Sowing the seeds of life Sowing the seeds of life (November 14, 2003)

New nursery proposed for the Baylands

by Bill D'Agostino

A new nursery planned for Palo Alto's Baylands would allow young native plants, like the gum plant and pickleweed, to thrive in the area.

Save the Bay, a nonprofit that helps maintain and improve the delicate San Francisco Bay ecosystem, is offering to build the 1,600-square-foot nursery for the city. For the past two years, the group's volunteers have removed more than 8,000 invasive plants from the Baylands Nature Preserve, and replanted more than 15,000 native ones.

Currently the native plants are taken from a location in Watsonville. The new nursery would cut down on volunteers' travel time. It is planned to be built near the preserve's duck pond, close to the entrance.

Some parks' advocates worry the new structure would intrude on the birds that nest nearby.

"It's yet another structure in there," Parks and Recreation Commission Ellie Gioumousis said, the only commissioner to vote against recommending the project at a meeting last month.

Although Gioumousis likes the idea of a nursery, she would prefer the actual structure be placed near some other less visible location, like the Water Quality Control Treatment Plant adjacent to the park.

"If you build one there, it would block the view of the landfill, which would be nice," Gioumousis said. A tool shed used by the rangers is already near the duck pond, she added.

City administrators noted, in a staff report, that the plant is closed on weekends, a prime time for volunteers to do their work. Plus, placing the nursery near the duck pond will locate it near other edifices "so that you don't have buildings all over the Baylands" obstructing views, according to Greg Betts, the city's superintendent of open space and sciences.

Betts also noted that "if we're going to continue to engage volunteers, it's helpful to have a place where the activity is demonstrated."

The 40-foot by 40-foot structure would be made of rock floor, a wire fence and wood posts, to keep out animals and other critters.

A webbed ceiling would allow 60 percent of the sunlight in, allowing the young plants to get acclimated to the harsh rays.

The Architectural Review Board recommended that the City Council approve the project during its meeting last week, although the board did advocate a few stipulations, including a requirement that the structure be torn down if it ceases being used for a nursery.

The City Council will vote on approving the new nursery later in the year.

E-mail Bill D'Agostino at bdagostino@paweekly.com