Rose Garden Resident

News

SJ looks to revamp greenprint to jumpstart park projects

By Eli Segall

New life is finally sprouting from San Jose's greenprint project, and it's been a long time coming. San Jose residents have waited six years for the city to fulfill some old promises on neighborhood parks, which were based on greenprint guidelines that called for a slew of new projects and enhancements. The city has met none of those expectations.

Dave Mitchell, parks planning manager for the San Jose Department of Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services, said the quality of existing facilities has nose-dived due to poor maintenance, and increased development costs have chopped up several projects called for by the greenprint.

The parks department held the first in a series of planned community forums on Nov. 21 in District 6 to collect ideas from residents. The city plans to hold a forum in each of the city's 10 districts over the next several months.

Suggestions at the forum included adding bicycle lanes on Lincoln and Cherry avenues, connecting the Los Gatos Creek Trail from Meridian to Lincoln avenues, and having a farmers market at the Willow Street-Lincoln Avenue intersection. Other ideas included increasing plant biodiversity, building an agricultural history museum, establishing more youth centers and fighting for more park monies from Santa Clara County.

Helen Chapman, chairwoman of the San Jose Parks Commission, said the community offered a number of good ideas for improving District 6 parks.

"I think we made a lot of progress," Chapman said. "Each park has a different use, and this was a good way to find out what people want."

Over the past six years, increased land and construction costs have put a dent in several planned park projects. When the greenprint was written, city land cost $14 per square foot; it now costs $50 per square foot.

"The greenprint was overly ambitious to begin with," Mitchell said. "We haven't come close to spending the amount of money it called for."

The plan sought to invest $1.2 billion in parks by 2020; the city is on pace to spend roughly half that, Mitchell added.

One boost to funding future projects is a recent hike in park development fees, approved last month by the San Jose City Council. With every housing or commercial development, the city will begin charging developers a fee based on 100 percent of 2005 city land values to finance new parks. Previously, the fee was based on 2001 land values.

The decision, which takes effect next July, will increase the city's park bank account by 25 percent to 40 percent annually, Mitchell said. District 6 will see its park monies double due to the high number of real estate developments in the neighborhood, Mitchell said.

Parks officials plan to present the modified greenprint to the city council in early 2008.