The San Antonio area of Mountain View has been starved for green space for years, dominated instead by concrete, high-density housing and a sprawling shopping center. But new plans are looking to change that, with a public park and open space planned to replace retail businesses.

On Tuesday, city officials laid out plans to create a 2-acre park at the corner of California Street and Pacchetti Way, replacing what is currently a JoAnn fabrics store, a 24 Hour Fitness gym and a parking lot. The park is part of larger plans by the Los Altos School District to transform a portion of the shopping center into a new school.

Taken together, the school and adjacent city park will significantly boost green space for the neighborhood, which has been identified as the area with the greatest need for open space.

In late 2019, the school district acquired nearly 11.7 acres of land in the San Antonio shopping center, a $155 million purchase that paves the way for a school to be built in a heavily developed area of Mountain View. The district-owned property is bounded by California Street, Showers Drive and Pacchetti Way, and includes the Kohl's building and several smaller tenants.

To help with the hefty price tag, the city pitched in $23 million in park funds in exchange for joint use of 4 acres of the property, which will be used by the school during the day and will be available to the public during off hours. The joint-use space is separate from the 2-acre park that will be open to the public at all times.

Planning for the future school and park has been slow so far, with much of the work put on hold during COVID-19. An earlier timeline called for construction to begin in 2024, but school district officials are now saying development likely won't begin until 2025.

What has been nailed down, however, is where the 2-acre park should be located. The city made clear that the park should be easily accessible, public-facing and a "relatively regular" rectangular shape that isn't stretched or squeezed around the school property. That left only one viable spot for the park, located near the corner of Pacchetti and California.

It remains unclear where the 4 acres of joint-use open space will be, but the city did impose tight rules on what the Los Altos School District must provide on the shared property. The joint use agreement commits the district to building athletic fields, including a track, soccer and baseball fields, as well as a gymnasium that could be used by the community outside school hours.

The long list of demands may be tough to meet, and it may not all fit on just 4 acres, according to city staff.

At the Oct. 26 meeting, Councilwoman Alison Hicks made a pitch for amenities that go beyond just sports facilities. She said school fields tend to get used up by things like soccer and baseball, and that the city has a chance to offer something that meets the health and recreation needs of more residents.

"We've often focused our parks and school yards in large part with ballfields," Hicks said. "That's an important part of what we do in parks and schools, but I think it serves a very small demographic."

Councilwoman Margaret Abe-Koga said she's heard loud and clear from residents in the area that there is a strong desire for at least a track and field, and that the greater San Antonio area lacks these kinds of recreational facilities that other neighborhoods have.

Still undecided is how many hours of the day residents will have access to the shared open space, which will be fenced off from the public and locked during school hours. The joint use agreement gives the school district exclusive use of the gym and all other facilities during school days from 6 a.m. until "all school-sponsored activities are concluded," according to city staff.

Though unrelated to the master plan thus far, the Los Altos School District must still decide what kind of school to place on the Mountain View property. The controversial decision has been put on hold for years, as district residents remain divided over which students ought to go to the future school. School board members have considered relocating Bullis Charter School as well as moving Egan Junior High School to the site, each with its own set of drawbacks. The district could also create a new elementary school with its own new Mountain View-focused attendance boundaries.

Not all options are on the table. In its agreement with the city, the Los Altos School District must provide a school that serves students in the neighborhood, which means an elementary or junior high school with attendance boundaries that encompass San Antonio or an explicit neighborhood preference for students attending Bullis Charter School.

The school is planned to have a more urban, two-story design, and could accommodate up to 900 students.