BONSALL —— Six thousand acres on both sides of the San Luis Rey River are being considered for a county park that would include a trails system, recreational areas and abundant land preserved as open space.

Officials from the San Diego County Department of Parks and Recreation held a public meeting Thursday, the second of four meetings planned to collect ideas on how to develop a plan for the park

The proposed park would extend east of Interstate 15 to the Oceanside border with Bonsall, encompassing about 8 1/2 miles of the San Luis Rey River.

"At the first public meeting, we provided a series of handouts asking, 'What are the community's interests for this park?' " said Vince Nicoletti, the county parks planner in charge of the project. "One of the top needs … is hiking and equestrian trails."

About 60 people at Thursday's meeting were updated on the latest plans for the park, which include three types of uses: "Tier A" for heavy uses such as parking and sports fields, "Tier B" for picnic and bird-watching areas, and "Tier C" for the trail network.

A survey presented at the Oct. 12 meeting showed that trails, restrooms and picnic areas were the most commonly requested facilities for the park. A close second to recreational use was the desire to preserve the sensitive river habitat.

Nicoletti said more surveys will be sent out to the community within the next few weeks, but so far, "balancing the needs of the riparian habitat with the trails and the staging areas" has proved to be the common thread in public feedback.

Much of the master plan process depends on being able to purchase private land for the park, he added.

"Participation is completely voluntary, and by that I mean we're working with landowners and willing to discuss potential trail easements in the future," he said.

According to planners with Hargreaves Associates, an independent consulting firm developing the park's master plan, approximately 32,000 people live within two miles of the area under consideration.

Some of the natural habitat on the land has been destroyed by agriculture or other uses, while some of the river habitat is still biologically sound.

With that in mind, said Hargreaves planner Jacob Petersen, "we would definitely like to find a balance between recreation and preservation."

Petersen said Friday that while the feedback from Thursday's meeting had not yet been analyzed, residents close to the study area and those likely to use the park have indicated trails are the highest priority. Whether the trails would be used by a combination of hikers, bikers and equestrians or set aside solely for foot traffic was a point of contention among the community members at last week's meeting.

Detailed input such as trail uses is not as important now as the "broader brush strokes" of the project, Petersen said.

"What we're trying to do is create a legacy of trails that are on public land with permanent public access," he said.

Some local residents who attended Thursday's public meeting said that they didn't want the San Luis Rey rivershed to change. One man cited the prospect of having to leash his dogs while on horseback as a nuisance that is not currently required in the valley, which is a mix of private and public land with an informal network of paths.

By consolidating the existing trails under the domain of the county government, said Petersen, the park would ensure that the area stays open to the public, whereas under private ownership recreational use could cease.

With up to 95 percent of the park land being considered for preserved open space, several local environmental groups have shown tempered support for the project.

On Friday, a representative of the Buena Vista Audubon Society said that he looks forward to the establishment of a park on such a biologically rich piece of San Diego County.

"We are very excited about the prospects for the long-term preservation and restoration along San Luis Rey River," said Andy Mauro, the local Audubon Society's conservation chairman. "Our primary interest is in seeing that as much of the natural habitat is maintained as possible.

"We're not against trails and overlooks, obviously —— we would be utilizing them just as any other member of the public would be," he continued. "But we'd like there to be some larger tracts that remain free and open and wild."

Mauro said that whether equestrians are granted access to some of the more environmentally sensitive areas could be a point of contention.

County Supervisor Bill Horn, who has worked for five years for a park on the San Luis Rey River, said Friday he's excited the Parks and Recreation Department is developing a master plan for the site.

"The park will be for everybody in the county of San Diego," he said, noting the reach of the San Luis Rey River, which flows from Palomar Mountain into the Pacific Ocean. "That's very valuable to preserve, and I think the park is a good way to do that. I want an active park, but at the same time, there a lot of species there that we can preserve and protect."

In March, planners will bring a revised master plan back for public review, after which another revision will be done before submittal to the county later this year. If approved by the Board of Supervisors, the park would still depend on several factors, from environmental review to negotiations to buy private land, before opening.

Contact staff writer Tom Pfingsten at (760) 731-5799 or tpfingsten@nctimes.com.