Town criticized for closing a local park in favor of a Montalvo concert

By Gloria I. Wang

Despite being criticized for closing Oak Meadow Park to the public for a special event, Los Gatos Town Council members say that they haven't ruled out the possibility of doing it again in the future.

"There are occasions, I think, when it is in the town's best interests to have an event at the park," said Councilman Steve Glickman.

The occasion that drew the ire of some members of the public was a Sept. 29 concert by the Robert Cray Band, a performance promoted by Montalvo. The Los Gatos Weekly-Times, as well as the town, received complaints that since Oak Meadow Park is a public park, it should not be closed for "private parties."

Glickman points to other cities that make parks available for events on a regular basis. Since Oak Meadow is the only large, town-owned park in Los Gatos, there weren't many venue options for an outdoor activity. Glickman added, however, that he did not foresee the town doing so regularly. "It's something that I would do very, very rarely," he said.

The town council approved the request to close the park at its March 19 meeting.

"This was a unique opportunity, and it came to us relatively late in the season," Mayor Joe Pirzynski said. Reasons cited for approving the event were that the concert was a cultural event and open to Los Gatans.

"We need to see our parks as multi-use environments," Pirzynski said, explaining that certain sections of Oak Meadow are always closed for Halloween's Haunted Forest, and that this month's Los Gatos Film Festival was held there.

"If we find that it included anyone but Los Gatos residents, that would be an oddity," Pirzynski said.

According to Assistant Town Manager Jim Piper, the park was closed in the morning to allow for concert setup. The concert itself ran from 1 to 7 p.m., with gates scheduled to re-open afterward. But concert organizers decided to allow the public in at 5 p.m. so that they could watch a portion of the concert for free.

Tickets for the event cost between $40 and $50. Montalvo paid the town a rental fee of $840 for the park, which included the revenue that the town lost from charging for parking; 3 percent of the gross revenues ($1,530); and the cost of dedicating two policemen and two town staff workers to the event. Piper commended the concert organizers for doing an "excellent job" on cleanup.

The Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad was also closed for the event. Montalvo entered an agreement with the railroad independent of the town, Piper said.

Parks and Forestry Superintendent Tim Boyer, of the town's parks and public works department, says the public was notified prior to the event: The town installed signs at least a month before the event on all the gates surrounding Oak Meadow Park; park supervisors did not take reservations for any of the spaces within the park; and advertisements were placed in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times.

Boyer says one of the complaints he heard was from a Gilroy resident, who could not have known about the concert. "I don't know how we would inform people 30 miles away," Boyer said.

At a March 5 discussion on the request, Parks Commissioner April Maiten volunteered her opposition to the application. On a personal level, Maiten later said she did not think a public park should be used for private events. The parks commission as a whole was not told of the application until it was already approved. "As a body, we were disconcerted that we weren't notified," Maiten said.

Councilman Steve Blanton said that he had not heard any negative comments relating to the concert, but the town has a "good track record of listening to the community" and will take action if it receives too much negative input. "If it's something that the community thinks is not an asset, then we certainly need to reassess things," Blanton said.

Town criticized for closing local park in favor of Montalvo concert

Carmel suffers from the curse of the commons

Local Home Sales and Property Listings

Local youths perform with California Youth Symphony

Picture From the Past

Sports Briefs

2001 San Jose Sports Hall of Fame inductees honored

Los Gatos High School football