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Bayfront Park’s future
still up in the air
 
by Lennie Roberts

— photo Peter LaTourrette

The withdrawal, in March, by the developer, Highlands Golf, LLC, of its proposal to build an 18-hole Executive Golf Course plus three sports fields, the latter on top of a tidal pond, was greeted with relief by Bayfront Park supporters. This ill-advised proposal was unlikely to be approved by the various state and federal regulatory agencies, and the City of Menlo Park was nonetheless asking Highlands to take all the financial risks. After realizing there was tremendous community opposition (over 2,000 signatures on a petition opposing the golf course), Highlands did the prudent thing, and withdrew.

Advisory Measure threatens Bayfront Park
Undaunted by this setback, three members of the City Council, Mickie Winkler, Lee Duboc, and Mayor Nicholas Jellins, have placed an advisory measure, Measure J, on the November ballot, asking voters whether they want playing fields at Bayfront Park. There are a number of problems with Measure J:

• Without specific development plans and the required Environmental Impact Report, asking voters whether they like the concept of playing fields will hardly result in a mandate to proceed.
   
• The devil is in the details. Bayfront Park is surrounded on three sides by the Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge, and there are numerous federal and state laws that will need to be complied with. It is not at all a given that these agencies will approve intensive recreational uses on top of the landfill at Bayfront.
   
• The landfill was not designed with ball fields in mind. It is very hilly, and would require extensive grading to create a flat area and keep it level, as landfills shift and settle over time. Opening up the landfill cap, exposing the garbage, leveling the site, and controlling the leachate (the liquid waste in landfills) would be extraordinarily costly.
   
• The ubiquitous ground squirrels and Canada geese will be a special challenge due to the adjacent wildlife refuge. Canada geese and their two pounds of poop per day (per goose) have become onerous problems for other parks and sports facilities; it would be difficult to control or eliminate Canada Geese and ground squirrels at Bayfront.

A better solution
At the same time the Council Majority has been doggedly pursuing voter sentiment on ball fields at Bayfront, a task force of parks and recreation commissioners has recommended several common-sense, less costly, and more immediate measures to expand and renovate existing fields in the City. Council members Kelly Fergusson and Andy Cohen support moving forward with these improvements. It will be interesting to see how voters feel about an expensive long-shot in November.

Published October 2006 in Green Footnotes.

Page last updated October 29, 2006.