This resources and reference page has two main sections:
- County authored presentations, Environmental Impact Reports (EIR), and related documents provided the County Board of Supervisors, including materials provided to contractors for the Reimagine project.
- Community authored information, op-eds, handouts, and related references
It is impossible for the general public to sift through 2,383 pages of documents and presentations that were generated by County for the project. While the County Contractor hired has to do that, we hope here to make it easer to understand the content by providing concise summaries (coming soon). Of course, we have also provided all of those original documents, with all of their 2,383 pages should you want to drill down to that detailed level – and some times you may want to do that. It is all here.
County Parks – Plans, Presentations, Reference
County has provided various plans and revisions for the current ReImagine Flood Park project since 2015. This page contains links to those documents. Most of these documents, dating from 2015 to 2021 are important as they represent the information data specified to be reviewed and to be used by CMG Landscape Architecture, the contractor with County. (awarded/funded on 7/20/2021).
1983 Flood Park Strategic Plan
This is a well written document, containing a good history and background of the park. It emphasizes the nature of the park, its picnic areas, and the play areas: baseball, tennis, softball, and walking. There seems to be a strong emphasis of preserving the natural woodland environment, mentioning the strong need of these nature environments in a growing metropolitan/urban area. Included are data for usage volumes, capacity, usage tables for various amenities, and geographic location of users: Link
2013 Parks Strategic Plan
This is a county wide parks plan. Flood Park is listed for repairs to the playground, tennis courts, and baseball field to occur in 2014-15 time frame. Seismic upgrades to admin building to occur in 2016-17. Link
2015 Presentation – Discussion and Priorities
This 2015 (December) presentation focused on setting priorities for the park. One of the outcomes was identifying as a high priority the preserving of the woodland areas and trees. In addition to the keeping the nature element in the park, so was restoring the ballfields and having a multipurpose field for soccer/lacrosse. Link
2017 Draft EIR – Landscape Plan
This Environmental Impact Report was published in September 2017. This report includes sections on increased traffic and noise levels. In some cases mitigation is discussed and in others it appears mitigation is not possible. Link
2017 Draft EIR Appendices – Landscape Plan
This Environmental Impact Report Appendices was published October 3, 2017. Link
2018 Final Environmental Impact Report/ Response to Comments Document
Prepared to respond to comments received on the Draft Environmental Impact Report (Draft EIR) prepared for the proposed Flood County Park Landscape Plan (project). The Draft EIR identifies the likely environmental consequences associated with development of the project, and recommends mitigation measures to reduce potentially significant impacts. (While this is referred to as 2018, internally it states May, 2017.) Link
2020 Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program
This MMRP lists mitigation measures required and recommended in the Original and Revised EIRs for the proposed plan and identifies construction mitigation monitoring requirements. It covers, among other mitigations, requirements before trees are cut down to protect bats and birds during nesting season. Link
2020 Errata to Final Revised EIR
This revises the area map to remove a significant number (40%?) of the mature trees from the heart of the park’s woodland by the addition of an additional soccer/lacrosse field. It also revises the visitor use projections for the park. Link
2020 Landscape Plan Map
This one page map of the park shows park as reimagined by the plan – 2020. Link
2020 October 13 – Presentation to Public – Video 🎦
Less than a month before the Supervisor Meeting, the 1st introduction to the public
2020 Board of Supervisors – Presentation, video, and related materials 🎦
On Nov 10th, 2020 BOS was presented with the following items and presentation. They voted to approve the agenda item for the Reimagine Project. The following links are to the presentation by the Parks department and the supporting documents.
->Park’s Presentation: Link
->BOS – Video (index to Agenda item #7): 🎦
->BOS – Executive Summary: Link
->Agenda Attachment A – Map of Park (2019): Link
->Agenda Attachment B – Map of Park (2020): Link
->Agenda Attachment C – Draft Revised EIR: Link
->Agenda Attachment D – Final Revised EIR – Response to Public Comments: Link
->Agenda Attachment E – Errata to Final EIR: Link
->Agenda Attachment – Memo A – Statement of Findings and Facts: Link
->Agenda Attachment – Memo B – Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting: Link
->Agenda Attachment – Board Resolution: Link
->Tree Removal List (Spreadsheet) – Part of the 2020 Errata: excel – or – csv
2021 Board of Supervisors Resolution and Contract with CMG Landscape Architecture
2022 Feb 2nd – Flood Park Public Meeting
We have collected video, audio, transcribed audio, chat log, slides, and community comments fro the Feb 2nd Public Meeting: Link
2022 Board of Supervisors Resolution Dec 13, 2022 – Public Works to Finalize Plan
There are a couple of items associated with BOS resolution on the Revised Flood Park plan:
->The Board resolution: Link
->Attachment provided for this BOS Agenda Item — Map Realize Flood Park
Community – OpEd, Articles, Press Release, Reference
Ref — Community maps and illustrations on impact of Reimagine Project
Ken Lajoie primarily and others too have put effort into using illustrations to show the impact of the Reimagine Plan on the park.
