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San Jose staff publishes charter-park inventory, clarifies rules for trails, golf courses and community centers
Summary
City staff presented an inventory showing 222 parks citywide and recommended a consistent interpretation of section 1,700 of the city charter: city-owned, improved and open-to-public parcels meet the charter’s protections; staff recommended treating certain trail segments and all municipal golf courses as charter parkland.
City staff presented and the San Jose City Council accepted a report May 6 that explains how the city applies Section 1,700 of the San Jose City Charter to public parks and provided an inventory classifying 222 city park sites.
John Ciccarelli, director of Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services, and Raymond Constantino, deputy director for capital and planning, told the council the charter generally renders parkland “inalienable” except when voters authorize a change. The staff memo memorializes a three-part test the city applies to determine whether property is charter parkland: the city owns the land in fee title, the land has been improved for park or recreational use (which can include minimal improvements such as a path or bench), and the land is open to the public for park purposes.
Staff explained how the test applies to categories that have created confusion in the past: trails, golf courses and stand-alone community centers. The recommendation states that city-owned and improved trail segments that meet the three-part test will be considered charter parkland (limited to the improved 20‑foot width where applicable) and that pocket parks adjacent to trails will be evaluated separately. For golf courses, staff recommended treating the city’s three municipal courses — San Jose Municipal Golf Course, Rancho Del Pueblo Golf Course and Los Lagos Golf Course — as charter parks because they meet the ownership, improvement and public-access criteria. Stand-alone community center buildings on parking lots without surrounding parkland are not themselves charter parkland; the underlying parkland is chartered if it existed prior to construction.
Staff said 207 of the 222 parks in the inventory meet the charter criteria; 15 do not, mainly because the city does not own the land (examples included parks on county land, school district land or Department of Transportation rights-of-way). Staff also identified undeveloped park reserves that will become charter parks once developed and opened to the public and recommended memorializing that status in future master plans.
Council members asked how long-term leases and previous voter approvals affect status; staff replied that voter-approved long-term leases (for instance a 40‑year lease approved by voters) do not change the underlying charter status and that, at the end of an approved term, the land reverts to park use unless voters act otherwise. Councilor questions also focused on closed parks that remain chartered and on how the department plans to prioritize reopening closed or underused charter parks.
Councilmember motions to accept the staff report passed unanimously.
