Sarah Krajewski is concerned about overcrowding in parks for her infant son. Angie Cortez wants more evening activities for her 20-month-old daughter. Maribel Barajas says the $800 voucher she gets for her three children does not leave them many options for after-school programs.
The three mothers were among the more than 40 residents who turned out last week for a workshop that could help shape the future of recreation in Mountain View.
“I have a big stake in what happens in the next 10 years,” said Krajewski, her son on her lap. “If you’re living in a townhouse with kids, you’ve got to have parks because you don’t have a yard.”
Last week’s workshop, put on by the city’s recreation staff, was the first step in an ambitious idea to write a comprehensive recreation plan for the entire city. It comes at the same time the city is updating its parks and open space plan and determining what to do with Cuesta Park Annex.
“This is a golden opportunity,” said parks and recreation commissioner Ivan John. “The key theme is what do you want to do, how do you want to use your open space, and how much of it do you need.”
Attendance at the workshop was less than half what was hoped for, and largely consisted of veterans of other recent battles over recreation and open space — including Cuesta Park Annex, the child care center in Rengstorff Park, and Cuesta Tennis Center. Participants expressed concern about crowding, the rising cost of living, and the threat to parkland from development.
The recreation staff will host another workshop in September and plans to send out a short questionnaire to residents this summer. The city cut the recreation plan from the city’s budget five years ago in a round of belt-tightening. But after reducing the cost of the project, staff members are optimistic that they can learn useful information that will help them decide which activities to emphasize and which to cut back.
“It’s really too early to start drawing any major conclusions,” said community services director Dave Muela. “This is really a much longer look at our community — we’re looking at it in terms of five or 10 years down the road.”
With new data from the 2000 census and large new developments slated for areas of the city already lacking in open space, the plans are likely to increase pressure on the city to acquire more parkland.
The city council last week deadlocked on a proposal to funnel $1 million a year from Shoreline Amphitheatre to a fund for parkland acquisition and development. Council member Tom Means was absent last week, and colleague Matt Neely missed this week’s meeting, delaying discussion of the idea until after this year’s budget has been approved.
E-mail Jon Wiener at jwiener@mv-voice.com
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