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P&R 08-07-03 APPROVED PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION CITY OF CUPERTINO REGULAR MEETING THURSDAY, AUGUST 7, 2003 CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Bradford called the regular meeting of the Parks and Recreation Commission to order at 7 p.m. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE ROLLCALL Commissioners present: Commissioners absent: Staff present: Jeanne Bradford, Rod Brown, Frank Jelinch, Roger Peng, Kris Wang None Therese Ambrosi Smith, Director; Marie Preston, Administrative Secretary MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETiNGS -July 10 regular adjourned and July 26 special meetings. ACTION: The minutes were unanimously approved as written. 2. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Tony and Grace Toy, 10130 Crescent Road, addressed two points brought up by two speakers from the July 10 commission meeting: 1) did not agree with the speakers who stated the Toys were taking advantage of the reservation procedures during June and July, between 6:30 and 8:30 p.m.; 2) did not agree that their court time is on record, since staff has been covering up the reservation sheet; therefore, that information would not be available. They asked the commission to check out the construction related problems on the stadium court, as well as the other courts. They believe that Team Tennis gets the best courts at primetime. Team Tennis is using courts 3, 4, and 5 and is finished before 9 p.m. They believe Team Tennis is taking away the good courts. They do not understand the accusations of their reservation practices by Team Tennis. Mrs. Toy asked the commission to check out the courts at Memorial Park that are not in good condition, as well as other court conditions. The Toys accused Richard Gonzales, as a member of the Team Tennis group and as manager of the Sports Center, using his influence to grant all privileges exclusively to Team Tennis at the expense of general pass holders. 3. WRITTEN - no discussion of written items that were in Commission's packet. Parks and Recreation Commission August 7, 2003 Page 2 of 8 UNFINISHED BUSiNESS A. Stevens Creek Corridor - Director Therese Smith gave a PowerPoint presentation, entitled Work In Progress, which displayed a very preliminary plan combining consensus ideas into a single vision, explained how the preliminary plan met the City Council goals, and addressed some picnic ground economics. She explained the layout and logic behind this plan. Commission Questions Commissioner Jelinch asked if there was going to be a cost analysis at a later meeting in more detail? He stated he was looking for the cost of new activities to be added. He would like to know what the cost of a bridge is, cost of the creek clean up, etc. Director Smith answered that that this information will not be available for at least another year. Jelinch would like to see fewer and than more activities in the space. He would not approve of a dog park or a skate park program in the area due to the restoration necessities with setbacks and trails. Commissioner Brown stated that the analysis did not explain what the overall impact is in terms of annual revenue; he needs to understand if we're cutting out picnic. Commissioner Brown asked by eliminating the large picnic groups, what amount of profit would we be eliminating by shutting them out? Director Smith went into a little more detail of the financial analysis. Chair Bradford asked for further explanation on where the trail alignment and to give more information on the proposed setbacks. Director Smith displayed the drawing and outlined the trail alignment and setbacks. Smith also explained that a fence would be installed separating McClellan Ranch Park from the paid area at Blackberry Farm. Commissioner Brown asked where the water district tanks are on the map. Director Smith stated that they were not noted on the plan, but pointed out their location. She stated that the current boundary between Blackberry Farm and McClellan Ranch would remain; this will be necessary to keep the pay-for-use area secure. Chair Bradford asked if the plan shows a minimum of 25-feet top-of-bank setback, and Director Smith agreed. Chair Bradford also asked what the parking capacity was, and Director Smith stated that parking would accommodate approximately 1,000 people at 2.5 people per car; parking area would be graveled so that it could accommodate busses and/or cars. Commissioner Wang asked that when the fence is put in place between McClellan and Blackberry that accommodations are made for emergency vehicle access. Director Smith stated that emergency vehicles wouldn't use an area unless it is paved, so to that would involve paving through the area, but a gate could be installed. Commissioner Brown asked for further explanation of the parking capacity, which Director Smith stated that the accommodation of 1,000 people at 2.5 people per car was only the middle parking area and did not include the added parking at Stevens Creek Blvd. Parks and Recreation Commission August 7, 2003 Page 3 of 8 Public Comments Lonnie Toensfeldt, 21640 Fitzgerald Drive, has been heavily involved with McCellan Ranch Park. She is also the community club leader for Rolling Hills 4-H since 1974. She expressed concern about running the trail behind the 4-H area. She would like to see the multi-use trail put on the Simms side. She expressed concern with the linkage of this trail at McCellan Road and Stevens Creek Blvd. She stated that she was pleased with the emphasis on addressing the McClellan Ranch Park Master Plan. Frank Yap, 11032 Firethome Drive, read portions of the 2003 draft General Plan. He proposed that the golf