Open lands vanishing fast Open lands vanishing fast (January 27, 2006)

This week's news that the fabled "Pumpkin Patch" property on Grant Road will soon be turned into upscale homes will wipe out the last remaining family orchard in the city, a produce stand where thousands of Mountain View and Los Altos families have purchased their summer fruit for many years.

The decision by the Mardesich family to sell the property to the highest bidder was no surprise, and we presume it will have the strong endorsement of city leaders, who over the past several years have opened the door wide to housing projects, whether they are single family with five to six units per acre or single room occupancy units like those at the SRO project at San Antonio Circle.

Many residents might be surprised that there are about 2,700 new homes in the housing pipeline, meaning that the city's population could increase by nearly 7,000 residents, based on a conservative estimate of 2.5 persons per household. The downside of this phenomenal growth spurt is that is has wiped out a significant number of agricultural properties, lands that will forever be lost to uses other than housing.

This is a ferocious development pace, and, while we back the city's ambitious agenda of adding housing to help alleviate urban sprawl and to design modern urban landscapes, it is time to take stock of the few remaining agricultural or recreational parcels, with an eye to letting them lie dormant for five or 10 years or so.

A perfect case in point is the 12-acre Cuesta Park Annex, which some members of the city council would like to at least consider as a site for more playing fields. We can sympathize with this point of view, and even see some responsibility for this neighborhood to contribute a portion of its bounty of open space to areas that are not so fortunate.

But as the remaining large chunks of agricultural land and unproductive industrial sites are sold off to housing contractors, it makes sense to step back and allow the market to absorb this huge influx of new homes. Cuesta Park Annex is 12 acres of unfettered and undeveloped open space, where wildlife thrives and anyone can walk their dog or simply wander around under a canopy of oak, walnut and historic prune orchard trees.

Nearby residents want to forever prevent this small forest and open space from being turned into housing, playing fields or any other type of development. They say leave the Annex alone. In this case, we agree, at least with the understanding that no city council can bind the hands of a future council, unless backed by voters in a special referendum.

Mountain View is blessed with a spectacular system of parks, including Shoreline, one of the most attractive recreational and open space venues on the Peninsula. There is no need to panic, but with 2,700 housing units coming online in the near future, now is not the time take even one more acre away from our stock of open lands.

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