By Kathryn Reed

Abandon the park; make it bigger and better. Those are the extreme viewpoints of what to do with South Lake Tahoe’s Regan Beach.

About 40 people gathered this week at the city’s recreation department to discuss how to generate revenue to offset operations and maintenance costs, what to do to improve the environment, look at how to distinguish the park from other facilities in the area, and what do about dogs.

South Lake Tahoe is on a quest to develop a plan for this park that has not had much attention in the five decades since it was built. The retaining wall is crumbling, the building where food is prepped has a leaky roof and dogs don’t stay in their designated area.

South Lake Tahoe residents express what they want Regan Beach to look like in the future. Photo/Kathryn Reed

Later this summer a refined proposal is expected to be completed under the guidance of the Parks and Recreation Commission. It is likely to be presented to the City Council in September.

City Manager Nancy Kerry told Lake Tahoe News what she hopes to see is three levels of ideas – things that must get done to address accessibility, safety and maintenance issues; medium level ideas that include wants more than needs; and then possibilities if funding were not an issue.

While the 2015-16 budget will be approved about the same time the council hears what is proposed for Regan Beach, that doesn’t mean the area will miss out on the next fiscal cycle. The budget is often adjusted midyear and work could be incorporated into the 2016 capital improvement plan schedule.

People at the five tables were all over the place when it came to ideas for the park. Some of the ideas were:

·      Demolish the food building and start over.

·      Have food service available year-round.

·      Have a building big enough to be used as a reception for weddings and other meetings.

·      Create a designated sledding hill.

·      Build a pier.

·      Have food trucks.

·      Remove much of the grass.

·      Decrease the amenities so they are in line with money available for maintenance.

·      Balance the facilities at the park to not impact the neighborhood.

·      Remove many of the trees; plant shade trees.

·      Ban dogs.

·      Restrict dogs to a small area.

·      Rebuild the bulkhead.

·      Remove the bulkhead so there is more beach.

·      Have a ramp to launch human powered watercraft.

·      Create more access to the water.

·      Rent beach chairs and water toys.

·      Add bike racks.

·      Take out most of the parking to create a bike-in, walk-in park; leaving a few spots for people with disabilities.

·      Get rid of chipped tires.

·      Install bear boxes.

·      Build a staircase from the bulkhead to the water.

·      Get rid of non-native vegetation.

·      Add recycling stations.

There will be more public meetings this summer for people to give input as the ideas are refined. An online survey is another way to give feedback.