Creative solution to preserving Grant Road farm
Editor:
I was disappointed by the editorial in last week’s Voice, “Is it too late for a park?” which stated that it’s too late to preserve a small farm on Grant Road while allowing residential development on the majority of the property. I’m an advocate of a creative planning approach to this property, which Mountain View has demonstrated many times in the past — resulting in a win for the developer and the community.
For example, a Planned Unit Development (PUD) designation and planning process for this property would allow for a mixed use of houses and a private working farm. PUDs have been used by Mountain View and many other communities as a way to accommodate more than one use on a property, with great results. There is no need for anyone to purchase the land at residential subdivision prices as the editorial implies.
A creative plan could result in similar profits to the housing developer if it develops single-family homes on smaller lots, similar to most single-family neighborhoods in Mountain View — not high density, as the editorial implies or some neighbors may fear.
If the developer can make a similar profit margin developing on slightly smaller lots, then the remainder of the property could be sold at significantly lower agricultural prices to a farmer. According to the California Farm Link, a nonprofit organization linking farmers to available farmland, this type of property would be attractive and economically viable to a farmer interested in direct marketing to the local community, much like the existing tenants have been doing for years. Land trusts that specialize in land conservation transactions could be brought in to help broker a deal that maximizes the tax benefits to the developer and assures the necessary conditions to make a farm operation viable.
Hopefully, the city council will listen to residents who care about our connection to our agricultural heritage, and who care about our children learning where their food comes from. We would not like this council’s legacy to be one that did nothing to prevent the last farm in Mountain View from being developed, even when reasonable options were available to keep a smaller farm.
I have been a Mountain View resident for over 20 years. I have not lived in the Grant Road farm neighborhood, and yet I consider the farm a citywide and regional amenity. There are many of us, not just the neighbors, who care about this property.
Deborah Clark
Sierra Vista Avenue
