Politics & Government
Updated: Sign Hill and Paradise Valley Park: Should It Be Public Land?
Local advocates have been working to preserve Paradise Valley Park and Sign Hill for decades, and are gearing up to stop future development. Do you think Sign Hill should remain an open space? Take the poll below.
, home to the iconic “South San Francisco: The Industrial City” sign, may see new development in the years to come.
According to Ken McIntire, executive director of Brisbane-based environmental group San Bruno Mountain Watch, Sullivan Land Development has preliminary plans to build approximately 20 residences on the slope just east of the sign, on the northeastern side of the hill.
McIntire said that the developer had described the project to include new homes near Diamond Ave. No official proposals have been submitted.
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If the Sullivan residential development were to proceed, it is not likely the sign itself or the walking trails surrounding the sign would be directly impacted.
Yet SBMW and the local advocacy group Friends of Sign Hill are rallying to stop the development before it starts.
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The three parcels that constitute the northern side of Paradise Valley Park are privately owned. About a decade ago, the city fought a legal battle to keep them from being developed.
Now, McIntire hopes that all three northern parcels can eventually be made public land. He and other activists are currently focusing on the eastern-most. The majority of the southern side of the hill is publically owned.
Paradise Valley Park, similar to San Bruno Mountain State Park, is habitat to the endangered Mission Blue Butterfly. It also includes types of grasses and dunes that do not appear elsewhere in the Bay Area.
Proponents of the effort to preserve the entirety of what is currently undeveloped at Sign Hill held a meeting last week to let members of the community speak about what they would like to see happen to the hill.
According to a Friends of Sign Hill spokesperson, about 50 people attended, including several city officials. At last night’s city council meeting, council member Mark Adieggo commended the advocates on their efforts.
Currently, SBMW is raising money for the efforts, and hopes to lobby city council members in the future to set aside funds for purchasing the land.
Update 4:30 p.m.: According to Jim Sullivan of San Jose-based Sullivan Land Development, zoning in the open area near Diamond Ave. requires each house to sit on a full acre. Sullivan would rather cluster homes together, if the project does proceed, and leave 13 or 14 acres open.
"It makes sense to do that [cluster homes] environmentally and aesthetically," Sullivan told Patch. "I do not want a garish development." He said these would be houses with great views, but not sticking out from the landscape so much to be seen from Route 101.
Sullivan said that if he submits a proposal that is shut down, and environmental activists do not succeed in moving the land into public ownership, another developer who is more profit-driven and less interested in working with local environmental interests, will inevitably try to build there in the future.
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