The Sun
Sunnyvale's Newspaper

Neighbors lobby against building in local park

City staff proposes moving the senior center, Community Services

By Eric Drudis

A quickly organized community mobilization may have helped stop the city from considering the relocation of Sunnyvale Community Services to Washington Park.

Neighbors coordinated an effort against the possible move after the City Council had asked staff to research new locations for the senior center that now houses SCS. The city needs to find a new location because the landlord, Sunnyvale Elementary School District, is increasing rent on the property.

In one option, the city proposed constructing a new SCS building in Washington Park. But in a report, city staff recommended abandoning the idea after meeting with neighbors July 1. The report will be presented to the Parks and Recreation Commission in a July 8 meeting.

"We would have made it very expensive for the City Council if the city built in Washington Park," said Stephen Haber, a resident of the Washington Park area. "I'm delighted that rationality won out. I would have been shocked had they decided to do otherwise."

Instead the city staff has proposed moving the Senior Center, without SCS, from 820 McKinley Dr. to an expansion in the Community Center on Remington Drive. The city has no concrete plans for SCS.

Preliminary estimates put the cost of the Community Center's proposed 20,000-square-foot addition at $23 million. Staff also suggested a pared down, 14,000-square-foot, $13.5 million facility.

"Staff has an obligation to recommend the smaller alternative as well," David Vossbrink, Sunnyvale's community relations officer, said. "It may be a more prudent course because it will be less expensive and will cover basic services."

City staff will look into other options for SCS, including leasing a new building at an unspecified location, according to Robert Walker, director of the city's parks and recreation department.

According to Walker, building new housing in Washington Park for SCS would be the least expensive option for the city. However, the city had to weigh in other factors, like the neighborhood's vehement opposition to the move.

"Public input is always helpful," Walker said. "The information we got last night helped [form the proposal...[but] from an open-space perspective, we never really looked favorably at the move to Washington Park."

At a Parks and Recreation commission meeting today (July 8), that commission will decide whether to recommend that the City Council relocate the Senior Center to the Community Center. The council will make its decision July 28.

Sunnyvale Community Services Executive Director Nancy Tivol said she was not disappointed by the city staff's proposal.

"The residents had some good points," she said. "I have no problem with what has been decided, and there are other options available. The city has committed to providing us with some type of housing, and I think it will all work out."

For the Washington Park Neighborhood Association, the recommendation issued by Sunnyvale city staff July 2 was a relief.

Washington Park is among the smallest in Sunnyvale, and residents said there are no other parks in the area within walking distance. They also said there is little open space in the park, which sports tennis courts, a baseball diamond and a playground.

"I would rather die before they cover just one more blade of grass on Washington Park with cement," said Jene Alver, who lives across the street from the proposed building site. She said there is already too little open space in Sunnyvale, especially in Washington Park. When she heard of the city staff's proposal, she said she was relieved and surprised because she thought the city had already made a final decision.

"This city is notorious because of its lack of open space," said Judy Miller, a Sunnyvale resident for 51 years. "Don't cover something with another piece of asphalt, another piece of cement, another building."

Joan Haber, who lives across the street from the park, said she was relieved after hearing of the report's contents.

"I am thrilled by the decision [to propose not building in the park] because I love looking outside and watching kids play volleyball or walk their dog," she said. "I thought it might be a long fight, but I'm very happy about the proposal."

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, July 8, 1998.
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