County supervisors today unanimously approved the certification of an environmental impact report for the River Parkway/Regional Park project.
The City of Hollister and San Benito High School District also must certify it before the project could move forward.
The county has worked on the creation of of a River Parkway/Regional Master Plan for several years. The meeting agenda said that much of that time has been spent on the environmental impact report, which began back in October 2013.
The project—estimated three years ago to cost up to $40 million—would provide multi-use public trails for horseback riding, hiking and cycling, along with parks and open space within an approximately 20-mile corridor of the San Benito River and Tres Pinos Creek. The River Parkway would run adjacent to a 31-acre Regional Park site, which the resolution says would help conserve and enhance environmental or historical resources.
The plan created debate when the environmental impact report began in 2013, with worries that the long-term project could eat up a large portion of future parks funding.
Resource Management Agency Director Brent Barnes told supervisors that the project consists of three components: creation of the park itself, a bypass road near the high school, and developing ball fields and other sports-related activities on the high school site.
“The action before you is simply certifying the environmental impact report,” Barnes said. “There’s no project approval at this time.”
Barnes said it’s important to certify the EIR soon so that the City of Hollister and high school district can also certify the report in order to move forward in the project timeline.
