Residents along Alpine Road in San Mateo County sent a resoundingly negative message last week to county supervisors regarding a proposal from Stanford University to pay for a well-defined trail along the road as it passes through Ladera and Stanford Weekend Acres.
The trail proposal is part of an agreement between Stanford and Santa Clara County to allow the university to meet its general use permit obligations while mitigating the recreational impact of its expansion plans.
Rather than build trails on its own land on the south side of San Francisquito Creek, Stanford is willing to pay up to $11.2 million — $8.4 million to San Mateo County and $2.8 to Portola Valley — to “improve” about 3 miles of existing but inconsistent paths and trails across the county line. Plans for the two trails are independent and subject to approval by Santa Clara County and the local jurisdiction.
Opponents of a new trail have gathered 1,500 signatures, said Rob Decker, president of the Ladera Community Association. Mr. Decker spoke at a community meeting at Woodland School in Ladera on Tuesday, May 23, and moderated by county supervisors Rich Gordon and Jerry Hill.
Ladera residents’ concerns, said Mr. Decker, include an increase in trail and vehicle traffic on an already busy road and the non-recreational character of a new trail on complex terrain that includes a creek bank.
If the supervisors were to go ahead with trail improvements, Santa Clara County’s “political quagmire (with Stanford over this issue) will become yours,” added Mr. Becker. “This group is not going to go away.”
A quick decision is unnecessary, said Stanford spokesman Larry Horton. The two offers from Stanford are good until the year 2011 with one two-year extension possible. The offers will also be indexed for inflation in construction prices.
If either community refuses Stanford’s offer, their share of the money goes to Santa Clara County for recreational purposes. If either community uses some but not all of the money, Stanford gets to keep the remainder, said Mr. Gordon.
“Part of my analysis has been to look at how to maximize the funding contribution that Stanford has said they are willing to pay and the maximum amount that Santa Clara County has required them to pay for the public good,” Mr. Gordon told the Almanac.
The two supervisors will take comments and recommendations back to the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors for possible action this summer, he said.
A steamy session
About 100 people, mostly from Ladera and Stanford Weekend Acres, gathered at Woodland School to let off steam about a new trail.Several speakers advised the supervisors to reject the proposal on the grounds that the transfer of $8.4 million from Stanford to the parks department in Santa Clara County could work to the region’s overall recreational benefit.
Others had harsh words for Stanford.
“I’m shocked and outraged and horrified at what my university is doing by weaseling out of its obligations and promises and I urge you not to help them here,” said Ladera resident, Stanford alumnus and former Stanford employee Eva Blum.
“The idea that (Stanford) can foist their mitigation on me is outrageous,” said Weekend Acres resident Rick Voreck. “It doesn’t belong on my land. It belongs on Stanford land.”
“We need to throw this smelly red herring back over the creek,” said Mr. Decker. “It smells of entitlement, it smells of failed promises, it smells of a lack of consideration for the community.”
Scattered support
Not everyone opposed a new trail. “I think that Stanford has been a fairly good neighbor over the years,” said resident Lauren Schoenthaler, a staff attorney for Stanford’s General Counsel. She said she would like to bike to work on a trail with a dotted yellow line down the middle.Larry Gibbs, an associate vice provost at Stanford and a Ladera resident, said he supports trail improvements in part out of concern for the stability of the creek bank.
Although the meeting’s purpose did not concern Portola Valley, residents Lynne Davis and Susan Gold of the town’s Trails and Paths Committee spoke positively about Stanford’s offer of $2.4 million.
“We’re excited about the possibilities that may occur in Portola Valley,” said Ms. Davis.
Portola Valley resident Bill Lane defended Stanford’s reputation and appealed to residents all along Alpine Road to work together.
