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The Livermore Area Recreation and Park District is not pulling out of its campground located near the south shore of Lake Tahoe, the agency’s Board of Directors confirmed Dec. 3 during a special meeting — an explicit correction to circulating rumors.
On the table, however, was a discussion of the site’s end-of-season report as well as the park district’s future approach to operations of Camp Shelly.
Meanwhile, park district officials eye the end of their 20-year lease on the site as camp owner U.S. Forest Service has become increasingly regulatory, according to LARPD General Manager Mathew Fuzie.
In setting the record straight, Director David Furst addressed letters expressing concern that LARPD is closing Camp Shelly.
“I don’t think that’s where we’re headed, necessarily,” Furst said during the meeting. “To me, this is the first discussion about the future of Camp Shelly and whether we are going to expand it, contract it, get out of the lease, stay with the lease – we haven’t made any of those decisions yet.”
The 25-site camp sits at an occupancy rate of approximately 75% during its open season lasting from Father’s Day weekend to Labor Day weekend, park district recreation supervisor Joseph Benjamin said during the meeting.
It has a great location near Lake Tahoe with priority access for Livermore residents, Fuzie added.
On the flip side, the site is a multi-hour drive from the city, it’s challenging to staff and there are “quite a few” reservation cancellations, Fuzie said.
Last year, the proportion of reservations by Livermore residents rose to about 56% in 2025, up from about 40% in 2016 due to LARPD ceasing group reservations, Benjamin added.
“It’s a very short window for Camp Shelly and it’s an investment in resources for that short window and (for) relatively few people related to the entire population that we are servicing,” Fuzie added.
This past summer, LARPD issued 303 permits overall for the camp, an approximate drop of 29% from the previous year due to water tank maintenance, Benjamin said.
Spurring the maintenance, LARPD discovered during late June that Camp Shelly’s water tank had a bacterial contamination. Sink and shower water was shut off for the remainder of the season.
According to Benjamin, the bacterial contamination “wasn’t to the point of needing emergency action”, rather LARPD shut down the water use to pinpoint the cause of the issue.
“We were shut down by the health department because we couldn’t pass the water testing,” Fuzie clarified.
To-date, the water still needed to pass a test prior to its use, Fuzie added.
In looking toward the future, LARPD has about four years to prepare for the end of its current lease.
“My concern is that the lease renewal is going to trigger more demands from the Forest Service,” Fuzie said.
Future requirements are currently unknown, as LARPD officials have been unsuccessful in their attempts to contact the Forest Service due to the recent government shutdown, Fuzie explained.
At this time, the LARPD is learning and preparing to be ready for future decision making points, Fuzie added.
Ahead of the meeting, public letters submitted to the board all expressed support for maintaining Camp Shelly operations, Director Jan Palajac said of the printed materials. Additional letters were not yet printed at the time and are set for inclusion in the recorded meeting minutes.
The majority of speakers during public comment also expressed their support for LARPD continuing campground operations.
Camp Shelly is a highlight of the summer, said Mike Ralph, Livermore resident and longtime site visitor.
“I would hate to think that this unique place didn’t exist in the future,” Ralph added.
Other Livermore residents proposed solutions for how to staff Camp Shelly and increase funds to pay for its operating costs.
One resident also suggested reducing expenses for Camp Shelly, given the relative percent of non-Livermore residents using the site.
Directors are set to determine future operations based on community input as well as information from LARPD staff at later meetings including the cost of leasing Camp Shelly, the total operating cost and the average number of reservations per year.
