By Jon Chown
The Scotts Valley City Council approved a fee increase for renting community buildings, park gazebos, sports fields and courts at their Oct. 21 meeting. The new rates take effect Jan. 1.
Most building rental rates will rise about 4%, while many field and court rentals will increase by $1 an hour. The council also reduced garden plot rental fees by 30% and left senior center membership and activity fees unchanged.
Renting the Community Center’s main building will cost $172 an hour on weekdays, up from $165, and $224 an hour on weekends, up from $215. Both require a three-hour minimum. Daily rates will increase from $1,320 to $1,376 on weekdays and from $1,720 to $1,792 on weekends.
Senior Center rentals will rise from $115 to $120 an hour on weekdays and from $145 to $151 an hour on weekends, also with a three-hour minimum.
Daily rates will increase from $920 to $960 on weekdays and from $1,160 to $1,208 on weekends.
Kitchen and patio or backyard rentals at both buildings will rise from $45 to $47 a day. The Community Center Annex meeting room will cost $23 an hour, up from $22, with a two-hour minimum.
Outdoor gathering spaces will also cost slightly more to reserve.
At Hocus Pocus and the Skypark playground gazebo, weekday rates will increase from $35 to $36 an hour. Weekend rates will rise from $40 to $42. Gazebos at Siltanen, Skypark’s large gazebo and MacDorsa will increase from $45 to $47 an hour on weekdays and from $50 to $52 on weekends. Gazebo rentals require a two-hour minimum, and those rates apply to events with fewer than 50 attendees.
Sports field rentals at Skypark and Siltanen will rise from $30 to $31 per field per hour. Athletic field lighting will increase from $22 to $23 a day. Hourly court rental fees will increase from $8 to $9 for pickleball, $9 to $10 for bocce, and $13 to $14 for tennis and basketball. Skatepark rentals will rise from $35 to $36 an hour.
Local gardeners, however, will see a decrease. The garden plot rental rate will fall from $2 to $1.40 per square foot. The annual Senior Center membership fee will remain $35. Activity fees will stay at $3 for members and $5 for nonmembers.
Other changes include raising the facility rental administrative fee from $33 to $34 and the reservation change fee from $20 to $21. The damage deposit will increase from $520 to $525. Application reviews for park events with at least 50 attendees, or events involving sound or entertainment, will rise from $275 to $286.
There will still be a 15% resident discount and a 25% nonprofit discount.
City staff said there wasn’t any outreach to the public about the rate increase, which has been fairly standard from year to year. However, there was feedback about the garden rates, and they were lowered as a result.
Vice Mayor Steve Clark noted that the increases were generally small, and some costs were not raised at all. “In terms of fees, they’re really just a most modest of increases,” he said.
However, he was concerned about a story he had heard about a teacher wanting to take her kids to the park because they were nearby and had some time to play. Unfortunately, they were told by city staff that a fee was required.
“So, I am curious how we are implementing this,” he said, adding that he hoped the city wasn’t being so strict to deny a class access for 15 minutes or so.
Interim City Manager Stephanie Hill said that, ultimately, the class was allowed to play without a fee, but that the city did need to monitor what was happening with large groups, making certain that the space was available for groups that had reserved it.
“Sometimes staff does go out and reach out to people to make sure that they know that some of those spaces do require a rental,” she said. “But we do try to be considerate of how we’re reaching out.”