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Article
Expensive digs for a ranger
OPEN SPACE DISTRICT'S $1 MILLION COST FOR CABIN RAISES QUESTIONS
By Paul Rogers
Mercury News
A Silicon Valley parks district whose primary mission is to buy and preserve forests, meadows and trails has taken on a different kind of real estate venture, spending $1 million of public money to buy a rundown mountain cabin to house one of its rangers.
The property purchased by the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District probably won't turn up on the cover of Better Homes and Gardens any time soon. The two-bedroom, 1,440-square-foot house with vinyl floors and a rickety deck was built in 1972 and sits on a dirt road in the hills above Los Gatos.
Critics, including some of the district's board members, call the acquisition a breathtaking waste of money that consumed nearly 7 percent of the agency's $15 million land budget this year. The house, on 1.5 acres, cost $667,000 per acre -- the most expensive per-acre purchase in the district's history.
``This was a really misguided use of valuable district resources,'' said Deane Little, one of the district's seven elected board members. ``I would have dearly loved to have seen us spend the money on open space.''
Other district officials say owning the house will end conflicts they had with previous tenants over rangers' access to the adjacent El Sereno Open Space Preserve. In addition to housing a ranger, it will provide six parking spaces and easier public access to the preserve, they note.
Preserve access
``If it was just for a ranger residence, we wouldn't have bought it,'' said Craig Britton, the district's general manager. ``We're talking about access to the preserve, patrolling and public safety.''(this is my favorite part)
In a meeting that drew little public attention, the district's board voted 4-3 on Dec. 15 to buy the house, at 16075 Overlook Drive, two miles west of downtown Los Gatos. Escrow closed in January.
Since voters created the open space district in 1972, the agency has acquired roughly 50,000 acres of open space from Mount Umunhum in South San Jose to land near Crystal Springs reservoirs north of Woodside. The average purchase price has been about $4,000 per acre.
Property taxes from northern Santa Clara County and southern San Mateo County provide much of the district's funding. As word of the purchase has spread, taxpayer groups aren't rushing to throw a housewarming party.
``This is just unfathomable,'' said Terry Gossett, a Moss Beach engineer and member of the Silicon Valley Taxpayers Association. ``It is a misuse of the funds from taxpayers. It is being used to take care of their own instead of the public, who are the customers.''
Britton began negotiations to buy the Los Gatos house in early December, when its owners, Phil and Jean Hayes of Santa Cruz County, informed the district of an offer for $960,000 from another buyer. A year earlier the asking price was $1.795 million, and the board had voted not to buy the house. The district secured the property for $950,000, largely because there were fewer real estate commissions involved, said Britton.
The district already owns nine similar homes on the Peninsula, acquired over time as part of larger land purchases. It rents them to its rangers, with priority given on the basis of seniority and proximity to where the rangers work. The cheapest, on Skyline Boulevard in La Honda, rents for $355 a month, while the most expensive, on Mora Drive in Los Altos, goes for $1,019 a month.
Having rangers live on or near open space preserves is important in reducing the risk of fire, illegal parties, fireworks and other mischief, rangers testified at the December board meeting.
The backers
The four board members who voted to support Britton's recommendation to buy the house -- Pete Siemens, Jed Cyr, Mary Davey and Nonette Hanko -- said in addition to ranger housing, it will help the public get into the El Sereno preserve, a 1,412-acre expanse of oak trees and chaparral open to hikers, horse riders and bicyclists. The preserve is surrounded by rural neighborhoods without much parking. They noted that houses in the Los Gatos hills regularly sell for more than $1 million.
``We decided we could get the benefit of a ranger residence and could install parking,'' said Siemens, a retired Los Gatos aerospace engineer. ``We said there wasn't much else we could do but just bite the bullet.''
The new parking will be restricted, though. Siemens said the six spaces probably will require a day-use permit, so as not to upset neighbors who don't want increased traffic.
There are at least four other entrances to the El Sereno preserve, including one at Montevina Road with some parking. But district officials say the Overlook Drive entrance will provide better public access to the northern part of the preserve.
