Cabrillo National Monument to hold meeting on raising entrance fee

SAN DIEGO (CNS) – The National Park Service is scheduled to hold a meeting Wednesday afternoon to take public input on proposed entrance fee hikes at the Cabrillo National Monument at the tip of Point Loma.

The NPS proposals include tripling the cost for vehicles from the current $5 to $15, beginning next summer.

Bicyclists and pedestrians, who now pay $3, would have to pay $7. The cost for motorcycles would rise from $5 to $10.

Also, the park service plans to increase the price of annual pases from $15 to $30.

The increases would be the first since entrance fees were first collected 27 years ago, according to the NPS.

Park officials said 80 percent of the fees collected at the park are used locally to preserve natural and cultural resources, improve visitor facilities and provide educational and recreational opportunities for the public.

Future projects include restoration of the damaged bayside trail, upgraded informational displays about bunkers dating back to World Wars I and II, and production of a new film about Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, the first European to arrive in San Diego.

The park, which offers dramatic views of the Pacific Ocean, San Diego Bay and Coronado, is also home to the old Point Lome Lighthouse and provides access to the Point Loma tidepools.

The meeting is set for 4 p.m. at the monument.

For those who are interested by can’t attend, comments can be submitted online at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/cabr, or mailed to the Park Superintendent, 1800 Cabrillo Memorial Drive, San Diego, Calif., 92106.

Comments need to be submitted by Nov. 25.