El Camino may pick a pumpkin El Camino may pick a pumpkin (November 18, 2005)

Hospital interested in buying parcel from nearby farm

By Jon Wiener

Speculation continues to swirl around the future of the Grant Road pumpkin patch, as pressure builds on the owners to sell the undeveloped 15-acre property.

Rumors that a developer has purchased the site surface every couple of months at City Hall and neighborhood meetings. Last week, the potential sale of the property appeared on the agenda of the El Camino Hospital District board of directors, which was scheduled to discuss a potential bid in closed session. The hospital is located nearby on Grant Road.

The farm, home to Farm Fresh produce and a destination for hundreds of schoolchildren on field trips every year, changed hands last year when owner Paul Mardesich died in August. He passed the property on to his daughters, who have not wanted to publicly discuss their plans for the site -- possibly, some have speculated, out of fear that neighborhood outcry could spark more restrictions on the land and decrease its value.

The transfer triggered a reassessment of the property's value this spring, which skyrocketed to 10 times the original amount, from $2.9 million to $29 million. That change increases the property tax burden on Mardesich's daughters, Betty Moore of Lafayette and Pauline King of Sunnyvale. Combined with estate taxes, that could force them to sell all or part of the land to a residential developer rather than continue renting it out for agricultural uses.

Dave Schmitz, who runs Farm Fresh Produce with his wife Diane, told the Voice earlier this year that he had heard nothing from the owners about the future of the property. "If they wanted to sell, it wouldn't be that hard," said Schmitz, who did not return calls for this story.

For the last year, the development of the site by a residential builder has been the No. 1 project on an internal list of major private projects that the city planning division maintains. The property, which is actually located in unincorporated Santa Clara County, is pre-zoned for approximately 90 single-family homes, at the same density as the surrounding neighborhood.

In 2001, some neighbors proposed allowing denser development on part of the site in exchange for leaving the rest of it undeveloped, but concerns about property rights and infrastructure kept the city council from acting on the issue.

City council member Tom Means, who lives on nearby Porterfield Court, said the city should start preparing for what is sure to be a firestorm of criticism when and if a developer brings a proposal to the city.

"I would be totally shocked if that didn't happen," said Means.

The farm is one of the last remaining agricultural parcels in Mountain View. Others have already made way for condos, including a 10.5-acre apricot orchard on Ferguson Drive and a 6.3-acre nursery near Whisman Road.

Tuesday, the County Board of Supervisors was scheduled to vote on a resolution regarding so-called urban pockets -- islands of unincorporated rural lands surrounded by residential or commercial areas. The resolution called on cities to annex these parcels under a temporary state law that allows cities to do so without elections or "possible resident protest."

E-mail Jon Wiener at jwiener@mv-voice.com

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