would result in benefit to City residents when faced with registration for Parks, Recreation, and Community Services programs. In addition, in an effort to address the concerns expressed by both the Commission and Councilmembers in ensuring that the greatest number possible of City residents have access to City parks and recreation programs, City staff continued efforts with County representatives and County residents. This effort was intended to develop a method which would ensure protection for residents, yet provide opportunity for non-residents to access programs. Based on the constraints placed on our elder parks and the types of new facilities the City has constructed recently, staff believes expansion of our current priority registration system to programs that are impacted will best meet the goals of the Commission and Council, yet continue to serve the entire Santa Clarita Valley. ALTERNATIVE ACTIONS Other action as determined by the City Council. FISCAL IMPACT No fiscal impact associated with this action.