One big problem in the past, Britton said, was that people who rented the house regularly parked cars on narrow Overlook Drive, blocking ranger access to the preserve. Sometimes when rangers tried to unlock a gate on the road near the house, dogs threatened them.
``We were always at loggerheads with them,'' he said. ``We thought that if there was a way to secure the property, we would.'' The Hayeses could not be reached for comment.
The district already owned part of Overlook Drive, up to the road's center line, and the gate. But rangers never ticketed or towed the vehicles, Britton said, because the district feared getting into a legal dispute about where the line was.
`Operating expense'
``I look at this as less of an acquisition and more of an operating expense,'' Siemens said.
The board members who voted against the acquisition -- Little, Ken Nitz and Larry Hassett -- thought other solutions might be cheaper. For example, Little suggested the district rent a home near the preserve for a ranger.
Little, a molecular biologist from Los Altos, said he would rather see the $1 million -- $950,000 for the purchase and $55,000 for deck repairs -- go toward buying new parklands, expanding environmental education for low-income children or removing invasive plants.
To solve the rangers' problems with access to the preserve, Little said the district simply could have moved the iron gate a few hundred yards up the road into the preserve. Then, rangers could have driven past the dogs, and the district could have built a small parking lot in the preserve.
When Britton brought the issue before the board for a vote, time was tight. The purchase option expired the next morning.
``I see a public-relations disaster brewing on this one,'' Little fretted during the meeting. ``I mean, if the national press gets hold of this, it is going to read, `Parks agency buys million-dollar ranger residence.' If the local press gets hold of this it is going to be, `Open space district spends $1 million on an acre of land.' It is going to look really, really bad.''
Davey, then board president, interjected.
``We have spent a lot of time on this; let's see if we can't move it along,'' she said. The yes vote came in minutes.
No ranger has moved into the house yet. The road remains closed to the public. Britton said he hopes to install a new gate, trail sign and parking lot by year's end.
Contact Paul Rogers at progers@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5045.
MROSD's El Sereno OSP webpage:
http://openspace.org/preserves/pr_el_sereno.asp
x-post from the ROMP listserv.
------------------------------------------------------------
Article
Expensive digs for a ranger
OPEN SPACE DISTRICT'S $1 MILLION COST FOR CABIN RAISES QUESTIONS
By Paul Rogers
Mercury News
A Silicon Valley parks district whose primary mission is to buy and preserve forests, meadows and trails has taken on a different kind of real estate venture, spending $1 million of public money to buy a rundown mountain cabin to house one of its rangers.
The property purchased by the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District probably won't turn up on the cover of Better Homes and Gardens any time soon. The two-bedroom, 1,440-square-foot house with vinyl floors and a rickety deck was built in 1972 and sits on a dirt road in the hills above Los Gatos.
Critics, including some of the district's board members, call the acquisition a breathtaking waste of money that consumed nearly 7 percent of the agency's $15 million land budget this year. The house, on 1.5 acres, cost $667,000 per acre -- the most expensive per-acre purchase in the district's history.
``This was a really misguided use of valuable district resources,'' said Deane Little, one of the district's seven elected board members. ``I would have dearly loved to have seen us spend the money on open space.''
Other district officials say owning the house will end conflicts they had with previous tenants over rangers' access to the adjacent El Sereno Open Space Preserve. In addition to housing a ranger, it will provide six parking spaces and easier public access to the preserve, they note.
Preserve access
``If it was just for a ranger residence, we wouldn't have bought it,'' said Craig Britton, the district's general manager. ``We're talking about access to the preserve, patrolling and public safety.''(this is my favorite part)
In a meeting that drew little public attention, the district's board voted 4-3 on Dec. 15 to buy the house, at 16075 Overlook Drive, two miles west of downtown Los Gatos. Escrow closed in January.
Since voters created the open space district in 1972, the agency has acquired roughly 50,000 acres of open space from Mount Umunhum in South San Jose to land near Crystal Springs reservoirs north of Woodside. The average purchase price has been about $4,000 per acre.
Property taxes from northern Santa Clara County and southern San Mateo County provide much of the district's funding. As word of the purchase has spread, taxpayer groups aren't rushing to throw a housewarming party.
