Blair Park's Future? Oaks, Native Grass Meadow, Hefty Price Tag

Piedmont's Blair Park — for several years the focus of a controversial plan to add soccer fields and a high barrier along Moraga Avenue — could ultimately become a peaceful landscape of of hillside oaks rising above a meadow of native California grasses.

The hitch? Renovation of the park carries a hefty price tag: about $300,000 for the relatively modest first phase of the work, and an additional $300,000 to $400,000 if a second phase is eventually carried out.

Part of that money would go toward what could be called "deferred maintenance." That includes removal of 54 Monterey pines, mostly clustered close to Moraga Avenue, many of which are aged, dying or diseased. (Mark Feldkamp, Piedmont's parks and projects manager, noted that Blair Park will be added to the city's regular maintenance schedule next year.)

It also includes removing ivy and Himalayan blackberry that have grown into or are within a five-foot circle around each of the park's native live oak trees. The oaks are concentrated on and close to the hillside below Scenic Avenue. 

A "first phase" plan for the park developed by the Restoration Design Group of Berkeley also calls for removing all non-native trees, including a large eucalyptus and several flowering plums.

The flat portion of the park would be seeded with native grasses and forbs (small flowering plants). A split-rail fence or a barrier of logs, probably from the pines and other trees to be removed, would line the edge of the park closest to Moraga Avenue.

A proposed second phase could include an entrance pillar or monument, more extensive drainage and irrigation, and possibly a small grove of native sycamore trees.

Comments from the public at a Piedmont Park Commission hearing on the plan last week were generally favorable, although some residents of Scenic Avenue urged quick replacement of trees along Moraga to screen their homes from headlights and traffic noise.

They also noted that many of the Scenic Avenue homes do not have backyard fences and that in some cases the property lines are unclear and would need to be surveyed.

Al Peters, a Scenic Avenue resident and former Piedmont mayor, also said an open meadow would likely be even more attractive to motorcyclists and drivers of similar vehicles than the park is now.

Other speakers expressed concerns about destruction of wildlife habitat that wouldn't be replaced for several years and lamented the planned removal of the flowering fruit trees.

Park commissioners mostly favored the oaks-and-meadow approach, although they raised other concerns.

"It seems like we're going to a lot of trouble to open up the space, so I don't see the need to add trees," said Chairman John Lenahan.

Auto, bike and pedestrian access to the park from heavily traveled Moraga Avenue was a major concern of several commissioners, who said a more intensive second phase should not be undertaken until traffic and access problems are resolved.

Ultimately commissioners agreed to forward the plan to the Piedmont City Council with several conditions, including a recommendation that the council explore ways to "reach a citywide consensus" on the park's future before moving on to a second phase.

They also recommended that the city's CIP (Capital Improvement Projects) Review Committee look at ways to fund the park removation.

The plan is part of a settlement agreement between the Friends of Moraga Canyon (FOMC) and the City of Piedmont reached last year.

The FOMC had filed a lawsuit challenging the city's handling of environmental concerns about the proposed sports field at Blair Park. The agreement calls for the city to spend $15,000 on developing a landscape plan for the park and another $15,000 on implementing the plan.

You may see a larger version of the Phase 1 design (shown above) on the City of Piedmont website here.

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