course be removed and in its place substitute a putting green or a small driving range. He does support the plan that revolves around the golf course. He liked the rest of the plan. Craig Breon, 22221 McClellan Road, Audubon Society, believes the plan was creative the way the fee/no fee areas were laid out. For the Simms property, he would like to see a discussion between Audubon, Center for Living History and the Parks and Recreation Department about what building facilities are needed in terms of square footage and usage, and how much of that can overlap. He is in favor of removing the Simms house, which is in disrepair; this would make room for further creek restoration and overflow parking. To make room for program expansion at McClellan, he is in favor of barn restoration, expansion of the ranch house and nature museum, and eliminating the caretaker residence. He stated that the Audubon Society is not in favor of a multi-use trail through McClellan Ranch. They would like to see a smaller, narrower trail that allows people to get through the site at a slower pace and is primarily community oriented, and would still include strollers, wheelchairs, etc. He agreed with the proposed reduction of 75 percent of picnicking at Blackberry Farm. David Greenstein, 10066 Byrne Avenue, stated that the plan was creative and interesting; it showed the compromises on the issue. He was pleased with the support of the Center for Living History and repairing some of the McClellan Ranch buildings, including the 4-H Club site. He would like to see San Fernando closed from the general public for the part of the year the park is not used for reserved picnicking. He also suggested that instead of putting the play area in the center, to also have a play area toward Stevens Creek Blvd., perhaps the Stocklmeir property. He supports the multi-use trail in the northern part of the park, but does not see the demand for a multi-use trail in the southern part of the parkland. Jack Goodman, 10374 San Fernando Avenue, supports changing the entrance. He talked about the Council goal of relocating the San Fernando entrance and asked how the plan achieves the goal? Director Smith answered that the goal said, "Consider relocating the entrance." She stated that the San Fernando entrance is necessary because a road along the creek would have to be put through the park and there was little support for that option. Dick Thompson, 22106 Dean Court, said he heard positive comments about the plan. As a neighbor of the park near the Meadows, he asked what was happening to the Stocklmeir Parks and Recreation Commission August 7, 2003 Page 4 of 8 property. He does not support a dog park or a skate park on the Stocklmeir property; he liked the plan for a trail and picnic areas on this property. Robina Vandersteen, 10401 Phar Lap Drive, believes that there has been community input on the project. She applauded that plan. Does not support a multi-use trail through the park. She is supportive of reducing the hours of the Blue Pheasant. Bob Levy, 10802 Wilkinson Avenue, does not support an eastern alignment of the multi-use trail through McClellan Ranch; he would like to see the trail on the west side of the creek through Simms. He also believes the golf course could be redesigned for the entrance to come off Stevens Creek Blvd. and a road into the park and close of San Fernando completely. John Buenz, 22115 Dean Court, commended staff' on the creative plan. He is opposed to a dog park and a skate park. He believes that the creek corridor lends itself best to restoration, relaxation, and re-creative activities. If there were a bridge from Stocklmeir to the golf course side, he would like it to be at least 100 feet from the boundary of the Meadows. Jill Halloran, 10780 Alderbrook Lane, spoke in favor of creek setbacks. Spoke in favor of a minimum number of creek crossings of any kind. She is in favor of the plan that emphasizes Ranch restoration. Spoke in favor of reduced picnic areas and reduced parking. She spoke in favor of eliminating the golf course and replacing it with a putting green. She also spoke in favor of a dog park away from the creek. If the commission does not want to recommend a dog park at this park, she would like to hear about where a dog park would be allowed. Linda Wegner, 10200 Hillcrest Road, likes the concept of the multi-use trail that would include roller bladers, walkers, strollers, etc. She is a cyclist and stated that serious cyclists will look for other places than the Stevens Creek Corridor to ride. The corridor will be a place for children to go where they won't have to worry about vehicular traffic. She recommended using speed bumps on the multi-use.trail along with signage. She would support a dog park. Rhoda Fry, 10351 San Fernando Avenue, spoke about her concem with school busses that enter the park; she believes that most of them are not from the Cupertino community, but from other areas, so the city is not serving members of the community by bringing in schools. She spoke against the pools remaining and against a San Fernando entrance. She stated that the driveway to Blackberry Farm is only 16 feet wide and that the fire code is a minimum of 20 feet and there are safety issues with this driveway. Commission Comments Commissioner Jelinch: He agrees with the list of consensus items and is in favor of their approval. He does think the golf course should not be touched because it brings in a lot of revenue. He believes that there is no one on the council that would vote to change the golf course. He thinks changing the holes would work, but getting rid of the golf course is not going to happen. As for new amenities that are not on the consensus list, he is not in favor of putting