Fowler Creek Park Community Update
Friends of Fowler Creek Park
www.fcpfriends.org
September 15, 2003

Project Update:  Master Plan Goes to Parks and Recreation Commission, Wednesday, September 17, 2003

The Fowler Creek Park Master Plan was submitted to the Parks and Recreation Commission last Friday September 12th.  The Master Plan is scheduled to be heard this week at the Parks and Recreation Commission Development Meeting, this Wednesday, September 17th, at 4:30pm in City Hall.  This meeting is open to the public, and residents are encouraged to attend to show their support.

For all the details, please refer to the PRC meeting agenda (attached separately in e-mails) and see Agenda Item 8.2:  “Report on Fowler Creek Master Plan (Motion to Approve Master Plan)”.

If the Parks and Recreation Commission accepts the Master Plan, it will be submitted to the San Jose City Council with a recommendation for final approval within a couple weeks.

For those of you just catching up on the project …

A couple months ago, we learned from Todd Capurso, Parks Manager, Neighborhood Parks Division, City of San Jose, that the master plan had not been submitted to the Parks and Recreation Commission yet.   The delay was due to the land swap with Shapell Industries of Northern California as mentioned during the January 2003 community meeting.  The land swap required that a new set of environmental reports to be drawn up, and these reports have now been completed. 

Todd estimates that once the plan is approved by both the Parks and Recreation Commission and the City of San Jose City Council, the progress to kick-off Phase One of the construction will be relatively quick.

On the city budget concerns, Todd foresees that if the city budget crisis persists, the effect will be on the delay of construction for the more expensive amenities to Phase Two of the construction plan.  A delay to start Phase One of the construction of the park should not be expected.  Todd is also optimistic, as he has seen District 8 Councilmember David Cortese hard at work in obtaining additional funds for the development of the park from various developers.

Why All the Dust?

Those of you who live in the vicinity of the Fowler Creek Park site may have noticed that things have become a bit dusty lately.  The reason for this is that Shapell Industries of Northern California has begun the first stages of grading their land for residential property development adjacent to the park site.  As part of the land swap deal between Shapell and the City of San Jose (which turned the park into the triangular-shaped site as proposed in the Evergreen Specific Plan), Shapell was required to perform the general grading of the park site as well.  While the Fowler Creek Park Master Plan goes through its final stages of the approval process, the dust in the air is certainly a welcome sign of progress!

Day in the Park 2003 – Saturday, October 18, 2003

Mark your calendars for this fun annual event!  Councilmember Dave Cortese is once again presenting Day in the Park, A Multicultural Festival, at Lake Cunningham.   This year’s event will be held on Saturday, October 18, 2003 from 10am to 4pm.  Please look for our table—we hope to see you there!  For more information about volunteering or participation, please see the official web site of Day in the Park 2003 (click here).

About Friends of Fowler Creek Park

Friends of Fowler Creek Park is a California non-profit corporation and was founded in July 2002.  Our state and federal tax-exemption applications are currently pending.  Please share this e-mail update with your friends and neighbors.  If you received this e-mail from someone else, then most likely, we don't know about you.  Please contact us to join our mailing list.  We also welcome your suggestions for improvement, comments, and questions.  We’d like to hear from you.

Email:  info@fcpfriends.org | Web: www.fcpfriends.org

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Friends of Fowler Creek Park
Hai Chang, President
Larry Braddock, Vice-President, Operations
Bonnie Tomei, Vice-President, Marketing
Seeling Cheung, Secretary
Steve Tomei, Treasurer

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