Council to vote on waterslides Tuesday Council to vote on waterslides Tuesday (March 26, 2004)

Back-to-back hearings end after 10 hours of public comments
by Jeb Bing

After two back-to-back hearings and more than 10 hours of public comments, the Pleasanton City Council delayed again until next Tuesday a decision on whether to permit a proposed $7 million expansion of the waterslides at Shadow Cliffs Regional Recreation Area.

Called California Splash, the project would add seven new, higher and more challenging slides to the four that have been in operation there since 1981, along with other water and family-focused attractions, including children's and wave pools, a lazy river ride and a corporate picnic area.

Proposed by the East Bay Regional Park District, which owns and operates Shadow Cliffs, and by waterslides owner and operator Glenn Kierstead, who built the existing slides, California Splash would be similar to Knott's Berry Farm's Soak City in Southern California, but smaller than water parks in Manteca, Concord and San Jose, attracting about 240,000 patrons each summer.

Twenty residents spoke in favor or against the project at last Tuesday's council meeting, about the same at the opening hearing on March 16. But after the final speaker sat down, close to 11:30 p.m., Mayor Tom Pico called a halt, setting next Tuesday for a discussion by the council and city staff, and then a possible vote. No public comments will be allowed at the meeting, which is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. in the council chamber at 200 Old Bernal Ave.

The meeting also is scheduled to be televised live by CTV Community Television on Channel 29.

At Tuesday's meeting, members of the city's Youth Commission said they endorsed the expanded waterslide project on condition that the council resolve other community issues affecting it, including traffic and crime.

Other speakers included Bruce Torquemada, a Ruby Hill homeowner who has been an advocate of building Neal Elementary School in the Vineyard corridor. With many waterslide opponents concerned over traffic, he suggested that they direct their efforts into getting Neal built to take up to 1,000 vehicles a day off the roads as Ruby Hill parents drive their children to schools in other parts of Pleasanton.

He also countered opponents' arguments that the waterslides would be too expensive for Pleasanton youth. He said he spends up to $16.50 for his children to bowl, $15 to $20 for batting practice and $150 to take his family of four to see the San Francisco Giants or Oakland Athletics play baseball.

"Let's look at what we have in Pleasanton," Torquemada said. "Bowling? Not here. Movies? Not here. Skating? Not here. Pleasanton is building Bernal Park, a library expansion and a golf course. Why not let someone else pay for this where for $60 my whole family can enjoy the entire day together?"

Julie Testa of the Youth Master Plan Implementation Committee said the expanded waterslides have been on the group's wish list for more than five years, along with a BMX motocross facility that would be built next to the water park.

"This would be a moderate-size water park that would be closed for nearly nine months of the year," Testa said. "The city of Newark is building its own water park next to its youth center at a cost of $13 million. Here we have a chance for an improved water park at no cost to taxpayers and one that would generate revenue for the East Bay Regional Park District and our own city and school district."

But retired Parks and Community Services Director Dolores Bengtson and local architect Charles Huff disagreed. Bengtson said that while she would like to see the existing four waterslides rebuilt, she is opposed to turning the site into a full-fledged water park. Huff said the project would generate too much traffic, arguing that it is the wrong location for Pleasanton.

Other opponents included Bill Rose, director of the local Audubon Society, and Susan Campbell of Vintage Hills. Rose said the water park construction project could destroy rich woodland behind the current slides and nesting birds that are there. Campbell disputed water park proponents' claims that it would give teenagers a place to go. She cited the new 2004 Parks and Recreation Guide that lists 37 parks in Pleasanton and 20 facilities available to teens.

"I have a hard time understanding why we need this large water park for our teens with all of these other wonderful facilities for them to use," she said.

Tom Mikkelsen, who represents the East Bay Park District, said Shadow Cliffs is one of the most popular lakes and parks in its 60-park system, and that an expanded water park would further enhance its attraction and use.

"This is a 296-acre park with an 80-acre lake plus a waterslide," Mikkelsen said. "We planned this expansion back in 1989 and have held three public hearings recently here. Remember that this site once was an abandoned quarry, which we have improved, adding to the values and quality of life for everyone. But the waterslides have reached the end of their usefulness and need to be redone and expanded. The operator is subsidizing them now with out-of-pocket costs exceeding $10,000 a year. He can't continue doing that. The slides will be closed if they can't be expanded."

Although council members postponed their discussion of the proposal until next Tuesday, two of them - Councilwomen Kay Ayala and Jennifer Hosterman - indicated their opposition to the expansion project as proposed. Ayala said she could not support a startup phase that would build 66 percent of the project, as Kierstead has proposed, but might consider a scaled-down first phase. Hosterman said she would only vote to approve the project if it could be challenged in a referendum, which would require rezoning the property. That was also a majority view on the city Planning Commission, which turned down the proposal Dec. 10 in a 3-2 vote.

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