A Feasibility Study for Urban Edge Agricultural Parks - SAGE

MARTIAL COTTLE PARK FEASIBILITY STUDYMartial Cottle Park, located in San Jose, is a 290-acre undeveloped parcel of landunder the jurisdiction of the Santa Clara County Parks and Recreation Department.This flat valley land has been in continuous agricultural production by theCottle/Lester family for the past 150 years, even while suburbia grew up all aroundit and the country road on its edge became a busy freeway. The parcel wasrecently deeded to Santa Clara County by the Lester family, under a set ofconditions requiring that it remain in agricultureand that it offer agricultural education. ThisAgricultural Park Feasibility Study will inform theCounty Park Department’s pending Master Planfor this site.ContextHistoryOne of the few remaining pieces of San Jose’srich agricultural history, Martial Cottle Park is aglimpse of what was known—prior to being calledSilicon Valley—as the “Valley of the Heart’s Delight.” The property was originallypart of the Bernal family’s extensive Rancho Santa Teresa. In 1864 it waspurchased by Edward Cottle who then deeded 350 acres to his son, Martial Cottle.Martial Cottle used the property for cattle, grain, and row crops, leaving it to hisdaughter, Ethel Cottle, who envisioned it someday preserved for public use, underher father’s name. The property has been continually farmed by the Cottle familyand its descendants up to today. In 2003, Ethel’s children, Edith and Walter Lester,transferred the site to the State and County, under the condition that it remain inagriculture, and serve as an educational facility keeping farming traditions alive.At present, Martial Cottle Park falls under the jurisdiction of Santa Clara CountyParks and Recreation Department, which currently operates 27 parks encompassingapproximately 45,000 acres. These parks are generally more than 200 acres insize, and many include points of historical interest. The mission of the SCC Parksand Recreation Department is: “to provide, protect, and preserve regionalparklands for the enjoyment, education and inspiration of this and futuregenerations.” 6Site DescriptionCurrently, the property is home to Walter Lester, for whom thirty-two acres arereserved as a life estate. The remaining land has been transferred to the State of6 http://www.parkhere.org/site/0,4760,sid%253D12761,00.htmlDRAFT 1.6.05 29