The biggest issue here, Parkway access, is threatened by the policy of charging for parking in the designated places for parking, forcing those who are only using the Parkway for a short time, to find parking other places, which usually means in someone’s neighborhood.
Parkway access should be free for everyone, as it now is for those who live close enough to walk in from their homes.
Sacramento County residents already pay taxes for park upkeep and should be able to use those parks without the imposition of additional fees.
Parkway users fuming at river parking prohibition
By Ramon Coronado - rcoronado@sacbee.com
Published 12:00 am PDT Thursday, March 13, 2008
Bill Mumma has been doing it for 30 years. Tom Richards said it's been at least 25 years for him.
But a sign recently bolted up in the parking lot of Bannister Park is telling the Fair Oaks men they can no longer use the park's parking lot while they enjoy the American River Parkway.
Officials at the Fair Oaks Recreation and Park District have banned parking for users of the river and trail at the request of area residents and to reserve the 47 free parking spaces for district activities.
Acquired as a park in 1957, the property on Bannister Road off Fair Oaks Boulevard, near San Juan Avenue, has long been used as a river access point.
Though a paved bicycle path with dirt shoulders on either side runs a mile up from the river parkway through Bannister Park and connects to Bannister Road, Fair Oaks park district officials say that portion of the path that cuts through their park is technically an easement and not an official river access.
"That's going to irritate a lot of people," Mumma said recently as he wiped the sweat from his forehead after a run. "How are they going to enforce that?"
