SANTA BARBARA COUNTY - Santa Barbara County has begun holding public workshops on the possibility of charging for parking at county beaches.
Paid parking at the seven county beaches including Guadalupe Dunes beach and Ocean Beach near Lompoc is seen as a potential revenue source for the County's cash-strapped Parks Division.
It's an idea that's only being talked about right now with the county hosting workshops over the next four weeks to gain public feedback.
Beach-going local residents we spoke with say the County needs to look for revenue elsewhere.
"No offense to the county because I know they're broke", says Lompoc resident Sebastian Orozco, "people shouldn't have to pay out of their pocket to go to a beach that's been open to the public for years."
"If you live locally, like in the county, then it should be free", adds local resident Kelley Pak.
"They screwed up the whole government system in this county and this state to begin with", says county resident Ivan Belfy, "we need to work it out, at that end of it, as opposed to getting more money that they're just going to mismanage anyway."
No dollar amount has been decided or even suggested and there's no timetable for the idea of paid beach parking to be presented to the County Board of Supervisors which will have the final say.
The next public workshop on paid parking at County beaches is on August 16th in Santa Barbara and again on August 23rd in Santa Maria.
