Subject: SELMA OLINDER PARK MASTER PLAN
COUNCIL DISTRICT: 3
SNI AREA: Brookwood Terrace
REASON
FOR ADDENDUM
This project was
previously scheduled for approval in May 2001 but was delayed to address
environmental concerns and to further investigate flood protection issues
raised by the Parks and Recreation Commission.
These issues have now been resolved and City staff is seeking approval of
the Master Plan so that this project can be considered for upcoming grant
opportunities.
Approval of the Selma Olinder Park Master Plan. CEQA: Negative Declaration.
BACKGROUND
Selma Olinder Park (formerly known as William Street Park East) is a 16.5-acre undeveloped park site in Council District 3, near the intersection of William Street and South Nineteenth Street (map attached). The park site is located on Woodborough Place and is bordered by Olinder Elementary School to the north, Highway 280 to the south and Coyote Creek to the west. It is the northern-most reach of the Coyote Creek Park Chain.
The surrounding neighborhood is primarily residential with other land uses adjacent or in close proximity to the site. Several public facilities are located nearby, including: William Street Park, Martin Park, Olinder Neighborhood Center and Playground, Olinder Elementary School, McKinley Elementary School and Forestdale Tot Lot. Union Pacific has several rail lines located to the east beyond Woodborough Drive.
The park was named Selma Olinder Park through the formal park naming process adopted by the City Council on October 19, 2000.
.ANALYSIS
Four public meetings were held to present various ideas and designs for the master plan and to gather input from the community. The first was held on June 8, 1999, where three different schematic design plans were presented. The attendees voted for an overall design preference. In addition to the overall design, each person in attendance was given the opportunity to select three high-priority items from a list of typical neighborhood park amenities. The results of this exercise helped determine the priority and need for each amenity.
The information gathered at the first public meeting resulted in a preliminary master plan design that was presented to the public at two public meetings held in July and August of 1999. The preliminary design was re-evaluated after the August meeting due to further input from the community, San José Unified School District (SJUSD), and Council District 3 office. Staff was directed to explore the possibility of incorporating the adjacent school property into the plan so that the park use could be maximized. In particular, the idea of utilizing the existing school parking lot in lieu of constructing a new parking lot for the park was proposed.
Staff held discussions with SJUSD to incorporate the Olinder Elementary School parking lot and turf fields, located to the north of the park, into the park master plan. The SJUSD agreed to the proposal to incorporate a portion of the school property and parking lot in the master plan design. Implementation of that portion of the plan is contingent upon execution of a joint-use agreement between the school district and the City. Staff can begin negotiations of a joint-use agreement upon City Council approval of the Master Plan. The preliminary master plan design was revised to include the parking lot and open space areas of the Olinder Elementary School to the north of the park site in accordance with City staff’s discussions with SJUSD.
The following is a list of features included on the preliminary master plan presented at a public meeting held on July 18, 2000:
§ 12-foot wide paved multi-use trail
§ footpath along the edge of the riparian corridor
§ picnic area
§ open turf fields
§ renovation of the two existing softball fields
§ two tennis courts
§ restroom building
§ security lighting and other park furniture
§ existing school parking lot with 30 plus spaces
§ relocation of school’s existing play area
In general, the public responded favorably to the Preliminary Master Plan presented at the public meeting.
Throughout the public input process, several concerns and interests were raised about specific issues. The following is a discussion of these issues.
Some community members voiced great interest in a link to Martin Park from the southeasterly portion of Selma Olinder Park. The link will require crossing existing railroad tracks and a potential link is shown on the plan. However, Union Pacific has opposed new at-grade crossings of railroad tracks and it is possible that a costly bridge to make the connection would be required. In addition, the City does not currently own or have a right to use the property on which the railroad tracks lie. This potential link could be explored in the future.
Another potential link discussed was a pedestrian bridge crossing over the Coyote Creek to William Street Park, approximately mid-way along the length of the park. Due to the possible environmental impacts that this bridge would have on the creek environment, it would need to be researched in greater detail than was allowed during the master plan process and a separate environmental clearance would need to be obtained.
Another environmental concern is the potential for the site to provide nesting opportunities for burrowing owls. A burrowing owl survey was performed at the site during the height of the owls’ nesting season (April 15 through July 15) in accordance with the Burrowing Owl Survey Protocol and Mitigation Guidelines dated April 1993 prepared by the California Burrowing Owl Consortium. The survey found no burrowing owls nesting within the park site.
In response to citizen comments and concerns on the potential for flooding of neighborhood homes from Coyote Creek, but unrelated to the park project, the Parks and Recreation Commission asked that staff further explore flood protection options that could be incorporated into the park project. City staff discussed the flood protection issue extensively with the Santa Clara Valley Water District (SCVWD) throughout this process. The SCVWD has indicated that there are no viable flood protection measures that could be incorporated into the park at this juncture without completing major flood protection studies.
The SCVWD included a planning study for Coyote Creek from Montague Expressway to Interstate 280 in their bond measure that passed in November 2000. They have indicated that such a comprehensive planning study is the proper way to address all of the flood control issues raised by the public. The SCVWD’s main concern is that the City's park plan does not preclude them from implementing flood control measures along the Coyote Creek in this area in the future. For this reason, as well as the Riparian Corridor Policy, no buildings or other significant structures have been placed near the creek that would make it more difficult for the SCVWD to implement a flood control project in the future.
