The city's 15-year battle to find a use for its huge home near the top of Arastradero Preserve appears over. The City Council voted unanimously Monday to remove the 48-year-old house and restore the site to its natural state.
The Council's decision was made easy by a pledge of $350,000 to the city by some of the preserve's wealthy neighbors that have fought tooth and nail all previous proposals for its use.
"I think we can spend our money on lawyer fees or on a win-win situation, and I don't think we need anymore rich lawyers," Council member Ron Andersen said.
Part of the money might be used to replace the six-bedroom, five-bath ranch home with a new "modest structure," such as a visitor's center, near the preserve's entrance at the parking lot on Arastradero Road.
Preservation of the home was not much of an issue Monday. The two proposals for using the home--by the Children's Tree House as a respite care home for deaf children and by Bay Area Action as an environmental education and preserve restoration center--were barely discussed. City staff recommended denial of both, although they urged Bay Area Action's proposal for stewardship of the preserve to be explored further as a public/private partnership and any action on the homes delayed until then.
But Council members, along with representatives of Bay Area Action, were more intent on finding out whether Bay Area Action's proposal could be adapted to a new, smaller structure near the preserve's entrance--a more accessible location than the home at the end of winding, narrow John Marthens Lane, which the neighbors have always contended any use of.
"It's not often people come to the city and offer us $350,000 to vote a certain way," said Council member Dick Rosenbaum, drawing laughter from the crowd.
Ted Carlstrom, the attorney representing the neighbors under the name, "The Friends of Arastradero Preserve," took offense. If that's what you think, he said to Rosenbaum, "take a walk."
"The Friends," he said, is "not truly an organization," but a "description" of a group of people with a similar vision of the preserve. He emphasized that the $350,000 donation comes with no strings attached, except for demolition of the main house and a smaller stable master's home.
Council members said the houses are not compatible with the low-intensity use ethic of the 609-acre preserve.
The Council directed that the homes be "dismantled" so that as much material as is feasibly possible can be recycled or reused. And it asked staff to explore a public/private partnership for stewardship of the preserve. The Council opted to make no explicit mention of Bay Area Action, although several Council members said the environmental group should be rewarded because its efforts brought about the compromise from the neighbors.
--Peter Gauvin
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