John Jacobs
Mar 6, 2018, 10:17:53 AMto Pine Crest Watch
Hello, neighbors-
I recently received an email from Barry Zander, who manages the Scenic Drive Neighborhood Watch program- he wanted to keep me in the loop about a donation of $100 that their Neighborhood Watch program had made to the Idyllwild Snow Group (coordinated by Marsha Kennedy). Like many other Idyllwild locals, the residents of the Scenic Drive area have had problems with parking and trespassing on private property, especially on snowy weekends- they have the same concerns of injury liability that many of us have on our properties.
The residents of the Scenic Drive area were unanimous in making that donation, which led me to consider whether there might be similar interest in our neighborhood as well. To be sure, the snowfall thusfar has been extremely low this year, but the winter isn’t over yet, and the potential for the remainder of the winter and the coming years is very high.
Many of you may have noted that one of the areas where many visitors are being diverted for snowplay is Idyllwild County Park (the Park had a sign along Hwy 243 directing people there during last weekend’s ‘storm’). Personally, while County Park seems like a relatively logical place to direct visitors, it also raises great concerns for me about traffic in the neighborhood, illegal parking near homes, abusive uses of the Park (trash, noise, illegal fires), especially since these problems have been increasing at County Park recently, throughout the year.
What are your thoughts about this? Is there interest to support the Idyllwild Snow Group with some kind of donation?
_________________________________
John Jacobs
Pine Crest – Riverside County Playground Rd. Neighborhood Watch
888.522.9001
Idyllwild, California 92549
dawn.p
Mar 6, 2018, 10:21:53 AMto Neighborhood Watch Info
Hi John,
What would the money be used for? What is the benefit to our Neighborhood Watch group?
I think I’d rather support the Campground and that is why Dan and I joined the Friends. As discussed, we’re trying to renegotiate the deal and I think the benefit is that we retain ongoing Transit access through the park in exchange for some volunteer work to help maintain a beautiful neighborhood asset.
I don’t see how donating money to the Snow Group is helpful especially since they’re diverting traffic down my way. 🙂
But if the case can be made, I’m all-in.
Dawn
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furpeople54
Mar 6, 2018, 10:48:35 AMto pc-rcpr-neighborhood-watch-info@googlegroups.com
County Park is now charging $10 per adult and $5 per child for snow play in the park. Consequently, on Sunday morning, a bunch of people who didn’t want to pay that, began sledding down the ice on county park road into the mountain doke of the street. I went out and told them it wasn’t ok. Thankfully, they left. I also wrote a letter to the county parks about it. If they really want people off the roads and playing in the park, they need to go back to day use fee and I think, limiting the number of people in the park.
Reverence for all Life
mallorycremin
unread,Mar 6, 2018, 2:46:59 PMto pc-rcpr-neighborhood-watch-info@googlegroups.com
Hi John and Dawn – I believe that the sign “inviting” tourists for snowplay to County Park will deter more visitors than increase them. With the high pricetag advertised on the highway, less people will even turn down the street to explore the option.Mallory
dawn.p
Mar 6, 2018, 4:13:45 PMto Neighborhood Watch Info
Good point, Mallory.
Dawm
kathystyles01
,Mar 6, 2018, 5:56:39 PMto pc-rcpr-neighborhood-watch-info@googlegroups.com
Hi John:
I’d certainly be in favor of donating for anything to benefit the immediate area. Would like to know if the $$ would go for signage on our street, or what? Is there a plan for the way it is to be spent?
Thanks,
Kathy
furpeople54
Mar 6, 2018, 6:03:47 PMto pc-rcpr-neighborhood-watch-info@googlegroups.com
Except that the charging too much money to go in the park caused people to start sledding down the middle of county park rd. 🙁
Reverence for all Life
John Jacobs
,Mar 9, 2018, 5:41:12 PMto pc-rcpr-neighborhood-watch-info@googlegroups.comAll-
I’ve received some word back from Marsha Kennedy about where donations to the Idyllwild Snow Group might be directed- here is what she specified:
Examples of our costs are: Web Site $40, Boosting Facebook’s Idyllwild Snow page for larger distribution $50, post cards $26.39 , village map $15.07, three snow-play area maps $15.07 . Visitor handouts will be approximately $146. Our yard signs were sold at cost, so no expense was involved. Our refrigerator magnets which we handed our for free, were $116, and we had a $50 donation which went toward that.
They will be relying on Riverside County to create and install any kind of signage.
My personal feeling is that while the efforts of the Idyllwild Snow Group may provide some benefit to the community as a whole, it doesn’t sound like the current efforts will target the Pine Crest – Riverside Co. Play. Rd area in particular. Therefore, it seems best to allow individuals who support this effort to contribute to them individually and directly- here is their contact information, for those who are interested:
Marsha KennedyIdyllwild Snow Groupidyllwildsnow.comFacebook: Idyllwild SnowFacebook: Idyllwild Snow for Locals-4087
Regarding the role of County Park in mitigating or increasing snowplay problems in our neighborhood, the high cost they are charging may very well turn people away from the Park, but they won’t turn around and go home, either- they are going to look for the next closest opportunity for (no-cost) snowplay, which may very well be our neighborhood adjacent to the Park. Perhaps the greatest benefit of those high fees will be long-term- as people come to learn that Idyllwild just doesn’t have great snowplay options and facilities, they may start to gravitate to areas like Big Bear.
Of course, if the ‘winter’ keeps going like it is, this shouldn’t be any kind of problem at all!
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John Jacobs
Pine Crest – Riverside County Playground Rd. Neighborhood Watch
888.522.9001
Idyllwild, California 92549
furpeople54
Mar 10, 2018, 3:28:30 PMto pc-rcpr-neighborhood-watch-info@googlegroups.com
I spoke with Anthony Miller on Friday. He called me right away after receiving my email regarding the sledding down County park Rd. over the weekend.He said the snow play fees they’re charging have been charged for the last 3 years (including this year), the signage is new. He said the experience over the past 2 years has been that the majority of people are paying it. He said Big Bear charges and that people will hopefully come to realize this is the way it is. He does want to be kept abreast of things like the sledding incident to keep evaluating what is best for the mountain. My feeling was that charging that much in fees will send people to streets and yards instead of paying. So, I guess we’ll just have to see.