State Parks to Take Over Management of Kings Beach State Recreation Area

California State Parks and the California Tahoe Conservancy announced on March 11^th that they will jointly take over management of the Kings Beach State Recreation Area in November 2014.    Day-to-day operations will be carried out by State Parks, and the Conservancy will subsidize a portion of the work.  The parties provided assurances that the park will remain open year-round.  Click here to read the entire State Parks news release.  Additional information on the State Parks plans is also available on the Sierra Sun website, March 12, 2014.

It appears that there are two important issues here;

1. $600,000 in necessary ADA upgrades and approximately $800,000 in deferred maintenance.
2. The possibility that the restrooms and parking lot would be closed during the off seasons.

The NTPUD has not been willing to spend the funds on those items because they have not had a long term management agreement with California State Parks since their former 30 year agreement expired in 2008.   With an agreement in place the NTPUD could apply for grants to pay for those necessary expenditures.  State Parks says that they decided to take over the management of the Recreation area because NTPUD “declined to participate” in negotiations for a new agreement.  They also say that they will keep the facilities open year round.

Never-the-less, Senator Ted Gaines and Assemblyman Brian Dahle hosted a town hall meeting to address this issue on March 20^th.  More than 150 local residents attended the meeting, and their response was resounding support for local control.  Some of the concerns raised included:

•  The unreliability of state funding which might be available this year, but unavailable in the next.
• Closure of the park and its parking lot could have a detrimental effect on Kings Beach.
• Can State Parks ensure the same level of service as that provided by the North Tahoe Public Utility District?

Gaines has sponsored Senate Bill 832 which if passed, would give the NTPUD ownership of the Recreation Area and ensure local control.  However he has said that he would prefer that the parties work out the issues rather than have it be decided by the legislature.

For further information, check out

• Sierra Sun article.
• Moonshine Ink article
• Our 3/12/14 Blog Post: Kings Beach State Recreation Area
• Our 3/4/14 Blog Post: State Parks Considering Seasonal Closure of Facilities at Kings Beach State Recreation Area