Map & Notes pertaining to destruction of trees in Entrance Grove Link
Map & Notes of Tree Removals – Heart of Heritage Woodland Link
Map & Notes shows existing vs project fields Link
News – 6/14/2011 — Menlo Park advances effort to take over Flood Park
Mercury News: A news article during the time Flood Park was closed and county had stopped maintenance. Citizens were actively trying to preserve the park and reopen it. Link
Article – 10/31/2013 — Check-ups for Old Trees – via Tomography
KQED Article: In someways similar to a MRI for trees. New technology provides view into a tree’s trunk and branches to find rot or degraded health of a tree. Link
News – 9/29/2018 — Ravenswood school district eyes teacher housing (Flood School)
Almanac News: Staff brought a brief proposal to build below-market-rate apartments at the site where James Flood Magnet School used to operate. Link
Press Release – 4/19/2021 — Flood Park Tree Advocates
A group of local advocates for Flood Park made a Press Release, published on Menlo Park city’s website. The release comments on County’s plans for Flood Park and references the petition to preserve the woodland trees. Link
News – 5/3191/2021 — Park Prescription: Silicon Valley’s doctors are pushing for a daily dose of the great outdoors
SixFifty.com: Over the past decade, the Bay Area has been at the heart of a growing national movement to get people in underserved communities outdoors to reap the inherent health benefits provided by sunshine, greenery and an open trail. Link
News – 3/31/2021 — Why You Should Plant Oaks
New York Times: These large, long-lived trees support more life-forms than any other trees in North America. And they’re magnificent.. Link
Interest – Bird Watching — Flood Park Chart by eBird
Bird watchers enjoy the the birds that live and visit Flood Park. Wild birds are so important that we have created a webpage: Wild Birds of Flood Park. Check there for additional links to information and a list of wildbirds specifically at Flood Park.
Rare sightings occasionally occur and are posted in various local birding social media. Link
News – 7/24/2021 — Time Spent Among Trees Might Help Kids’ Brains
ScienceAlert.com: As a child grows and develops, the neurons in their brain are said to branch like trees. Being around this very type of foliage could actually help the process along.
A long-term study among 3,568 students in London, between the ages of 9 and 15, has found those kids who spent more time near woodlands showed improved cognitive performance and mental health in adolescence. Link
News – 9/21/2021 — How Parks Can Replace Pills – Prescription for Health
KALW Public Media: San Mateo County is part of an innovative national program where doctors write a “prescription” for park and outdoor time to improve their patient’s physical or mental health and wellbeing.
Ranger Wright says that many of the patients she meets may not have ever visited their local park. Or even hiked or biked a trail. Park life might not be part of their routine, tradition, or culture. Often, she sees patients visibly relax and immediately enjoy their new surroundings.
“Like looking at the trees, listening for the bird songs. And just having a nice chance to learn more about the natural environment,” she observes. Basically, it’s Mother Nature as medicine. Link
News – 9/21/2021 — The Loss of Trees Has Had Devastating Consequences
TIME, by Jane Goodall: One of the most tragic consequences of this extractive economy is the staggering loss of half the planet’s trees. Where once our planet was home to 6 trillion trees, only 3 trillion remain. And half of that loss has occurred in only the past 100 years—barely a blink of an eye considering the millions of years it took to create Earth’s biodiverse landscapes.
Our planet has sustained an unspeakable loss, and yet forests continue to be deliberately destroyed at the rate of about an acre and a half a second, as they are permanently leveled to create inexpensive land. Link
News – 12/25/2021 — Belle Haven, East Palo Alto have far fewer trees than neighboring communities
Almanac, by Kate Bradshaw: Tree canopy coverage provides more than just aesthetics. Scientists have shown that as there’s more shade from trees, temperatures cool below the canopy line. In Bellehaven and EPA, the tree canopy in most areas is just 6% or 7%. Just a fraction of the canopy in neighboring Palo Alto, Menlo Park, and Atherton, where there are 4 to 5 times more tree coverage. Link
News – 12/27/2021 — County Supervisors considering waiving parking fees for all county park visitors
Almanac, by Kate Bradshaw: A proposal to consider waiving parking fees at San Mateo County parks for low-income households has spurred the county to consider getting rid of the fees for everyone, regardless of income. At Flood Park, parking is free as of 2021. Link
Downloadable Flyers, Info Cards, Handouts
Card — Save Flood Park Trees
This 4×6 card can be printed out or sent to your favorite photo service for making 4×6 photos. Link
Handout — 2-up 8.5×11 – Extend Flood Park – Soccer + Save Trees
This handout is meant to print on 8.5×11 paper – it has a 2-up layout that then can be cut in half after printing. Link
Brochure — Flood Park — County Parks
County Parks brochure for Flood Park. Link
Zoom Background — Flood Park background for your Zoom background
Download and in your Zoom Preferences add this as a background. Link
Flood Park Advocacy Icon — Our icon for FloodPark.org
This is the icon we used for our website FloodPark.org Link
QR Code — For adding to print materials
QR code allows for smart phones to automatically link users to our website FloodPark.org Link