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The Sunnyvale City Council recently changed how the city deals with and looks at open space, and that decision could have a huge impact on the most heavily debated lot in the city: the fields at Peterson Middle School.
The individual parts of the General Plan that govern open space and recreation--known as "sub-elements"--had not been updated since 1993.
On Jan. 24, the Sunnyvale City Council finally updated the Open Space and Recreation sub-elements.
While the council did not take any formal action on the property itself, it chose to add a sub-element stating that the city will support or encourage the acquisition of existing open space within the city where financially feasible.
More than 15 Sunnyvale residents--many who live near and frequent the Peterson fields--spoke, urging the council to find money to preserve the land for future use.
"Whatever the cost, Sunnyvale must retain this open space," said resident Tap Merrick.
Discussion of the field has been a hot Sunnyvale topic for almost two years. Peterson Middle School sits on 48 acres of land, almost 20 acres more than a middle school needs and eight more than any future high schools would need, according to state guidelines.
The field alone is 25 acres, and the school only needs 9 or 10. Those acres are worth almost $3 million apiece today.
But with upkeep on the entire fields costing the school district more than $200,000 a year, Santa Clara Unified School District business administrator Roger Barnes said the district is looking either to find another organization to pay for the fields or declare the land as surplus.
Barnes said the Peterson Field advisory committee, set up last year to gather community input and present its findings to the district, has recommended that 8 acres be declared surplus.
Ian Prickett, who served on the advisory committee, said the city should find someway to maintain control of it.
"It's vital to the area that we maintain this open space, because once it's gone, it won't come back," Pricket said.
If declared surplus, the land must first be offered to the Sunnyvale Department of Parks and Recreation, Santa Clara County Sports Authority and Santa Clara County. After that, it goes through four other stages, via local, state and nonprofit agencies. The final step involves competitive bidding by private groups.
With the additional sub-element on land acquisition, the city could still step in and either buy the land or enter into an agreement where it would pay for upgrades, improvement and scheduling.
The entire process could take at least 21/2 years.
Barnes said he will present the council's decision and the advisory committee's findings to the district in an as-yet-unscheduled meeting in the next two or three months. He said the best-case scenario in his eyes is finding a way to preserve the open space for the residents of Sunnyvale while relieving the district's financial burden.
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