The SCVWD also indicated that the community's request for a detention facility/pond at the site is not a viable option. Although it may be feasible to provide a pond for aesthetic purposes, a pond that would provide any flood benefits, cold water fisheries or environmental benefits, as suggested by some of the neighbors, is not possible. The SCVWD's view is that the proposal for a flood retention facility would be more detrimental to cold water fisheries than beneficial, and they would likely oppose such a feature if it were included in the park plan. In order for a pond to serve as a detention facility, it would have to remain empty during the rainy season. The SCVWD has estimated that a nine-acre basin dug 24-feet deep would only reduce the peak flow in this area of the Coyote Creek from 12,600 cubic-feet-per-second (cfs) to 12,000 cfs. Additional work would be needed to construct a detention facility/pond including building a weir (a type of dam) to divert flood waters, removal of riparian habitat along the length of the weir, and possibly armoring of the creek bank to stabilize the bank at the weir. This would trigger the need for costly additional environmental review, mitigation requirements, and other engineering studies outside the scope of the current park master plan project.
Another issue of concern voiced at the public meetings was the need for adequate parking for park users. A study of the parking was made which showed that the combination of spaces available from street parking and the school parking lot would provide an adequate number of spaces convenient to the park, without building a new on-site parking lot.
Due to the park's close proximity to the railroad lines and the Story Road landfill site, there existed the possibility of soil contamination from these sites. In response to a concern raised during review of the Application for Environmental Review that the soils within the park site could be contaminated, a limited soils study was performed by the Department of Environmental Services. The soils study revealed that no contamination was present at the site.
In accordance with the City's Riparian Corridor Policy, the plan shows minimal development within the 100-foot riparian setback. This setback is measured from the edge of the existing riparian vegetation. Planting within the riparian setback will include native seeded erosion control and wildflower mix and appropriate native tree species.
The Selma Olinder Park Master Plan includes the following major features:
§ The 12-foot wide paved trail will provide a link in the Coyote Creek Park Chain, connecting with Olinder Community Center and the existing William Street Park and ultimately providing a connection with Kelley Park to the south. A footpath parallel to the 12-wide trail will follow the edge of the riparian corridor along the west of the park. Within the 100-foot riparian setback, the planting will consist of native trees, grasses and wildflowers.
§ The open turf field will provide a level playing surface for informal soccer games.
§ The two existing softball fields, one on the park site and one on school property, will be renovated. The orientation of the ballfield located on the park site will be changed to provide less sun interference for the users.
§ Two new tennis courts with fencing will provide an additional recreation opportunity different from the group oriented sports fields.
§ A small restroom building is conveniently located near Woodborough Drive between the softball field and tennis courts.
§ In addition to the active sports, the park will provide seating areas throughout the park, a picnic area under the existing grove of redwood trees near the tennis courts, creek overlooks, and security lighting.
§ The existing school parking lot will provide off-street parking.
§ The school play area will be relocated closer to the school buildings which will allow better visibility of the play area by school personnel.
The estimated cost to
build out the Selma Olinder Park Master Plan in year 2001 dollars is
$4,725,000. The purpose of the Master
Plan is to provide direction and identify specific elements for the future
development of the park. There is
limited funding for implementation of the Master Plan in the near future,
however, this project is a candidate for competitive grant funds. The Master Plan is required in order to
apply for most State and Federal grants.
Additional funding for the build out of the Master Plan would need to be
appropriated in future years from the Parks Capital Improvement Program or the
Park Trust Fund. Typically, such joint
use agreements have been at no cost to the City, however, funding for some or
all of the improvements on school land could be discussed with the San José
Unified School District in the future.
At this point, the School District has not allocated any funds for the
park improvements on school lands.
Public outreach included presentation and discussion of the schematic designs and preliminary Master Plan at public meetings held in June, July and August of 1999, and in July 2000. All meetings were publicly noticed. The first and last meetings included a vote on design options by the attendees.
The proposed Selma Olinder Park Master Plan has been coordinated with the Parks and Recreation Commission; the Departments of Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services, Planning, Building and Code Enforcement, Police, General Services and Environmental Services; the City Attorney’s Office; San José Unified School District; Santa Clara Valley Water District; staff from Council District 3; and various neighborhood groups.
1. COST OF RECOMMENDATION: None
2. COST OF PROJECT:
Consultant Fees $ 80,873 *
Design Management 42,000 **
TOTAL $122,873
*Consultant fees in the amount of $44,358 were encumbered in FY 1998-99. An amended and restated consultant service order was issued in FY 1999-00 which encumbered an additional $36,515 in consultant fees for a total of $80,873.
**Staff costs in the amount of $42,000 were expended in FY 1998-99, FY 1999-00 and FY 2000-01.
BUDGET
REFERENCE
|
Fund: |
375 |
|
Appn: |
4183 |
|
RC: |
117493 |
|
Amount: |
$253,000 |
|
Budget Document: |
2001-02 Appn. Ord. Section 10.04, Item 122(13) |
Negative Declaration.
MARK LINDER
Director, Parks, Recreation
and Neighborhood Services Department
RAJEEV BATRA
Acting Director
Public Works Department