Courtesy photo.
VENTURA — The Board of Supervisors has approved a plan for County Parks to shift from a first-come, first-served policy to a reservations-only policy for its three beach parks (Faria, Hobson and Rincon) beginning November 1, 2018. This decision was driven by multiple factors, primarily customer feedback — that is, the high number of public complaints the Parks Department receives about the existing system. In addition, trends in technology have changed the way in which the public conducts business transactions, making this the appropriate time to implement this change.
The shift to a reservations-based policy for the beach parks will generate the following benefits for patrons, and improvements in Parks staff efficiency:
- Allow customers to reserve a camping site in advance, from 12 months in advance to within 48 hours of their planned arrival date, eliminating the guesswork of site availability
- Mobile payment will still be available for open sites (non-reserved) the day of arrival as is currently allowed.
- Improved customer access to beach parks
- Eliminate groups from holding/managing spaces for other groups
- Allow park rangers to be more accessible and provide better customer service to beach park patrons
- Reduce calls for service to the sheriff to resolve disputes (i.e., fighting over sites)
- Allow for self-booking of reservations via the Parks public website http://www.venturaparks.org/ (reservations can still be made by calling the Parks reservation line (805) 654-3951)
- Length of stay and return polices will remain the same. More data will now be available to staff for better enforcement of the rules and tracking of customer compliance with usage policies
- Improving public safety and patron peace of mind by:
- Keeping bike lanes clear from RVs waiting for a site to become available
- Eliminating onsite campers searching for a space to open – which both contributes to carbon emissions from RVs driving up and down the road continuously and disturbs those already camping (i.e., continually being asked “When you are leaving?”)
The County is aware that this change to a reservations-only policy for the most popular County parks is a major shift from current policy and will require a period of adjustment for patrons. To allow for the least amount of disruption, the County will enact this policy shift during the Parks’ less busy off-season, which will allow flexibility with our customers and adjust any procedures before next summer’s on-season.
Bookings will open 24 September through the online Reservation site http://www.venturaparks.org/ or by calling the Parks reservation line (805) 654-3951. There will be a reservation booking fee of either $3 (online reservations) or $10 (phone reservations). You may only book one site per reservation period per park. All length-of-stay and return-to-park policies apply.