Letter to the Editor: Former Soccer Club Player Weighs In on Blair Park

I have been a member of the Piedmont Community for over twenty-five years and have served both as player and coach with the Piedmont Soccer Club for more than fourteen of those years. I'm writing with both the understanding of the need for players to have fields to play on while feeling deeply sympathetic to the preservation of Moraga Canyon as the last open green space in Piedmont.

As a long-time Piedmont resident, since my years at Beach Elementary School, through middle school and high school, I have taken the Moraga Canyon road many a times. I am now grown and have traveled and resided in cities outside of Piedmont, but continue to return to the one place I call Home with the perspective of realizing what makes Piedmont such a gem of a community and so special a place. For its supportive and nurturing community and school system, and beautiful  neighborhoods of trees, rolling hills, seclusion and calm.

If Moraga Canyon is pummeled to make way for Blair Park, the last open and wild space will be horded day in and day out, with constant clogging of traffic as commuters, neighbors and the like make their way from Montclair and the nearby freeways to their destinations in Piedmont, Oakland, Rockridge and beyond. I guarantee the so-called simple construction project and gift to the city will never end in commotion and headaches for those taking that road, or living in the neighboring hillside. It will cease to be the lovely, safe and secluded city we all know and love for the generations to come.

I am saddened that the City Council is considering leasing what is a public park to a select group of people for their particular use. The City Council members should not specifically represent those that have a special interest in the land but represent the community as a whole and acknowledge the legitimate concerns and arguments that opponents have for preserving Moraga Canyon. A public park belongs to an entire city and should not be made exclusive to the interests of a select number of citizens and their special interests.

I am already mourning what could be a devastating turn for over 55 mature oak trees, 100 additional trees and animal life, the safety of our citizens and those traversing the winding Road, and the currently calm and naturally gorgeous backyard for all Piedmonters.

My parents and I never considered driving to Alameda or the neighboring cities for soccer practices, games and tournaments a schlep, for it was a privilege to have the support of those around me in my athletic pursuits and passion, the ability to go to distances for something we loved and the ability to come Home where we rested our sore but exuberant bones in a place as safe and quiet as Piedmont.

In these last hours, I ask you to please reflect on what we are about to lose before we make irreparable damage and lose sight of something that will long outlive our own relatively short lives.

In the words of John Muir,

"Any fool can destroy trees. They cannot run away; and if they could, they would still be destroyed - chased and hunted down as long as fun or a dollar could be got out of their bark hides. Few that fell trees plant them; Through all the wonderful, eventful centuries God has cared for these trees, saved them from drought, disease, avalanches, and a thousand straining, leveling tempests and floods; but he cannot save them from fools - only Uncle Sam can do that."

Serra Sabuncuoglu
Piedmont Resident over 25 years
Piedmont Soccer Club Alumni

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