Birders teed off at Bayfront Park plan
Menlo Park land for proposed golf course is habitat for 100 species
By Nicole Neroulias, STAFF WRITER
Inside Bay Area
Saturday, February 25, 2006
MENLO PARK — Robin Smith has 144 reasons why Bayfront Park should not be developed into a golf course and athletic fields. They all can be found through her spotting scope: a range of feathered species swimming and flying among the tidal marshes and grassy hills.
"We're really worried that if the habitat out there is given away, the birds will go, too," she said, strolling by a great egret at the park's entrance Friday morning.
Smith, the conservation chair of the Sequoia Audubon Society, began visiting the 160-acre site 40 years ago when it was a landfill, a convenient place for the Atherton resident to dump garden clippings and fly kites with her children. When it was converted into the city's largest park and designated for passive recreation in 1984, she took up birdwatching there.
After City Council voted in November to pursue negotiations with Highlands Golf to build an 18-hole executive golf course and three playing fields at the park, she joined the Friends of Bayfront Park's campaign in favor of preserving the park as open space.
The group has collected hundreds of signatures and publicly censured city officials for moving forward without consulting the Bay Conservation and Development Commission and other regulatory agencies about whether they would permit development on wetlandsthat served as a mitigation for the landfill.
But Menlo Park officials cite Bayfront Park's $187,000 annual maintenance costs in tough economic times, and the city's shortage of playing fields, as reasons to seriously consider the proposal. If the council approves Highlands Golf's application, Public Works Director Kent Steffens said regulatory agencies would be consulted to determine whether the project could be permitted and what kinds of environmental mitigations would be required.
"A condition of the agreement would be that the permits have to be obtained before any final approvals of the project," he said.
In a report Wednesday to the Parks and Recreation Commission, Steffens said he could not go into detail on the ongoing negotiations, although city staff has submitted some concerns to Highlands Golf in response to the initial 55-year lease proposal. Once negotiations are completed, the draft agreement would go to the commission, which would advise the council on how to proceed, Steffens said.
Commission members said they wanted an active role in the decision-making process and asked Commissioner Richard Cline to attend the City Council meeting Tuesday to voice their concerns. Cline also agreed to compile information about the relevant regulatory agencies, although the council only had requested the commission's input on alternative playing field locations, not the plan's environmental feasibility.
Even if the fields are located elsewhere and the tidal pools remain untouched, turning half the park into a golf course would have devastating impacts on the local birds, Smith said. The evening lights would block out the stars the migratory species use to navigate, and birds could get caught in the fences used to separate the course from the public trails and marshes.
"They use this as a stopping place, as if it were a motel," Smith explained, peering at a pair of gulls through her spotting scope.
During her Friday stroll, Park Ranger Chuck Holmquist drove by and chatted with her about the burrowing owls spotted peeking their heads up above the brush.
"It would be quite an impact," he said, shaking his head when asked about the Highlands Golf proposal.
The Sequoia Audubon Society has 1,400 members in San Mateo County, Smith said. The group will lead a two-hour tour of BayfrontPark at 9 a.m. March 4, which she has invited city officials to attend.
"I'm hoping that if they knew a little bit more of what was out here, they would change their minds," she said.
Staff writer Nicole Neroulias can be reached at (650) 306-2427 or nneroulias@sanmateocountytimes.com.
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