Parks and Recreation Commission and Urban Forestry Board Meeting - November 13, 2025
Parks and Recreation Commission and Urban Forestry Board Meeting - November 13, 2025
The Parks and Recreation Commission and Urban Forestry Board met on November 13, 2025, to discuss three main agenda items: the Sailing Lake Habitat Island restoration, the conceptual design for a recycled water reservoir and pump station at Charleston Park, and a solar array project at the Senior Center and other sites. The commission voted unanimously to approve the habitat island plan and to recommend heritage tree mitigation for the solar project, while providing extensive feedback on the Charleston Park design.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Item 5.1 (Sailing Lake Habitat Island): Bruce England (Green Spaces Mountain View, speaking for himself) expressed support for the restoration, noting its importance for bird nesting. Celia Paymer (resident, Green Spaces MV) supported the staff recommendation, emphasizing nature as an amenity. Dr. Tracy Freya supported the plan, highlighting birders' enjoyment. Shani Kleinhouse (Santa Clara Valley Bird Alliance) supported the project but cautioned about balancing predation and disturbance from infrastructure.
- Item 5.2 (Charleston Park Recycled Water Reservoir): Bruce England supported the recycled water project and park design. Celia Paymer opposed the non-native plant palette, urging alignment with the city's biodiversity goals and the North Bay Shore Precise Plan. A resident (unidentified) criticized the radiating pathway design, lack of accommodation for park users (e.g., picnics, sports), and the use of non-native trees, calling for a native-only palette and better integration with adjacent Google campus plantings.
- Item 5.3 (Solar Array Projects): No public comments were made.
Discussion Items
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Item 5.1: Sailing Lake Habitat Island (Approval of Environmental Clearance, Permitting, and Plans) Staff (Raymond Walt, Watershed Manager) presented two restoration alternatives: Option 1 (restore existing 0.11-acre island with erosion protection) and Option 2 (expand to historical 0.18-acre footprint, resulting in 0.28 acres above water, at a cost of $3.1 million). Three barrier improvement options were also presented: A and B (floating buoy systems) and C (drilled wooden piles with a perimeter chain). Staff recommended Option 2 and Barrier C, citing better habitat benefits, reduced maintenance, and reliability. Commissioners asked about construction timing (non-nesting season, September to February), barrier height (likely 3-4 feet above water), and potential predator perching. All commissioners expressed support for the staff recommendation, noting the value of the enlarged island and the durability of the pile barrier. A motion to approve the recommendation passed unanimously.
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Item 5.2: Recycled Water Reservoir and Pump Station at Charleston Park (Conceptual Design Review) Staff (Solman Husseini, Associate Civil Engineer) presented the design for a fully buried reservoir and pump station, integrated into the park's topography to comply with the Burrowing Owl Habitat Overlay Zone (HOZ) height limit of 4 feet. The park redesign includes a central plaza with radiating pathways, removal of the existing water feature, and a new planting plan. 42 non-heritage California buckeye trees will be removed; 35 will be replaced at a 1:1 ratio, with 64 additional trees for a total of 99 new trees. Public comments and commissioners strongly criticized the plant palette for including non-native species (e.g., ginkgo, Armstrong maple) and urged a 100% native palette consistent with the North Bay Shore Precise Plan and the city's biodiversity goals. Commissioners also raised concerns about the radiating pathways fragmenting open space, the grading berms appearing unnatural ("buried camels"), and the need for more usable space for recreation. Some commissioners liked the radial design for its intentional connections. Staff acknowledged the feedback and will revisit the design with the landscape architect, particularly regarding native plantings and park usability.
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Item 5.3: Solar Array at Senior Center, Mountain View Sports Pavilion, and Wisman Sports Center (Heritage Tree Mitigation Request) Staff (Farell Saidia, Senior Project Manager) requested a recommendation to remove one heritage sycamore tree at the Senior Center site (plus 12 non-heritage trees) to accommodate solar carports. Mitigation includes a 2:1 replacement for the heritage tree (two 24-inch box trees) and 1:1 for non-heritage trees (12 trees), totaling 14 new trees on site. An informational update noted a similar situation at the Mountain View Sports Pavilion (one heritage tree on school district property, with a 2:1 mitigation plan agreed to by the school district). Commissioners discussed the trade-off between solar energy production and tree canopy, the funding source (parkland dedication fund), and the importance of enriching the bioretention areas with underplanting. A motion to recommend approval of the Senior Center heritage tree mitigation plan to the City Council passed unanimously.
