NEVADA CITY, Calif. June 25, 2026 — Three years, three city managers, and one incomplete park later, the Nevada City City Council gave direction Wednesday night to send most of the remaining Proposition 64 cannabis tax grant money back to the Nevada City School District – while leaving a small slice on the table for skatepark design, if the state will allow it.
No vote was taken. City Manager Carrie Wright asked for direction, got it, and will bring formal agreements back to the council for approval. The outcome was tidier than the three-year long process that led to it.
The money and the deadline
The city holds $664,000 in unspent funds from a $3 million Proposition 64 Cohort 3 grant awarded in 2023 by the California Board of State and Community Corrections. The grant was designed to fund cannabis-related youth prevention programs: a school resource officer, youth outreach, education, and a cannabis-free shared park space at Seven Hills School. All of it must be spent by April 20, 2028, or returned to the state.
Wright told the council the math on a full skatepark simply doesn’t work. Comparable facilities in Grass Valley and West Sacramento both exceeded $1.5 million. Nevada City has $664,000, no funds secured for environmental review, site preparation, utilities, or ongoing maintenance, and under two years to spend it.
“You know, it’s not ‘if it’s not yes to a skate park, it’s not no to a skate park,'” Wright said. “It’s ‘can we put this into the grant funding and timeline that we have.'”
The proposed path forward: direct the bulk of the remaining funds – roughly $550,000 to $564,000 – back to the school district for bathrooms and ADA improvements at Seven Hills Field, and ask the BSCC whether approximately $100,000 can be used for skatepark design at the top-ranked candidate site, 775 Zion Street. Spohn Ranch, the design-build contractor the council approved in August 2025 on a contract that was never fully executed, has estimated design and environmental review at $85,000. Wright called that figure low and put the ask at $100,000.
The BSCC has not yet agreed. Wright said the grantor was “a little hesitant” on design-only funding and would need to consult with leadership. She plans to pursue the grant modification while simultaneously getting the school district funding underway, so the grant dollars don’t sit idle while the city waits for an answer.
Seven Hills
Dale Jones, Director of Operations for Nevada City School District, told the council the district could complete the bathrooms and ADA improvements within six months of receiving the funds. The layout is done. The vendor, the same prefabricated restroom company used at Grass Valley’s park, is identified. The school district has committed to covering utility connections, estimated at $50,000 to $100,000.
“If the money is allotted back to the school district, I can get that accomplished within six months,” Jones said.
The field upgrade was completed in 2024 using $524,000 from the grant. Phase 2, the restrooms, ADA access, and potentially a snack shack was always part of the original project scope, though it got complicated when a previous city manager redirected grant funds toward a skatepark. In response to an earlier comment by Councilmember Fleming about the school district’s recently successful bond measure, Jones noted the bond cannot be used for the field project; those funds are restricted to school infrastructure.
Wright confirmed the grantor has already signaled approval for the bathroom and ADA work. A sub-agreement with the school district, including construction timelines, will come back to council for formal approval.
The skatepark question
The council’s direction was not to abandon the skatepark, but to conduct an honest assessment about what’s possible now and what isn’t.
Wright’s team evaluated 18 potential sites across the city. The highest-scoring option: 775 Zion Street, a 1.9-acre city-owned property in the Seven Hills Business District, the former Caltrans and later City corporation yard. It scored well on visibility, accessibility, proximity to schools and transit, and size. It is larger than the half-acre minimum Spohn Ranch recommends. The city currently leases a warehouse on the property to SPD Saw Shop for about $39,000 a year.
The catch is a deed restriction. Caltrans retains the right of first return if the city no longer uses the property for government purposes, and the state has been actively looking at surplus properties for housing. Wright said she’d look into whether a public park qualifies as an acceptable government use – something she was cautiously optimistic about – but cautioned against spending design dollars before that question is answered.
“You could spend money on design and then not have the site because of Caltrans restrictions,” she said.
The council warmed to Zion Street anyway. Mayor Adam Kline noted the location, across from a record store in an active commercial corridor, as the kind of place a skatepark could anchor. Wright agreed the site could accommodate more than a skatepark, possibly a community gathering space, public art, transit amenities and suggested pursuing the design question and the Caltrans question on parallel tracks.
Councilmember Daniela Fernández expressed support for the Zion Street site and for redirecting the school’s funds, while also calling for a broader parks and recreation plan that considers where a skatepark fits long-term. Councilmember Doug Fleming, who said he wrote the original Prop 64 grant application, advocated for keeping skatepark design alive and expressed regret over how the school district had been affected. Both councilmembers acknowledged the process had been “a mess” but differed on how it came about.
What the community said
Public comment ran in favor of keeping the skatepark effort alive, with some nuance.
Orion Perez, who works at Seven Hills School, pushed back on the timeline comparisons to Grass Valley, pointing out that Nevada City already has the money secured. The year-plus it took to obtain a grant is already behind them. She suggested a smaller “skate spot” might be enough for now. “You have till 2028. That’s almost two years. I think you guys can get something done.”
Lynn Skrukrud of the Nevada City Chamber of Commerce asked the council to keep any new park in the Seven Hills district, noting the area is “severely lacking amenities,” There are no public restrooms, no public parking lot, and no 24/7 accessible park. “We already have Pioneer Park serving our community on one side. We want to make sure the other side of our community is served as well.”
Another commenter, Eric Gorman, argued that a skatepark offers more public value than a snack shack tied to baseball season. “Ninety-plus percent of the year we can use a skate park.”
Caleb Lauren, a Nevada County resident who said he hopes to move to Nevada City, put it plainly: “The only thing [Nevada City] is lacking so far is a skate park.”
Where things stand
Wright summarized the direction she took from council: pursue a $100,000 design modification request with the BSCC, get the school district sub-agreement moving in parallel, and start exploring the Caltrans deed question on Zion Street. The Spohn Ranch contract, approved by council but unsigned, remains in limbo pending the grantor’s answer on design funding.
Councilmember Gary Petersen was absent for this item, one of the possible sites being next to his residence.
Wright, who is completing her first budget cycle as city manager, was careful to frame the outcome as progress rather than resolution. The skatepark has outlasted two city managers — Sean Grayson, who departed in September 2025, and interim City Manager Joan Phillipe — and a procurement process that left a contractor working in good faith on a contract the city couldn’t fund.
“I know it’s not no to a skate park,” she said. “I just want to make sure we can do it right.”