SALINAS RIVER CORRIDOR
Project Updates
Bike/Pedestrian Trail
At the May 15, 2012 meeting, City Council approved a new section of (grant-funded) River trail – between Navajo Avenue and 13th Street. The all-purpose 8’ wide asphalt trail will traverse the face of the cliff between River Road and the River bed connecting the Larry Moore Park river trail to the trail head at the 13th Street bridge.
A separate trail project, largely grant-funded, is currently being designed that will connect the Larry Moore park river trail to the Charolais Road trail via the unimproved westerly section of Charolais Road. That will create a loop extending from the 13th Street Bridge south through the river to the east across Charolais Road up to Creston Road walkways! Read more.
The community has connected with a new vision of an enhanced
river corridor where conservation, recreation and enhancements
to the natural habitat are all possible.
2010's success story was acquiring the 154 acre Salinas River Parkway Preserve with over $1.5 million in State grant funds. That purchase would not have been possible without the matching funds generated in previous years by the Paso Robles Festival of the Arts.
In 2011 additional land was acquired that will make way for construction of the River Road trail connection between the Niblick and 13th Street bridges. Also, grant funds have been secured for trail and restoration enhancements that will connect Charolais Road walking trails with the River Parkway trail. And more….
Click here to see an interactive Salinas River Corridor Map
Salinas River Parkway Grant
Download the
Parkway Grant Final Report Presentation
(March
21, 2011)
Download the
Salinas River Parkway Grant Final Report
(December 2010; revised February 2011)
Attachments and
Figures are available for viewing at City Hall (1000 Spring
Street, Upstairs) or for purchase on CD for $15.
Summary of the City's Final Report:
- What we said we would do
- We actually did
- How we did it
- What we learned
Land Management Plan
Adopted June 15, 2010
- Staff Report by Meg Williamson, Asst. City Manager
- Resolution No. 10-085
- Land Management Plan for the Salinas River Parkway Preserve
The recent act of acquiring the property brings new opportunity and stewardship responsibility to the City. The Land Management plan provides the framework to identify and prioritize water quality enhancement actions over the next ten years as funding can be made available.
Paso Robles Celebrates River Land Acquisition at the 2010 Festival of the Arts!
What started as a dream came to reality May 19, 2010, when escrow closed on the 154-acre parcel along the river. The parcel was sold by the John Will Family and represents the largest parcel the City has purchased to date as part of the Salinas River Vision plan to preserve open space along the river.
Perhaps the most unique aspect of the purchase was the fact that a community event was conceived in 2009 to help generate required match funds for the multi-million dollar State Water Resources grant, saving the City of Paso Robles and its taxpayers a sizable amount of money while preserving lands for future community use. The inaugural Festival of the Arts in 2009 was conceived as a way to meet many stated community goals bringing culture to the downtown, adding an event to the Memorial Day Weekend calendar and, most importantly in a time of shrinking budgets, providing a strong basis for the grant match. By honoring the river as its focus, the Festival was able to contribute directly to the success of the River Parkway Grant effort and amassed $217,000 in matching funds in the form of sponsorship donations, volunteer time, advertising and logistic dollars spent. The amount generated by the Festival represents over a third of the required match.
The community laid out its vision for the river during a multi-day community design workshop in 2005, and the result was the Salinas River Corridor Project, dubbed “Follow the River, Follow the Dream”. The vision includes preservation of river habitat and key vistas, enhanced recreational trail systems and public access, improved public art and educational opportunities to learn of the Salinas River’s habitat and history, a redeveloped urban edge at Paso Robles Street, and new connections to the downtown core. Read Press Release.
Salinas River Parkway Grant
On April 18, 2007 the project team (Meg Williamson- Assistant
City Manager, D.J. Funk- Upper Salinas-Las Tablas Resource
Conservation District, Holly Sletteland – Upper Salinas-Las
Tablas Resource Conservation District, and Karen Frankel – Trust
for Public Land) gave a presentation outlining the background
and context for the grant project as well as an overview of
grant project scope. View
Salinas River Parkway Grant Presentation [pdf:1.5mb/38pp]
here.
Community Open House
The Project Team held an Open House for the community as a briefing and clarification opportunity. The outcomes for this event were as follows:
- Clear understanding of past planning for Salinas River project
- Clearly defined planning area and shared vision for the Salinas River
- Unveiling of draft Illustrative Vision!
- Showcase project accomplishments to date
- Clear understanding of next step
View Open House Presentation [pdf:5.6mb/36pp]
Workshop: Fall 2005
In 2003 the City of Paso Robles was the
recipient of a grant from National Park Service Rivers, Trails and Conservations
Assistance (RTCA) Program. The grant enabled the City to conduct a public outreach
and community visioning effort for the Salinas River Corridor Master Plan
(Follow the River – Follow the Dream).
The initial community outreach efforts were so successful that the City Council established a working budget for a project dedicated to improving the Salinas River Corridor.
Through the continued outreach that followed, community members throughout Paso Robles and the county shared their thoughts and visions about a revitalized river corridor.
The
community input was collected and from the input culminated a
3-day Design Workshop (Follow the River, Follow the Dream) in
October 2005. Read more and see images from the
Salinas River Workshop:
Fall 2005 [pdf:2.6mb/44pp]
Contact The Project Team
Questions?
Contact the Project Team at (805) 237-3888
City of Paso Robles
