Town, neighbors reach accord on new Woodside playing field Town, neighbors reach accord on new Woodside playing field (June 09, 2004)

By Andrea Gemmet
Almanac Staff Writer

The crack of the bat, the cheering of spectators and the thump of soccer balls all got a lot closer to filling the air at a new playing field in the town of Woodside, thanks in part to an 11th-hour agreement with a group of the future park's neighbors.

At its June 2 meeting, the Woodside Planning Commission unanimously approved a plan to build Barkley Fields and Park on donated land across from Canada College -- after Town Manager Susan George announced that she and representatives of the Woodhill Estates homeowners association had reached a compromise earlier that evening, following months of negotiations.

The compromise added 19 conditions -- most dealing with limits on the park's operation -- to protect the neighborhood, located off Farm Hill Boulevard, from noise, traffic and overflow parking. Alcohol, fires and amplified sound are to be prohibited, and the town will hire a private security firm to patrol the park.

Ms. George said many of the neighbors' concerns are shared by the town.

"These are conditions I feel the town can and should live up to," she said.

Commissioners, following the advice of planning department staff, imposed another seven conditions, fine-tuning landscaping and fencing details, tweaking the lighting plan for the parking lot and adding a bicycle rack and hitching posts to the park.

The Barkley Fields plan includes an overlapping baseball diamond and soccer field, playground equipment, bathrooms and a parking lot. Woodside residents have long been lobbying for a new field in town -- the only one is at Woodside Elementary School -- to help with the huge shortage in field space for the ever-increasing number of children involved in youth sports.

The Barkley Field project is a public-private collaboration, with private funds being raised to help pay for its construction on approximately 6 acres of land donated by Woodside resident Noel Perry. Woodside resident Liz Dressel announced at the meeting that the fundraising committee was close to reaching its $2.5 million goal, thanks to the project's widespread support in town.

The town hired consultant Beals Sport to design the park, obtained grant money from the state parks department, and will take care of its ongoing operations, paying for maintenance and security.

Ms. George was put in the role of project applicant since, town-sponsored or not, the park project was still obliged to go through the normal building and planning process. That included the drafting of an environmental study, called a "mitigated negative declaration," which was adopted by the Planning Commission in a separate 5-0 vote, with Sara Jorgensen and Steve Patrick absent.

The Woodhill Estates homeowners association had been strongly opposed to having a park on the vacant land, which lies between the Redwood City housing development and Interstate 280.

"We felt (the park) would benefit Woodside to our detriment," said association president Jim Ochsner. "I'm pleased to say that, based on the conditions, we've reached agreement and support it being approved as submitted."

The compromise was agreed to by a majority of members of the homeowners association, but doesn't necessarily mean all the neighbors are on board, he said.

One adjacent property owner not represented by the homeowners association requested the town plant "a redwood forest" between his property and the park. As part of the conditional use permit approved for the park, planning commissioners agreed to a more generally worded condition to beef up landscaping and tree planting around the park. The permit comes up for review in two years, to ensure the town lives up to its agreements and deals with any unanticipated problems.

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