``This is just unfathomable,'' said Terry Gossett, a Moss Beach engineer and member of the Silicon Valley Taxpayers Association. ``It is a misuse of the funds from taxpayers. It is being used to take care of their own instead of the public, who are the customers.''
Britton began negotiations to buy the Los Gatos house in early December, when its owners, Phil and Jean Hayes of Santa Cruz County, informed the district of an offer for $960,000 from another buyer. A year earlier the asking price was $1.795 million, and the board had voted not to buy the house. The district secured the property for $950,000, largely because there were fewer real estate commissions involved, said Britton.
The district already owns nine similar homes on the Peninsula, acquired over time as part of larger land purchases. It rents them to its rangers, with priority given on the basis of seniority and proximity to where the rangers work. The cheapest, on Skyline Boulevard in La Honda, rents for $355 a month, while the most expensive, on Mora Drive in Los Altos, goes for $1,019 a month.
Having rangers live on or near open space preserves is important in reducing the risk of fire, illegal parties, fireworks and other mischief, rangers testified at the December board meeting.
The backers
The four board members who voted to support Britton's recommendation to buy the house -- Pete Siemens, Jed Cyr, Mary Davey and Nonette Hanko -- said in addition to ranger housing, it will help the public get into the El Sereno preserve, a 1,412-acre expanse of oak trees and chaparral open to hikers, horse riders and bicyclists. The preserve is surrounded by rural neighborhoods without much parking. They noted that houses in the Los Gatos hills regularly sell for more than $1 million.
``We decided we could get the benefit of a ranger residence and could install parking,'' said Siemens, a retired Los Gatos aerospace engineer. ``We said there wasn't much else we could do but just bite the bullet.''
The new parking will be restricted, though. Siemens said the six spaces probably will require a day-use permit, so as not to upset neighbors who don't want increased traffic.
There are at least four other entrances to the El Sereno preserve, including one at Montevina Road with some parking. But district officials say the Overlook Drive entrance will provide better public access to the northern part of the preserve.
One big problem in the past, Britton said, was that people who rented the house regularly parked cars on narrow Overlook Drive, blocking ranger access to the preserve. Sometimes when rangers tried to unlock a gate on the road near the house, dogs threatened them.
``We were always at loggerheads with them,'' he said. ``We thought that if there was a way to secure the property, we would.'' The Hayeses could not be reached for comment.
The district already owned part of Overlook Drive, up to the road's center line, and the gate. But rangers never ticketed or towed the vehicles, Britton said, because the district feared getting into a legal dispute about where the line was.
`Operating expense'
``I look at this as less of an acquisition and more of an operating expense,'' Siemens said.
The board members who voted against the acquisition -- Little, Ken Nitz and Larry Hassett -- thought other solutions might be cheaper. For example, Little suggested the district rent a home near the preserve for a ranger.
Little, a molecular biologist from Los Altos, said he would rather see the $1 million -- $950,000 for the purchase and $55,000 for deck repairs -- go toward buying new parklands, expanding environmental education for low-income children or removing invasive plants.
To solve the rangers' problems with access to the preserve, Little said the district simply could have moved the iron gate a few hundred yards up the road into the preserve. Then, rangers could have driven past the dogs, and the district could have built a small parking lot in the preserve.
When Britton brought the issue before the board for a vote, time was tight. The purchase option expired the next morning.
``I see a public-relations disaster brewing on this one,'' Little fretted during the meeting. ``I mean, if the national press gets hold of this, it is going to read, `Parks agency buys million-dollar ranger residence.' If the local press gets hold of this it is going to be, `Open space district spends $1 million on an acre of land.' It is going to look really, really bad.''
Davey, then board president, interjected.
``We have spent a lot of time on this; let's see if we can't move it along,'' she said. The yes vote came in minutes.
No ranger has moved into the house yet. The road remains closed to the public. Britton said he hopes to install a new gate, trail sign and parking lot by year's end.
Contact Paul Rogers at progers@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5045.
MROSD's El Sereno OSP webpage:
http://openspace.org/preserves/pr_el_sereno.asp
