Santiago Oaks parking situation

Can you indicate a link to where this is located on the OC Parks website?

 

Click on the red "Alerts" link on the left side of the OCParks.com homepage.



Or for the lazy people:

http://ocparks.com/newsroom/default.asp?Show=1003159&subshow=

 

what a crock. gotta get their money! public not allowed on public streets and land.

 

Hmm, Patro - I don't see that on the OCParks website. I even google Sandberg and did not find that info.
Scratch that, I did find it
http://www.ocparks.com/newsroom/default.asp?Show=1003159&subshow=N

As their map shows, that is a "Dirt Lot" within the borders of the park.
http://www.ocparks.com/uploadgraphics/201103_SantiagoOaksTrailMap.pdf

The search did show that lot is used for their Equi-Fest every October.
http://www.ocparks.com/uploadgraphics/EquiFest_Flyer.pdf
http://www.ocparks.com/newsroom/default.asp?Show=1002174&subshow=
http://www.ocparks.com/newswire/default.asp?Show=1002600&subshow=A

In the Draft Interim Operations Plan from 2008, it is listed as an access point on page 6
"Other entry points are at the Orange County Flood Control District parking lot at the end of Sandberg Drive"
mentioning that it is OCFCD.

I did take a picture of the signs at the lot a few weeks ago; I'll have to retrive that from my camera later.

I wonder how the horsepeople and their trailers will react to the closure.

 

private road. end of story. but it sure looked legit.

oh, well. it was nice while it lasted. i'm just gonna ride in from...wait a minute. i'm not giving up another secret spot.

 

i bet they dont close it to equestrian. they are probably singling bikers out. im still not sure its a private rd either. it appears like any other rd on every map i looked up. if i want to look at homes to buy i can drive on those streets. also the private rd sign is homemade. i follow official signs. i still smell something fishy. if they dont want us in there they need to go about it the legal way. not just decide to make signs and thats it. ive been parking there for years, this isnt the end of this IMO.

 

Sandberg is officially signed as private. The blue City of Orange road sign it shares with Lolita indicates that it is private.
Can't quite read it, but here is the sign
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sou...id=ih-RxSo5Zbn-sxrjAyliJg&cbp=12,43.32,,0,2.5

I guess that talking about Fight Club got the parking lot closed.

 

Isn't it funny how that works? Hmm...

You think that'll stop the next person asking for directions to the "secret parking spot" next time though? I'm going to go out on a limb here and say no.

It's like everyone forgets that the internet is open to...oh, just about everyone. Which always works wonders with secret spots.

 

^^

You're right, Timmy. But I never heard anybody say it wasn't a legal spot (or even to keep it on the DL), only that it was a spot that most people either weren't aware of or didn't know how to drive to. It even had official park signs like a regular trailhead lot. Although the fact that it was free should have been a clue...

Also: watch where you park to shuttle. When we were riding there last week a sheriff's heli was flying around and asking who the owner was of a truck parked over by Robber's Peak.

 

I did go and check it out tonite. Yellow caution tape and sawhorses with No Parking signs and address of Windes Dr entrance.
One of the existing signs there says area is closed when the trails are closed - the converse would then appear to be true, no?
Got some pics, maybe post tomorrow.
My friend who lives on Sandberg was unaware of the closing and was curious what those who trailer their horses there will do.
So am I.
He thinks that the dirt lot is owned by one of the last homeowners on the left. They may own some land there, but it appears most is probably OCFCD.
I will probably be checking on it weekly until at least mid July.

 

the road might be private but it could be considered an easement if that lot is public property. which it appears to be.

 

Maybe, maybe not. It's only an issue now because the Albertsons lot closure has pushed everyone out into the neighborhood. I can usually count 2 or 3 unfamilar cars with bike racks on my street when I get home from work, and I couldn't park next to my house on Memorial Day due to park traffic (mostly folks walking into Irvine for family picnics). The Sandberg neighborhood had an easy recourse to what was bugging them, they just had to ask the park to enforce what was probably already on the books.

Irvine park picnic season is almost over, so this might simmer down in a few weeks.

 

OC Parks has used the dirt lot for the Equi-Fest, but they got a permit from OC Flood Control District to do so.

 

Nice rationalization. How about you buy the land and allow us all to park there for free? How's that sound?

 

i live by the beach and have a house in big bear. i have people around 24/7. its 2011, the world is crowded, accept it. :lol: you want total privacy socal isnt the place. ive been through something like this before, and an easement isnt a rationalization, its an actual thing that happens all the time. sounds great!
im actually on my way now. maybe i will park in there now just to ruffle your feathers. CHUUUUUUTES!!!!

 

Just because an easement exists, doesn't mean that the public is free to use it. If the easement crosses private land, it could very well be limited to OCFCD access, or (perish the thought) to equestrian only access. I think the better bet is to keep complaining to the albertson's parking lot establishments until they lean on their landlord to take the signs down.

 

+1,000,000,00

 

I don't understand your post.

But the point I was trying to make is there's no legitimate reason for an easement on that lot. How would you like it if "they" allowed an easement on your property? You live by the beach? Should they make an easement in front of your house so I can park for free when I go to the beach? Understand what I'm getting at?

Not a big deal. I wasn't trying to "rile your feathers" and you certainly aren't going to rile mine by parking there. I just think people who park in that lot are going to create unecessary problems for themselves, for the nearby residents, for the people who own that property and that parking there will add to the bad rap the rest of us riders get.

Some people park at the Pacific Ranch market shopping center at Newport and Chapman now--you can give that a shot. But if you park there, go by a can of soda or eat at one of the restaurants or something; don't be a mooch or freeloader--that gives the rest of us a bad rap.

The property owners of the Albertsons shopping center may have put up those signs for people who were parking there for Memorial Day weekend and walking over to Irvine Park, more so for mountain bikers. Although there were certainly a lot of riders parking there and riding Oaks and Peters. It's definitely a bummer they put up signs. But if they did, that's probably because a lot of riders were parking there and not getting gas, eating at the restaurants, etc.

That's all I'm saying. People spend a lot of time and energy avoiding paying for something that isn't that expensive. Like it was said above, parking at Oaks costs $3. An annual pass costs $50, for all the parks. If you ride much, that's not much money. You probably waste more on less useful stuff. I know I do. ](*,)If you own a beach house and a cabin, you can probably afford it...know what I'm saying?

I hope you had a good ride, btw. Chutes is a lot of fun and Oaks is a great place to ride.

 

i agree with parking at albertsons, that is the best bet. i already stopped parking at sandberg lot anyway, im just still a lil bummed about it. therefore the rant. but your right, it would be an easement by definition, but probably not one we'd be permitted to use. and i know what you mean about the passes, im just feeling nickel and dimed is all, only its jackson & benjamined. just bought mammoth pass, bear pass, and im forgetting something else but damn it seems like everywhere i go i have to spend more $. to top it off i snapped my rear derailleur off just now and it busted spokes, i was on the top waterfall section, walked all the way back to fish house.

 

I'm not seeing how that's gonna help, since the establishments pushed for the signs to begin with. The signs aren't just there for MTBers. How about the picnickers that tote their families to the park with an Albertson's shopping cart, who then leave the cart in the park? How about the roadies, and the hikers, and the cross-country runners? Add in the park-and-ride folks and the campers, and that lot gets filled up with a bunch of non-customers, and MTBers buying the occasional candy bar, $5 footlong or Enchirito isn't going to seriously motivate the Tuesday Morning owners, where the customer base has a mandatory minimum BMI of about 40.