MONTEREY — The city of Monterey and Monterey Stinging Jellies Disc Golf Club are finalizing an agreement to reestablish the Ryan Ranch disc golf course including a contribution of $35,100 for Americans With Disabilities Act improvements.

“The City Council did authorize the city manager to enter into an agreement with the Monterey Stinging Jellies Disc Golf Club,” said Parks and Recreation Director Karen Larson.

The council also approved appropriating the more than $35,000 to the capital project fund for the Ryan Ranch disc golf Americans With Disabilities Act improvements.

“We are still working with the Monterey Stinging Jellies Disc Golf Club to finalize an agreement,” said Larson.

City staff, working with the disc golf club, developed and formalized an agreement for disc golf activities at Ryan Ranch Park and the funding of Americans With Disabilities Act improvements for the setting, which would allow for passive uses including disc golf, walking, hiking and bird watching. Site improvements would include the re-installation of disc golf baskets, a new accessible parking stall and sidewalk to the first golf tee, and an Americans With Disabilities Act-compliant portable toilet with a hand-washing station. Periodic site maintenance would be performed by the disc golf club including mowing the area, maintenance of the portable toilet, tree work and weed trimming as necessary without compensation.

In December 2018, disc golf play was suspended at Ryan Ranch Park as Monterey city officials determined the environmental and Americans With Disabilities Act compliance issues before considering a user agreement. At that time, Monterey Stinging Jellies Disc Golf Club, which had been providing play at the course for 10 years, removed the baskets used in the sport.

This agreement would serve as a model public-nonprofit partnership between a community organization and the city, allowing expanded recreational uses at a park while minimizing operational and capital infrastructure costs for the city, according to city documents.

In a letter to the City Council, Stinging Jellies Disc Golf Club President Chad Gile said that disc golf is a rapidly growing sport enjoyed by millions of players on more than 5,860 courses worldwide.

The disc golf club maintained and operated the course at no additional cost to the city from 2008-2018, hosting tournaments that attracted players from across the country, including the 2011 World Championship of Disc Golf — the first world championship with a six-figure pro purse — the 2016 NoCal Team Invitational, a first-of-its-kind team match play tournament featuring 12 of the top disc golf clubs in Northern California, and the annual fundraising tournament, which consistently raised more than a thousand dollars for organizations such as the Monterey County Food Bank, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the Big Sur Volunteer Fire Brigade.

Giles said that the global pandemic brought to light the need for outdoor recreational activities and disc golf provides an economically accessible outdoor sport that makes use of the land’s natural condition and terrain.

The city of Monterey currently owns and operates the 75-acre Ryan Ranch Park located along Monterey-Salinas Highway between Ragsdale Drive and Canyon Del Rey Boulevard. The park is in a natural setting and includes a parking area for users. The Ryan Ranch Park is zoned for park and open space uses.

As the site was informally a disc golf course in the past, the city now seeks to formalize this use.

In June 2019, the city submitted an application and supporting information to the Monterey County Airport Land Use Commission staff for consideration of a proposed development of a disc golf course within Ryan Ranch Park as the site falls within the airport safety zones and requires Airport Land Use Commission approval.

In July 2019, the commission unanimously approved the city’s request, determining and recommending that due to the close proximity of the airport, the city should apply a non-standard condition to limit the number of events or tournaments within Ryan Ranch Park to four per year and no more than 200 persons on-site at any one time per event.

In September 2019, the Monterey Parks and Recreation Commission supported the site improvements at the park site, and in November 2019, the council certified the Ryan Ranch Park mitigated negative declaration.

With the signed agreement and the appropriation of the funding from Monterey Stinging Jellies Disc Golf Club, the Americans With Disabilities Act improvements could be completed and the disc golf course reopened by the end of this fiscal year.

In his letter to the city, Gile said his organization is excited to partner with the city of Monterey and provide maintenance and operations at the Ryan Ranch Disc Golf Course while introducing the sport to the broader community and providing an additional recreational outlet.