Key Outcomes
- Item 5.1: Motion to approve the completion of environmental clearance, permitting, and plans for the Sailing Lake Habitat Island using restoration Alternative 2 (expand island) and barrier improvement Alternative C (drilled wooden piles) passed unanimously.
- Item 5.2: No vote taken; staff will incorporate commission feedback, particularly the strong preference for a 100% native plant palette and revisions to the park layout and grading.
- Item 5.3: Motion to recommend to the City Council approval of the heritage tree mitigation plan for the Senior Center (2:1 replacement for one heritage sycamore, 1:1 for 12 non-heritage trees) passed unanimously.
- Director's Report: Updates included the Eagle Park Pool heater replacement (back in operation November 17), the 2026 winter activity guide, the community tree lighting celebration (December 8), and the departure of teen center coordinator Lauren Eck.
Meeting Transcript
All right, welcome to the November 11th meeting of the Parks and Recreation Commission and Urban Forestry Board. Thank you for your patience. Well, we got our technical issues resolved. So with that, I call the meeting for me. Alison, can we take the role call? Yes, Commissioner P. Here. Commissioner Summer. Here, Vice Chair Mitchner. Chair Davis. Here. Item number three is minutes. We don't have minutes. Uh, so we will not take comments from the public or uh commission. Those minutes will be available Monday. So that the minutes we don't have are the October or the October 29th, I believe. Uh, and so those will be uh distributed and available for comments on Monday. Uh next is oral communications from the public. Uh, anyone in attendance who would like to provide public comment on an item that's not on the agenda, is welcome to do so. Please fill out a blue card and leave it on the counter by the podium. We have three-minute time limit, and we will start with folks joining us online. Is there anybody online that wishes to speak on an item that is not on the agenda? No, it's a right. Anybody in the room wish to address the commission on an item that is not on the agenda? All right, hearing none, we'll move on to item 5.1. Uh, for this, we'll get the uh staff presentation, and commissioners will ask questions, then we'll open it up for public comments. Um then commissioners will comment and discuss this item will uh call for a motion. The recommendation is to approve the completion of the environmental clearance permitting and plans uh for the sailing lake habitat island. Um, so with that, we will take the staff presentation. Thank you, Commissioner. I missed something else. So we're dealing with other technical difficulties. So we'll have good evening. Uh my name is Raymond Walt. I'm the watershed manager here at the City of Mountain Field. Um, tonight I'm here to present um the Sailing Lake Habitat Island alternative and dialysis. Um, in this presentation, we are going to introduce the project, uh, talk about the alternative that we are being evaluated, and also like uh to discuss our recommendations uh for the project. This project is a part of the shoreline park uh water control uh structure improvement uh project 2344 in March in May 2023. Um the city has executed a contract with the design team AECOM uh to work on this project to address a number of the issues um at the shoreline uh park. Um, as you see on the screen over here, uh we have the Charles Shoot Thai gate. Uh we got the water control gate, um different like a facility inside the shoreline park, and also the coast case palm station uh that require different level of the replacement, improvement and repair. And this project also include the Sailing Lake Habitat Island, which is the focus of this uh discussion here tonight, and you can see at the lower right of the photo uh with a group highlight. Single lake is located. Sailing capital island is located inside the sailing lake. Uh, if you see on this uh figure over here, you can see on the right side. Uh that is an aerial image of the sailing lake, and you can see the triangular land feature in the middle of the island or like a cover towards the west of the eye or of the of the lake uh is the island. Uh for the location reference, you can see like a where is the uh shoreline bow house. Um the lake in here has been built in the 1980s as part of the like a cross landfield project, and since it's construction, um it has like an erosion like an over time. If you look at the lower left of this photo, um you can see an overlay of the aerial image showing like what is the approximate footprint in 1991, which is around 0.18 acres, and also see like a the um uh the latest, like a uh a mapping over here in 2023, which is 0.11 acre. If you look at the top uh left of like this uh slide over here, you can see the photo of the habitat island.
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