A lovely view that few people see

A lovely view that few people see

By Patty Fisher, Mercury News
Wed, Jul. 27, 2005

East Palo Alto is a waterfront city without a waterfront.

Once it was home to the first port between San Francisco and San Jose. But over the years, neighboring Palo Alto and Menlo Park snatched up its baylands for a golf course, airport and nature preserves. Today only a sliver of bayfront remains within East Palo Alto's city limits, an abandoned boatyard called Cooley Landing with a colorful history and a spectacular view.

For decades the landing has been hidden away behind locked gates at the industrial end of Bay Road, beyond a chemical plant and auto wrecking yards in one of the city's least inviting districts. Its scenic solitude is enjoyed only by a caretaker and a flock of ``sentinel chickens'' that the county tests regularly for signs of West Nile virus. Most folks don't even know it's there.

But that's about to change.

No giant hot dog stand

This summer plans are taking shape to turn this six-acre, 157-foot-wide strip of land into a city park. East Palo Alto residents have been sharing their visions, which range from returning it to its pristine state to turning it into a bayfront Disneyland.

Jane Leech, who has lived in East Palo Alto more than 30 years and used to bike out to Cooley Landing, said she would love to see people enjoy the views. But she's worried that plans to develop a park will destroy it. ``I'd rather see it stay the way it is than become a giant hot dog stand with miles of parking,'' she said.

The giant hot dog stand won't be among the options the city council will consider this fall. A picnic area, nature trails, maybe a fishing pier and a local history museum/nature center are on the list. Parking and concessions are subjects of debate. The overriding goal is for Cooley Landing to belong to the city and be open to all.

East Palo Alto's story began at the landing in 1849, when San Francisco banker Isaiah Woods founded a town he called Ravenswood and built what became a busy port. Two decades later, he sold the port to Lester Cooley.

San Mateo County used Cooley Landing as a dump from 1932 until Carl Schoof bought it in 1960 and opened a boat repair business.

I first saw it back in 1994, when it was an oasis in a city troubled by violence and growing pains. City leaders talked about buying it and building a restaurant and a marina.

Those plans went nowhere. The days of dredging the bay for boat traffic were over by then. Environmentalists had won that war, closing the nearby Palo Alto Yacht Harbor in the 1980s and allowing the tides to erase any trace of it.

A gift for the city

In 1999, the Peninsula Open Space Trust bought Cooley Landing, then turned around and sold it for $1.3 million to the Packard Foundation, which wants to give it to East Palo Alto. Because of the complex web of environmental and interjurisdictional interests, it could take three or four years to open the park.

For now, only the wind, the clucking of the sentinel chickens and the occasional plane taking off from Palo Alto Airport disturb the silence. The caretaker's trailer is the only sign of recent habitation. An old dredge remains, looking like a sadly dilapidated, landlocked houseboat. The windows of the derelict boat works are either broken or boarded up.

But that marvelous view is still there -- an unbroken vista from the East Bay hills to the Santa Cruz Mountains, sparkling bay waters, the occasional great blue heron.

Look beyond the abandoned buildings and you can imagine kids and seniors, residents and visitors, soaking up the sunshine and tranquillity. After such a long wait, the people of this city finally will be able to enjoy the million-dollar view that has always been theirs -- but just beyond their reach.

Patty Fisher writes about the Peninsula on Wednesday and Saturday. Contact her at pfisher@mercurynews.com or call (650) 688-7510.