A little bit more history of ownership
"The Parkside Trails property is the site of a former quarry. Quarrying operations were undertaken by the McDonald-Dorsa family who sold the property to Kaiser Permanente Cement, which was founded by Henry J. Kaiser. Quarrying activities ceased in the 1970s. In 1987 the cement plant and surrounding lands were bought by Hanson, a British holding company. The cement plant was renamed Hanson Permanente Cement and non-essential land holdings were sold by the new owner. The closed quarry had several interim owners all of whom were interested in developing luxury homes on the 131 acres. The property was purchased in 1999 to develop a private school, Canyon Heights Academy. This same owner now proposes to develop 18 single-family homes on 9 acres of the site that is accessible from Stevens Canyon Road. The remainder of the site, approximately 122 acres, is located across Stevens Creek."
From https://www.cupertino.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=25430
Dated: June 27, 2014
The property is now owned by Parkside Trails LLC
Parkside Trails LLC, the property owners are trying to redevelop the location
Looks like the property owners are trying to redevelop the location including some houses:-
http://www.cupertino.org/index.aspx?page=1139
Update as a new summer begins
This evening my wife and I took a walk around the northern border of Stevens Creek County Park. The high fence between the park and the Gravel Pit is still very much there. Access to the lower gate is deliberately blocked by a pile of dry branches, and the higher gate (accessed from Villa Maria) is still firmly locked. From the Ridge Trail we could see two deer grazing in the valley. Looks like this no-mans land will remain wild for a good while to come.
Labels: gates, locked, Villa Maria
View from Linda Vista - Oct 28, 2006
I decided to climb the hill above Linda Vista park in Cupertino, which is directly North of the Gravel Pit. It's a steep climb, but I'm clearly not the first to do it. The path is little more than a deer track, but there's a fair amount of trash left by visitors. At the top of the hill you get the following view overlooking the Gravel Pit:-
At the top of the hill a natural hollow had been used occasionally as a small fire pit. The area round about was littered with tiny white pellets. These turned out to be tiny plastic BB Gun pellets. A couple of half-empty bags of pellets confirmed this:-
But what was more disturbing was to find an unused fire lighter. Was this a clue to the cause of the Gravel Pit grass fire?
Or perhaps it was just left behind by someone who had used the "fire pit". Either way, in the midst of a hot dry summer this was definitely risky behavior to leave unlit fire-lighters in the dry grass.
Labels: View from Linda Vista
After the Fire
I've been unable to find out anything about when or how the wildfire happened. I went to Villa Maria on Saturday and took some photos overlooking the valley, but didn't try to find a way in.
There was a firetruck in the Villa Maria parking lot, so I guess they're still doing an analysis of the site. But I didn't see anyone I could ask.
I found a spot with a view of the valley and took this photo. You can see that the fire fillled the bottom of the valley, but fortunately didn't travel up the hillside, probably because the valley gets very little breeze. But the homeowners on Lindy Road (above the Gravel Pit) must have been concerned. They'd probably been the ones who raised the alarm.
A New Development!
I can't believe it, but it's been over a month since I last visited the gravel pit, the last picture I took was on 8/24! Today, as I approached the Villa Maria entrance the deer tracks had been widened by some heavy vehicle, and I began to worry that the bulldozers were moving in to develop the property. The gate, for the first time, was now actually padlocked. And the caterpillar tread marks were headed right for the Gravel Pit! So I headed down to the Stevens Creek entrance. It too was locked, but I found my way in, reassuring myself that I had got permission to be there from the owners via their legal counsel.
Something felt wrong, but I couldn't tell what. But as I approached the valley the blackenned floor made it clear that a brush fire had filled the valley bottom. There was no smoke and no smell, so the fire had clearly been some days or weeks ago. The fire crew had clearly entered from the Villa Maria entrance and down the southern escarpment. Fortunately the fire had not spread beyond the valley bottom before had been put out.
Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me this time to take pictures.
Was it natural? Or was it arson? I'll check the local newspapers and find out!
After much sleuthing and polite enquiries I have managed to gain legal access!
It looks a lot different after the heat of summer. Everything is dried up, lifeless and quiet. But it's good to be back.
