By Julia Cooper

Town Crier file photo Mountain View officials will assess proposed designs for the Cuesta Park Annex located along Cuesta Drive between Miramonte Avenue and Grant Road.

Mountain View community members helped prepare designs for the Cuesta Park Annex master planning process at a workshop July 29 at city hall.

Proposals include leaving the annex as is; adding minimal changes, such as all-weather trails and enhanced habitats; using the land for a legacy orchard or community garden; incorporating passive and active uses with multiuse lawns; including a combination of passive and sports uses with a recreational field; and building, fully developed sports ground.

More than 100 residents attended the meeting to share ideas about the annex. Participants broke into groups to plan a design using an aerial map, trace paper and design templates. After creating a design, attendees evaluated them and presented the features, benefits and drawbacks. The workshop designs will be posted on the city of Mountain View’s Web site at www.ci.mtnview.ca.us.

The next step for the city is to assess the designs and synthesize them by Aug. 19, the second community workshop, which will be held at city hall, 500 Castro St.

HDR/LCA + Sargent Town Planning consultant Steve Coyle, hired by the city to organize the process, said the goal is to narrow the annex proposals to three. Gathering a wide spectrum of input from the public on the annex plan is important, he added.

“The concern is that you can’t always have one constituency having their voice heard,” Coyle said.

Stakeholder interviews and citizen questionnaires distributed last week provided city officials with preliminary ideas for the Annex. Saving trees, protecting the habitat, minimizing noise and light pollution and traffic and parking issues were some of the concerns voiced in the interviews and questionnaires.

For more information about the Cuesta Park Annex planning process, call Deputy City Manager Linda Forsberg at 903-6301.