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Grant Road farm shuttered
Lease runs out for farmer who tilled soil there for 20 years — housing appears likely

by Daniel DeBolt

In a surprise move, the owners of the city's beloved Grant Road farm told the Schmitz family that it is time to leave the property — in all likelihood to pave the way for a housing tract proposed by SummerHill Homes last year.

David Schmitz, who has farmed the 15-acre site for 20 years, said he agreed to a shortened lease last year, with a chance it would be renewed. But earlier this month, owners Betty Moore and Pauline King said the lease would not be extended.

With the lease now up on Feb. 15, the familiar fruit stand faced a bulldozer this week, "For Sale" signs went up for the farm's equipment, and locals scavenged for souvenirs at a word-of-mouth farm sale last weekend. The younger members of the Mendoza family, the farm's laborers, will have to find work elsewhere, while the elders will be going to a farm in Marysville and taking a lot of the animals with them, Schmitz said.

"It's amazing they kept it this long," said Leslie Burnell, a former neighbor who was chatting with Schmitz.

"I thought they were going to let us keep it a little bit longer," Schmitz said in response. But he wanted to stress that "We're grateful they let us do it for the 20 years they did."

The Mountain View Farmlands Group — a group of local residents whose mission is to save five acres of the 15-acre farm — issued a press release on the recent developments.

"The termination of the farmers' lease does not mean this land is lost as a farm," wrote member Chris Hildebrand. "But it does mean, sadly, that local children won't be able to see where and how food is grown this season, and won't get to ride the Halloween train later this year. There are going to be a lot of unhappy kids asking their parents: 'What happened to the Pumpkin Patch?'"

Several visitors dropped in at the farm Tuesday to purchase equipment or reminisce about the city's past, when the farm and much of the surrounding property were orchards.

Ben Hatfield was looking to buy a tractor for his ranch in Auburn. Schmitz's father was showing him a bright-red 1940s McCormick Farmall he had restored.

"I was asking $2,500, but $1,800 is fine," he said.

Schmitz's father, Dave Schmitz Sr., who had been a farmer himself in Minnesota, came to Mountain View when there were only 8,000 people living here. "It was a beautiful place back when it was orchards," he said, adding he'd seen the city go from small town to what another visitor called "wall-to-wall people."

"Everybody knew it was coming," the elder Schmitz said. "What can you do? Land values are so much now."

Burnell, the former neighbor, said he remembered when the original orchard stretched to Sleeper Avenue, which is where the original farmhouse stood before it was torn down.

"It's the end of an era," said Council member Jac Siegel, who was visiting the farm on Tuesday. "It's a heritage loss. It will be interesting to see what happens to the property."

When the farm's former owner Paul Mardesich died in 2004, rumors spread rapidly throughout the neighborhood that his daughters, Betty Moore of Lafayette and Pauline King of Sunnyvale, would sell the site to developers. The sisters' intentions weren't clear until SummerHill Homes announced in January 2006 a plan to develop the site with 55 homes.

The city is expected to hold public meetings this year to re-zone the site and approve a precise plan that may or may not include a small farm. So far no city hearing dates have been set.

Meanwhile, members of the Mountain View farmlands group will be pushing forward with their plan to save a portion of the farm, which they say would be just as lucrative as developing the entire site. The group plans to meet with SummerHill Homes on Thursday, and will post updates on their effort at www.mvfarmland.org.

"When one door closes, many more open up," Schmitz said. "We'll see what happens."

Windmill finds a home

The farm on Grant Road may soon be gone, but at least its iconic windmill will likely find a new home.

Preservationists plan to transport the windmill to the Rengstorff House — which is fitting because it originally stood not far from it, according to "windmill chairman" Charles Grant, who gives tours at the historic house.

Grant was at the farm Tuesday with other representatives of the Rengstorff House to figure out how the windmill would be moved to its new home. He said when farmer Dave Schmitz originally bought the windmill in 1988, it was sitting on a piece of land right across the street from where the Rengstorff House originally stood, at what is now Shoreline Boulevard south of Charleston Road.

The house was later relocated to Shoreline Park, which is where the windmill would go.

Grant said they already have the house and the tank — the windmill was the missing piece.

We've connected all the dots; we're quite enthusiastic about this," he said.

E-mail Daniel DeBolt at ddebolt@mv-voice.com