NICE — Work is getting under way on one of the county”s newest parks.
The county recently purchased a 13-acre parcel of land which borders Hammond Avenue and extends to the east, and includes a waterfront strip along Lakeshore Boulevard.
The parcel, to be called Hammond Avenue County Park, will become part of the Nice Parks Master Plan.
It is a $3.3-million project, and will take approximately three years to complete, said Public Services Director Kim Clymire.
After more than two years of negotiations with developer Dominick Affinito, the county closed escrow on the parcel last October, to the tune of $241,623.
Clymire said that $105,000 of that sum will be reimbursed from funds allocated for parks from Proposition 12, enacted in 2000, and the remainder from Proposition 40, enacted in 2002.
The propositions provide for bond issues of approximately $2 billion each for preserving land, water and air quality around lakes, rivers, streams, and along the coast, as well as “to repair and improve the safety of state and neighborhood parks.”
Parks and Recreation, which is a division of the county Public Services Department, has put high priority on the development of the newly acquired property into a new park, said Clymire.
This is happening as part of the Nice Parks Master Plan, which has been developed for the county Redevelopment Agency by Foothill Associates, a Sacramento architectural firm.
Clymire said the plan came into existence after public meetings were held in February and April. Those meetings, he said, allowed Nice”s community to have input on what kind of facilities they wanted Hammond Avenue County Park and other Nice parks under development to include.
According to the Redevelopment Agency”s Web site, about 40 members of the Nice community came to the events and took part in listing and voting for possible park elements, and designing layout concepts for the parks.
Some of the most desired features that came out of those meetings included a skateboard park, swimming pool, bike trail and a basketball court, among other common-sense amenities like restrooms, walkways and a fountain.
Clymire noted that the Hammond Avenue park will be a “fairly typical park,” with a restroom, parking, playground, softball field and picnic area.
He said phase one involves getting water to the property, either by drilling a well or by connecting to Nice”s water system, putting in a restroom, a rough parking area and a softball field.
The softball field is a priority because of plans for Nice”s Hinman Park, which currently has an open field that is used for T-ball. Clymire said plans would modify the park to include sidewalks around it and bisecting it, with a central feature, which would eliminate the space for T-ball.
“We didn”t want to displace the kids until we got something else going,” said Clymire.
He said the park”s phase three plan will add a skateboard park, and in order to leave the park”s four acres of wetlands undisturbed, possibly a boardwalk for bird viewing.
Funds in the amount of $200,000 from the county”s General Fund were allocated for Hammond Park”s development in Monday”s county budget meetings for the 2006 07 fiscal year.
This is in addition to $134,595 from Proposition 40, and $50,00 from Quimby fees, which are paid by local landowners building homes on subdivided land.
Clymire said he anticipates that Hammond Avenue County Park”s restroom and playground structures will be ready by next summer, but said he is not sure whether or not the softball field will be completed by then.
“We have to see how far this $384,595 goes and if I can find any more grants in the interim,” Clymire explained.
He noted that restrooms alone can cost up to $250,000, and playground structures cost around $50,000.
Clymire said he hopes to bring funding to the project in the future from Proposition 84, a park bond measure on this November”s ballot. The ballot measure may provide block funds, per capita funds, or moneys over which the counties may compete.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com.
