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Portola Valley residents showed out during a recent Town Council meeting to push for the preservation of Dorothy Ford Park and Ford Field, a town-owned site that has been identified as a potential affordable housing parcel in the 2023-2031 housing element.
After public comment, council members voted 3-1 to approve changes to the site’s zoning ordinance which now states that the housing element “shall exclude the existing Little League baseball field and the adjacent surface parking lot serving the baseball field.” Council member Mary Hufty voted against the ordinance.
Plans for housing on Dorothy Ford Park include high density housing that would include 20% or more of the units as affordable housing for lower income families.
Council member Rebecca Flynn clarified to residents that the demolition of the baseball field and parking lot for housing was never in consideration, but rather an idea that grew amid misinformation.
As the town is rushing toward a compliant housing element, some council members are eager to push forward with necessary zoning ordinances that will show the state Housing and Community Development it’s making progress to meet the Regional Housing Needs Allocation of 253 units.
While the town is actively searching for alternative housing sites through a town committee, HCD is asking the town to zone Dorothy Ford Park in order to have a compliant housing element. Without compliance, the town is subject to builder’s remedy although Vice Mayor Craig Taylor reported that no applications have been submitted so far.
In March, the Town Council was presented with four alternative sites for housing: Village Square, Thomas Fogarty Winery Open Space, Christ Church and Hawthorns Area. If alternative sites are reviewed by HCD, Dorothy Ford Park will be removed from the list of housing sites, said Taylor.
Saving the baseball field
Community members were riled as they shared their concerns about losing the baseball field, a home to decades of Little League games for local youth and which many consider as a “town gem.” Current Little Leaguers, alumni and parents stood at the podium to speak to the Town Council.
“A really special thing about Ford Field is the memories you make from the start to end of your league experience,” said Little League player Charlie Katz. “I ask that you please save the whole field as well as the parking lot so that we can continue to have this great experience at this special field.”
Katz is a fourth-generation Portola Valley resident and great-grandchild to Bob Katz, one of the town’s original founders. His father and grandfather had played on Ford Field too, he said.
Ford Field has been a park that many young baseball players have dreamed of playing on. Nine-year-old EJ Sweeney said he had seen his older brothers play on the field and was excited to have the opportunity to play on it himself. The baseball field has not only been a community gathering place for generations of families, but it also carries history.
Dorothy Ford Park was purchased by late Portola Valley resident Tom Ford in 1970 with the intent that the park be gifted to the town and used as an open space, said Susan Ford, wife of Tom Ford. The town named the park after Tom’s mother with promises to maintain the baseball field and open space.
“I hope you will honor the commitment your predecessors on the Town Council made back in the ’70s to not rezone these properties and to continue to pursue other properties,” she added.
Council member deliberations
Council member Helen Wolter said she supports protecting the baseball field but does not support the same protections for the associated parking lot. Although she believes that youth sports organizations are critical to the wellbeing of kids, she also thinks it’s important to address the town-wide parking issues and the growing need for housing for town staff.
“Parking is an issue across town right now and I’m hesitant to block the parking at the Little League field,” said Wolter. “We need to start figuring out how to incentivize carpooling, biking and walking.”
Despite her lack of support for preserving the parking lot, Wolter ultimately voted in favor of the ordinance making an exception to the parking lot and baseball field out of fear for the town’s noncompliant housing element leading to a lawsuit from the state.
“Putting Dorothy Ford open space on the chopping block at this point for 20% affordable housing is not acceptable to me,” said Council member Mary Hufty who voted against changes to the ordinance language.
Council member Flynn recognized the dissatisfaction that many residents felt but expressed her desire to see this same level of energy for “supporting other sites to build affordable housing not at Ford Park but somewhere else other places in town.”
After many residents mentioned donating money to preserve spaces like Ford Field, Flynn asked residents to “put their money where their mouth is and donate to our affordable housing fund so that we can build affordable housing so families can live in Portola Valley.”
Due to the high cost of living in the area, fewer families are moving into town and local schools are seeing lower enrollment rates, said Flynn. Additionally, seniors who want to downsize their homes cannot do so unless they move out of the community because Portola Valley lacks a variety of housing types.
Vice Mayor Taylor clarified to residents that the town does not plan on building on the ball field, but is just creating a state required ordinance while the town talks to HCD about the alternative options the town has planned. This action will prevent the town from being sued for a noncomplaint housing element.
“I think it’s clear that the local government has no interest in developing but we also want to not be subject to builders’ remedy which is something that is going to impact all the residents in the town,” he said.
Following the council meeting, Town Manager Mark Linder and Interim Planning and Building Director Terrence Grindall met with state officials in Sacramento to explain their reasons for not wanting to zone Dorothy Ford Park while they seek alternatives sites.
