This article was in Wednesday's Fresno Bee..
Slow upgrades, funding worry Fresno zoo agency
Environmental study delays improvements to Chaffee Zoo and Roeding Park.
By Marc Benjamin / The Fresno Bee
08/27/08 23:43:54
Fresno County Zoo Authority members complained Wednesday about the slow pace of promised improvements at the zoo and the city of Fresno's hesitancy to commit money for some of those upgrades.
The zoo's expansion plans, paid for with money from the 2004 voter-approved Measure Z sales tax, are on hold while an environmental study is completed.
But members of the zoo authority, the county agency that disburses Measure Z proceeds, say the process is moving too slowly.
"Why is this taking so long?" asked Ralph Waterhouse, a zoo authority board member. "We don't have anything to show the public in new exhibits."
City Manager Andy Souza said the city's consultant will finish the environmental study by March, then the City Council must certify it.
The environmental report will examine proposed improvements to the zoo, Rotary Storyland/Playland near the zoo, and Roeding Park, which encompasses both facilities.
Souza said the city wants to ensure it has a legally defensible environmental study. Roeding family members have said their family's intent when donating land more than 100 years ago was not to have a park dominated by a zoo.
"There is a high probability that this environmental document is going to be challenged," Souza said.
Authority members also are worried about whether the city will help pay for roadway, parking and other improvements proposed in Roeding Park. The zoo's master plan, for example, calls for moving a park entrance from Belmont Avenue to Golden State Boulevard.
The improvements are estimated to cost between $8 million and $15 million.
Zoo authority members said they don't believe all of that money should come from Measure Z funds.
Gerald Lyles, zoo authority chairman, said there is even debate among authority members about whether Measure Z funds should be spent beyond the expanding portions of the zoo.
Souza said the city is awaiting findings in the environmental document to determine which projects the city should help pay for. He said the city doesn't want to spend money to replace functional roads when it could spend it to improve neighborhood streets.
The reporter can be reached at mbenjamin@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6166.
