By Nick Casey
 CRAIG SHEROD/SPECIAL TO THE TOWN CRIER Local artists supporting Cuesta Annex preservation display landscapes painted at the annex recently. Bob Schick, one of the artists and an organizer with Save Open Space, said the annex is a reminder of Santa Clara County’s agricultural past. |
Though there are no farmers to tend the prune orchard at Cuesta Annex, some community members in Mountain View have made themselves stewards of the undeveloped tract. Since 2001, Save Open Space Mountain View has led an effort to preserve the 12-acre parcel from encroaching residential development.
“It’s a small reminder of the past of Santa Clara County,” said Bob Schick, a founding member of Save Open Space. “It shows what we once had as a collective community.”
According to Schick, the recorded history of the annex began in 1858 with Jefferson Bailey, one of the region’s first homesteaders. His 160-acre claim contained Cuesta Annex along with other land now between Grant Road and Miramonte Avenue. The lot was then sold to William H. Bubb, who planted the first prune orchard there in the 1890s.
“There are still probably a few standing prunes from the turn of the century,” said Schick.
Save Open Space formed during the more recent years of Cuesta Annex’s history. According to Schick, informal community action groups began to appear in 1973 after Jules Buc Construction Co. bought the land and made plans for residential development. Pressure by Mountain View residents led to the city repurchasing the land for $266,000, some four times the original price paid.
Schick took an interest in the lot the around 1990. “I started going to Parks and Rec to see if someone might water the fruit trees during the summer months,” he said. “I just saw those poor trees drying and starving to death.”
Members of what would eventually become Save Open Space began to mobilize in the 1990s as the Mountain View City Council fielded different proposals to develop it into a fenced dog park, a driving range and a skateboard park. All plans were eventually turned down by the council.
“There’s a lot of value in an undeveloped and unstructured space,” said Kevin McBride, another member of Save Open Space. McBride noted the need for expansion in Mountain View, but said that Cuesta Annex is the wrong place for it. “Dozens of the trees there meet the city’s heritage tree definition,” he said.
Both McBride and Schick helped to found Save Open Space which formally began in 2001. Along with eight other core members, the group meets twice monthly to discuss the protection of Cuesta Annex and other recreational spaces in Mountain View, including one near Shoreline Boulevard.
Save Open Space also leads many outreach events to raise awareness about the area. Last month, Schick - who is also a visual artist - led a painting workshop at the Cuesta Annex.
Their hard work has paid off. The city has agreed not to consider further development until there is a suitable master plan for the area that would keep the annex as recreational land.
For more information, e-mail saveopenspace@pacbell.net.
