The Cupertino Courier
News
Residents get to play with Rancho Rinconada park design
By Cody Kraatz
The Cupertino Parks and Recreation Commission gave residents in the Rancho Rinconada neighborhood the chance to propose design elements for a park that is planned at Sterling Boulevard and Barnhart Avenue.
Santa Clara County workers recently put in a crosswalk on Lawrence Expressway at Mitty Avenue to connect the future park site and the Saratoga Creek Trail with West San Jose.
About 25 people came to the April 5 meeting at the community center and broke into five groups. They arranged cutout basketball courts, trees, playgrounds and benches on blank site plans to create design concepts.
"This is a neighborhood that is deficient in green space. This is an opportunity to address the deficiency," said Therese Smith, Cupertino director of parks and recreation. "We're there to design a park."
The city will give the residents' design priorities to Bruce Hill, a Los Gatos landscape architect hired for the planning.
"The feeling that I got out of the meeting is that there are two camps. One wanted to keep the park completely passive with native plants, some benches and shade trees. And then we had the kids who wanted the play equipment, the tennis court, all the hardscape stuff that we could possibly cram in there," said Hill.
"Their priorities sound realistic and very normal to what I call a little neighborhood park."
Hill is expected to present a preferred landscape design concept at the planning commission's May 3 meeting, which will also be held at the Rancho Rinconada community center. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m.
The city included $50,000 for the park's design in this year's budget, and construction costs will be put in a later budget.
The future park site is now a vacant, fenced-in plot owned by the San Jose Water Co., but Cupertino is working to buy the land and turn it into a trailhead for the Saratoga Creek Trail. Cupertino also hopes to extend that trail north and build a larger park at a Santa Clara County-owned construction storage site.
"We really need a place where people can sit and visit with their neighbors. People are so busy with work that they just don't take the time to get to know the community," said Julie Bisch-Pollock, who lives two doors from the future park. She envisions an "outdoor living room" there, with plenty of benches.
She would also like the park to focus on native plants and trees, which she is doing in her own yard.
"I get a whole lot of wildlife in my backyard now."
Many residents at the meeting called for an interpretive element, labeling native plants so people can learn about nature and American Indian history. Smith said this would be easy to put in the design.
"A lot of people come into the area from other countries and states, and they have no idea [about the environment] they are living in," said Bisch-Pollock.
Playing Around
Among the ideas that came up at the meeting:
* Benches to sit, talk and socialize.
* A playground and lawn area for children to play, maybe with a short fence to keep toddlers safe.
* Bike racks and more parking spaces for park users.
* No smoking, drinking or skateboarding.
* Some want dog owners to be responsible, while others want no dogs at all.
* Drinking fountains.
* Native plants with educational and wildlife information.
* Bocce ball, tennis and basketball courts.
* A bulletin board for local news and events.
To see the results of the meeting, go to www.cupertino.org and look for the Rancho Rinconada Park meeting link.
