The Sunnyvale Sun

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Competing concerns could slow down corridor project

By HUGH BIGGAR

If you've been looking forward to new hiking and biking opportunities when the Stevens Creek Corridor Park plan becomes reality, much of that plan remains up in the air. Striking a balance between environmental concerns and historic preservation is proving complicated. One issue is the fate of Cupertino's Stocklmeir orchard. According to master plans, the 60-acre linear park would be on the east side of Stevens Creek and create a corridor from Blackberry Farm to McClellan Ranch. Under the plans, the corridor would include stream realignment and restoration, and a bicycle/ pedestrian trail running the length of the park including through the city-owned orchard.

"The trail would decimate the orchard," says Donna Austin, a member of the Cupertino Historical Society Board, of plans for an 8-foot wide bicycle/pedestrian trail that would be open to the public all year. The trail would be constructed at a distance from the creek and 100 feet from the property lines of neighboring homes. As a result, it would run through the middle of the Stocklmeir orange groves--Cupertino's only remaining orchard.

Therese Smith, director of Cupertino's parks and recreation, says it is all about balance.

"The plans would leave part of the orchard and allow for part of the riparian habitat restoration," she says. "This way there would be natural habitat on both sides of the creek."

According to Smith, it is necessary to realign part of the creek, moving it east, to help moisturize natural vegetation. The creek is also being restored to its natural boundaries to help it self-maintain. What is now the east bank of the creek would become the west bank.

"The native vegetation on the east side of the creek needs wet feet [roots]," she says, pointing out a concrete channel on that side of Stevens Creek has prevented that from happening. The concrete channel is also collapsing, causing the bank to collapse with it.

Smith acknowledges about half of the Stocklmeir orchard's 175 fruit trees would be removed to make way for the creek realignment and trail but says the historic value of the orchard is minimal.

"It was a hobby orchard," Smith says of Stocklmeir's planting of orange groves. "The orange trees are not historic to Cupertino."

Still, Austin and others feel the orchard is a unique resource.

"It's the one little space that has been overlooked," Austin says, referring to the development of most of Cupertino's former orchards. "It's one of the last places in Cupertino that still smells like it did when I was a kid."

Austin, who grew up in Cupertino along Stevens Creek, says the Historical Society would like the orchard preserved as a part of a living history project at the Stocklmeir property. She is particularly concerned about the potential impact of trail users going off-trail.

Concerns about off-roading are also shared by those worried about the trail's effect on sensitive habitat and wildlife.

The Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society, for instance, praises Cupertino and the Santa Clara Valley Water District for plans to improve habitat for steelhead trout and upland habitat in the Stevens Creek Corridor, but also says it has reservations about the project.

"To our disappointment, in 2005 the Cupertino City Council decided to route the trail through the ranch," the environmental group, which has its headquarters at McClellan Ranch, writes on its website. "Our fear is that fast-moving bicyclists and skaters will disturb wildlife and disrupt birding, gardening and other quiet activities. We also worry that irresponsible trail users may start side trails that degrade and destroy habitat and that dog owners may allow their animals to run off-leash."

Rhoda Fry, who lives next to Blackberry Farm, also has concerns about the city's priorities. "The picnic business is simply not compatible with environmental preservation," Fry says of the commercial picnic facility at Blackberry Farm. So far, about 90 percent of those using the facility are from outside Cupertino.

Fry also expressed concern about overflowing trash at the picnic facility. She worries food service accessible to trail users could exacerbate the problem.

"Rather than a neighborhood park, this seems more about the city enhancing business opportunities," Fry says.

Smith says the funds from such operations help maintain the city's parks and recreation services.

The city council will also assess continuing concerns about the impact of the corridor park June 20. Smith says the parks and recreation department has worked hard to address lingering issues, including an extensive community visioning process in 2003.

"There have been 18 months of surveys, archeologists have dug trenches, [biologists] have tramped around at night looking for red-legged frogs and other species ... engineers have been counting car traffic, and hydrologists have determined creek pools and riffles. But sometimes people don't see everything they want."

For more information visit, www.cupertino.org; a link to Stevens Creek Corridor is on the right side of the screen.