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Deborah Jamison was shocked when she saw the small trail from Scenic Circle to the McClellan Ranch Park widened and the wild flowers obliterated. She was even more shocked when she saw a house under construction on a slope next to the Simms property. Piles of debris, a blue porta potty and a huge open-bed trailer with construction materials were strewn along the trail, which is only a few feet away from the Stevens Creek.
"This is a designated natural and rural preserve area," said Jamison, who likes to bike to the McClellan Ranch Park for bird watch. "The misuse of the area is a threat to the health of the creek and it's a city code violation."
Jamison is right that Tom McNair, property owner next to the Simms house, was not supposed to use the trail for staging. According to McNair's agreement with the city, he can use the area for access only. But Jamison is wrong in believing that the Simms property is part of the McClellan natural preserve.
"Contrary to many people's belief, the Simms property, including the panhandle where Mr. McNair stages his construction materials, is not part of the McClellan Ranch natural preserve," said parks and recreation director Therese Smith.
Whether the Simms house belongs to the McClellan Ranch natural preserve matters because if it is, its use is limited to avoid any ecological impact. The city had used it as low-income housing since 1991. Last year, the city turned the house into a rental property.
The city adopted an ordinance in 1976 to establish McClellan Ranch as a natural preserve. Smith said when the city bought the Simms property in 1991, it intended to include the house in the natural preserve but never did so.
Jamison, one of the eight people who spent two years writing the McClellan Ranch Park Master Plan, found the statement hard to believe.
"One of the few things I think the group accomplished in 1993 was to make sure that the Simms property was included in the natural preserve. Now I am told that it was never part of the preserve," Jamison said. "What a waste of time."
However, Jamison's complaints to the city pushed McNair to place three straw barricades along the creek to prevent debris from flowing into the creek during the rainy season. McNair is also required to go back to the city council to amend his current agreement if he wants to stage his construction material on the trail.
Glenn Goepfert, assistant director of the public works, said the city gave McNair the permit to use the trail because it was concerned about the stability of the bank below McClellan Road.
"Mr. McNair had made little progress on his project for almost two years after having stripped and graded the slope below the road," Goepfert said. "We were worried that the slope would be subject to erosion when the rainy season came."
To use the trail, McNair is required to restore it to its original state once he finishes the construction.
McNair said he had no intention to destroy the creek or the trail.
"I like the place's proximity to open space. I want to raise my family here," said McNair, an architect by profession. "Although it was never spelled out, anyone who understood the complexity of the project knew that I need to use the trail for staging."
McNair is scheduled to request the city council to amend his current agreement at the council's April 19 meeting so he can continue using the trail for staging. He just finished the foundation of his house and expects to complete the construction in November.
Jamison said she will be there to protest against the amendment.
"The city needs to investigate how it got into this mess," she said
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Photograph courtesy Deborah Jamison