too much in this park, that the park is supposed to be a natural riparian corridor, and that the Parks and Recreation Commission August 7, 2003 Page 5 of 8 more things you add, the more problems you have. He also stated that the park is in a flood zone and permanent structures risk flooding. He asked that there needs to be full consideration about putting in permanent amenities because they may not be around that long due to flooding issues/problems. Regarding complaints of the multi-use trail going through McClellan Ranch and about the steepness, this is something he believes should be reviewed. He has a question about whether the loop through the back of McClellan Ranch is the best alignment, particularly if it takes out some of the animal areas that are used by the children; he believes this issue can be successfully addressed. He doesn't support the relocation of the entrance to one entrance; he believes having three entrances is a good idea; he also believes that only having an entrance at Stevens Creek would mean paving through the park and that no one wants to see that, so he would have to reject that idea. He commended staff's creativity. Commissioner Peng: He believes the community's voice seems to be saying to keep the golf course. As for the entrance, he sees the importance of improving the entrance at San Fernando and stated that the three-way stop sign can be a safety hazard. After Horseshoe Bend, he likes the idea of keeping the trail out of that area and moving it to the west side. He believes activities at Stocklmeir should leverage the features of the creek. He would like more discussion on a fire zone. Commissioner Wang: She supports keeping the golf course, a flat trail, and a natural riparian corridor. She urged staffto look into safety issue: study a fire zone and emergency truck access. She believes that the proposed plan has improved by reducing picnic area, and that traffic control can possibly be studied when park is open year-around. She supports reducing hours of operation of the Blue Pheasant to 11 p.m. Commissioner Brown: He had recommended more than one plan. He would like a long-term plan to be considered because when the bond is paid off(10 years), the city's flexibility increases, and the commission ought to consider where to go after that time. One the plans he recommended did eliminate the golf course. He acknowledged that a number of residents who do not golf and had voted to keep that there; however, if the alternative was given to turn that golf course into a natural area instead of a programmed area, he thinks there would be different opinions about the acceptability of changing the golf course. For the short term, he agrees to keep the golf course for revenue purposes; but keep as a long-term goal to free up this area. He supports closing the Blue Pheasant earlier and thanked the Oakdell residents for their input on this matter. He liked the idea of keeping a portion of the orange grove and adding picnic grounds. He stated that the proposed plan took the best idea of all the plans and came up with something that was better. For the long-term, he would like to eliminate the corporate uses there completely when the bonds are paid off and turn it over to the citizens for more general public use. He supports leaving McCellan as it is. He believes that adding parking on the Simms property is a good idea, and this would increase the number of people that could participate in programs at McClellan. He did not hear consensus on eliminating the Simms house. He would like to get rid of the house. He expressed concern about the area just before the Santa Clara Valley Water District property, close to the creek, having multiple crossings, and asked if there was a way to keep it on one side of the creek. The area behind 4-H is tight, and he would like staff to look at more options for the next meeting. Parks and Recreation Commission August 7, 2003 Page 6 of 8 Chair Bradford: She is not supportive of a skate park or a dog park on this property. Regarding the entrance on San Femando, she believes that the plan represents the combination of people's best thinking to best mitigate the problem. She stated that by broadening the parking on both ends and containing the activity in the middle is the best opportunity to mitigate the traffic through the neighborhood. She would not support putting a road along the creek. She likes the idea of additional parking on the Stevens Creek Blvd. end; she thought it was a good compromise, and believes no one entrance will be considered the main entrance, and that the different entrances support the different activities. She supports having the Blue Pheasant hours limited to 10 p.m. She questioned if it made sense to renew the lease or if there was a better purpose for that space; this has not been discussed and believes there are programming option opportunities, and that this commission will probably not be making that decision. She likes the idea of picnic areas in the Stocklmeir orchard and the trail going through it. She states that she was not sure what the right decision for the buildings on the Stocklmeir property was, as they appeared to be in poor shape. She liked the idea of expanding the golf course into the current large parking lot. She supported the idea that there be a 25-foot setback and stated it was a good starting point in terms of restoration. She stated that the four proposed bridges were not the least expensive model, but being able to meander back and forth across the creek would slow traffic down on the multi-use trail. She is a proponent of multi-use trails, but not of having high-speed packs of bicycles on it. Chair Bradford could support the idea of separate picnic areas and isolate