San Mateo County Parks hosted an online zoom meeting to address plans for Flood Park. About 100 people attended the meeting on Feb 2nd, including about 10 county staff and contractors. Over all, the predominate concern was of County’s plans to destroy the heart of the woodland, with a majority of the discussions asking for the preservation of the park’s historic woodland and the parks nature. Other common comments pertained to not wanting to overbuild the parks amenities to the point that the nature of the park is lost. There seemed to be strong support for keeping the picnic availability and capacity and this was part of the common recognition that the family use of the woodland, playgrounds, and picnic areas should not be compromised by too many amenities. It seemed there was much more interest in Volleyball, Tennis, and Pickleball than County Parks had anticipated.
Feb 2nd – Flood Park — Audio, Transcription, and Video
The following are links to the raw transcriptions from the Feb 2nd public meeting. The transcriptions have transcribing artifacts that result in misspellings and similar errors, so please understand this and rely on the context of the comments to determine a more accurate understanding of what was said.
- Transcription of Opening Remarks – with Audio & Video
- Transcription of Ending Remarks – with Audio & Video
- Break Out Group Sessions:
- Transcription of Urban Forestry-Nature – with Audio & Video
- Transcription of Sports-Play 1 – with Audio & Video
- Transcription of Sports-Play 2 – with Audio & Video
- Transcription of Picnic-History – Audio & Video
Less than 90 members of the community attended the meeting, so it is very important that you and other community members take action to let your voice be heard. We are asking everyone to send emails, leave comments (below or comments webpage), and take other actions that can help County Parks better understand our community’s ideas and wishes for Flood Park. See the Actions webpage.
While there are many important aspects that need community input to help guide Parks planning, the most important are:
- Preserving the historic woodland by moving the 2nd sports field out of the woodland (See Balance Alternatives); and,
- Keep from over building the park to the point that family and group picnic areas are restricted and can’t be reserved (as is planned now).
Meeting Notes, Chat Log, and other Links
Chat Log – Public Meeting Feb 2nd – Flood Park – This is a full chat that included Sports Session 1 and Picnic Session 2
California Wildlife Foundation Letter – Letter to County Supervisors, Parks Department, CMG