Menlo Park sports participants and open space advocates have weighed in on building playing fields at Bayfront Park, but the future of the park may be decided by all Menlo Park voters in November.
The City Council voted to look into putting a measure on the November ballot asking voters if they want playing fields at Bayfront, even though there are major questions surrounding the physical and financial feasibility of such development at the 160-acre park off Marsh Road.
The question has been a hot-button issue since late last summer, when the public became aware that the city was on the verge of negotiating with a developer proposing to build a golf course and three playing fields at the park, which is the city’s largest expanse of open space. Several years before, a different council voted not to develop the park for active recreational uses.
Although the council in November authorized the negotiations, the golf course developer withdrew his proposal in March, citing opposition to the proposal and the cost of the required environmental review.
Council divided
The ballot measure idea was floated by Councilwoman Mickie Winkler at the council’s April 25 meeting, and supported by Mayor Nicholas Jellins and Councilwoman Lee Duboc.Council members Andy Cohen and Kelly Fergusson said they oppose a ballot measure because solving the city’s playing field shortage requires looking beyond the park. Mr. Cohen voted against the measure, and Ms. Fergusson abstained.
But the council majority said the city has exhausted other options, and Bayfront Park — built atop a closed landfill — is the best spot for more fields.
“Let’s end the discussion if the community tells us not to go there,” Ms. Winkler said.
At Ms. Winkler’s request, city staff will return to the council in July with information regarding if and where fields can be built on the park’s grounds, the project’s costs, and where funding would come from. The council will then decide whether to put the question on the ballot.
Obstacles
The city would likely have to fill areas of the park or cut into the landfill cap in order to make a flat surface for the fields, said Public Works Director Kent Steffens.The park is also adjacent to a wildlife refuge and the Bay, and any changes would require review by local and state commissions and permitting agencies.
Previous projections by Mr. Steffens put the cost of building one playing field on a typical site at about $1 million.
Ballot measures for the November election must be submitted to the county office of elections in early August.
City Attorney Bill McClure said that, if approved by the council, an advisory ballot measure that gives “political direction to spend money to put fields at Bayfront Park” would appear on the November ballot. Any development would still be subject to review and feasibility studies, he said.
Other options?
Ms. Fergusson and Mr. Cohen criticized their council colleagues and City Manager David Boesch for keeping analysis of the city’s field shortage tied to Bayfront Park.Mr. Cohen said pushing a ballot measure on Bayfront Park fields would be “jumping to the last page,” and if fields can’t be put at the park, the council will have wasted time.
Ms. Fergusson stressed the importance of “keeping all options open,” including studying the findings and recommendations of a report released last week by a council-endorsed task force that suggests ways the city can optimize its existing fields and identifies several locations for more fields.
But although a task force member tried to summarize the report’s conclusions during the April 25 council meeting, he was put off, and details of the report were not revealed during the council deliberations.
Ms. Fergusson also pointed to an April 8 letter submitted to the council by the League of Women Voters of South San Mateo County that criticizes how the city dealt with the recent proposal to build a golf course and playing fields at Bayfront.
The letter said the city should have been more explicit in asking residents about the future of the park.
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