those from the rest of the area. She would like to see restoration around the west side of the creek. She liked the idea of the Apricot orchard. She was highly supportive ofth6 proposed idea to leave McClellan Ranch fairly untouched and combining the implementation of the McCellan Ranch Master Plan and the plan for the Center for Living History. As the project moves ahead, Chair Bradford stated that she would like to see the information organized such as: here is the restoration plan, here is the activity plan, here is what is going to change with the golf course, here are financial implications, etc. She would like to see an overall restoration plan and the plan to move forward on that plan. Director Smith stated that the next move would be to take the refined plan to the City Council and see if they like it, and then ask them for the budget to do further information gathering. Chair Bradford commended Director Smith for putting the plan together and that the plan did address each of the City Council's goals. She also thanked the public for their participation and stated the commission could not have gotten this far in the planning in the short period of time without their input; most of the ideas in the plan came directly from the community. Director Smith reported that a plan would be put on the Web next week. She stated that the following refinements will be made to the plan: possibly make the current Blackberry Farm Retreat Center the caretaker's residence, closing the entrance at San Femando during the off season, look at a retreat facility on the Stocklmeir property, look at the trail alignment and the pros and cons of putting the trail on the west or east side of the creek, no skate park, no dog park. She would convene a meeting of nonprofit organizations to talk about McClellan Ranch needs. Parks and Recreation Commission August 7, 2003 Page 7 of 8 Commissioner Brown wanted to add to his previous comments in that he does not believe there is room for a dog park or a skate park; however, he would like the commission to talk about a dog park at a future date. He asked if the commission was looking at the plan as a long-term plan and possibly looking at the plan after the revenue issue is addressed? Director Smith explained that the "revenues" were being discussed when "profits" should be discussed. The golf course does generate $1 million in revenue, but it generates $150,000 in profits yearly. What is paying off the debt service is the utility tax. The revenue helps pay the debt service down faster, but it is not really the engine that is paying down the debt. She also stated that discussions about the golf course are bigger one than just revenue; such as, is 16 1/2 acres of parkland used for golf the highest and best use? Chair Bradford said it is difficult to project the use of the park into the future, but at some point there should be an option to take another look at the park. She supports leaving the golf course at this time. Commissioner Brown wanted to go on record that the city should review the use of the golf course. He is not convinced that the golf course is the best use of the property long term. He stated that if you look at the corridor, over half of it is devoted to golf when you consider Deep Cliff Golf Course. He stated that the corridor is a unique feature and should be protected. One of his visions was to restore the golf course land to a more natural area, allowing it to be an area where the public could go in a manner that is compatible with a natural area, such as an oak woodland with a riparian corridor. Commissioner Peng says he has an appreciation for long-term and forward thinking, but for purpose they were assigned, at this time, the city should keep the golf course. Commissioner Wang agrees with Commission Peng about a long-term plan for the golf course land. Next Steps: Commission will review revised preliminary plan At the September 4 meeting, commission will make recommendations to City Council , City Council to get recommendations for their September 15 meeting Commissioner Peng asked about including the fire zone and safety issue. Director Smith stated that she was aware that Mrs. Fry had contacted the Fire Department. The Fire Department's report to Director Smith was that the driveway was adequate and he would like to see some of the trees cut back. She also reported that Blackberry Farm has fire inspections on a regular basis and she was not aware of any problems. 5. NEW BUSINESS - None MISCELLANOUS -NO ACTION REQUIRED A. Staff oral reports: Parks and Recreation Commission August 7, 2003 Page 8 of 8 1) 2) Richard Gonzales has resigned from the Sport Center and Colleen Manning, Recreation Coordinator, will be assuming those responsibilities full time August 25. The opening date of the Sports Center has been moved up to January or February 2004 - about 6 months early. Furniture and equipment is being purchased for the earlier opening date. Mike Bookspun has been hired to fill a vacancy in the Youth Fitness Division. Community contacts: 1) Commissioners Wang and Brown are on the General Plan Task Force. 2) Chair Bradford continues to get emails about the Sports Center tennis reservation system, which will be addressed in the October meeting. ADJOURNMENT Chairperson Bradford adjourned the meeting at 9:10 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Marie Preston, Administrative Secretary Televised Council meetings may be viewed live on Cable Channel 26, and may also be viewed live or on demand at www. cupertino, org. Videotapes of the televised meetings are available at the Cupertino Library, or may be purchased from the Cupertino City Channel, 777-2364. Minutes approved at the September 4, 2003, regular meeting.