Willow Glen Resident

News

Falling trees in Wilcox Park have residents worried about park safety

By Emilie Crofton

Residents whose homes surround Wilcox Park in Willow Glen have witnessed firsthand the effects of a limited budget in tree-care services for San Jose's parks.

Within three weeks, two large Italian pine trees fell at the park, which is located at Winona Drive and Wilcox Way.

"It was fortunate that the trees fell during the night and early morning and that no one was injured," said Frank Belluomini, who lives across from the park. "Had the trees fallen during the day, it could have been an entirely different, and sad, story."

The first tree fell in the middle of the night on Aug. 17. The second tree, which stood near the first, fell on Sept. 3. Several of the park's trees are top-heavy and lean to one side. Residents say proper maintenance and pruning could help solve the problem, but that with such a small city budget for tree-care services, not much can be done.

"I know the park maintenance people who take care of the park want to do their job and do it properly," said Belluomini, who along with his wife, Anita, helps to keep the park clean. "The difficulty is in getting the money to do it."

The park is frequented by dog walkers and families with young children, and soccer teams use it as a practice field.

Nearby residents, including 6-year-old Sarah Williams, were sad to see the two trees go down.

"I'm unhappy. I loved climbing the tree; it was one of my favorites," said Sarah. "It was a good tree."

Sarah's parents, Katie and Dan Williams, were dismayed the trees fell and hoped someone from the city would come out to inspect and maintain the trees.

"It's ironic to me," Dan Williams said. "It's like the city is trying to save

money by not maintaining the trees. But then they have to spend more money to cut them down when they fall."

Katie Williams would like something to be done in order to prevent more trees from falling.

"It would be nice to have someone come prune the trees and make sure they are not top-heavy," she said. "In the future we don't want to see the park transform into an empty meadow."

The neighbors said they take a lot of pride in the park. In 1994, the residents created a neighborhood organization called Friends of Wilcox Park in an effort to restore the park. During the mid-1990s, the organization planted 42 trees.

Belluomini said he has been communicating with staff from San Jose's Parks, Recreation & Neighborhood Services and is hopeful the trees will be pruned so future problems and the potential danger from a tree falling can be prevented. However, he stressed the importance of increasing the budget for park services.

"City council needs to provide proper funding to maintain our parks," Belluomini said. "It's clear that more money needs to be put into them."