San Jose All District Leadership Group
Council Districts
D1 - D2 - D3 - D4 - D5 - D6 - D7 - D8 - D9 - D10
San Jose, California
Honorable Matt Mahan, Mayor, City of San José
and Members of the City Council
200 E. Santa Clara St,
San José, CA, 95113
via email, sent Sept. 10, 2023
re: Support for Sept. 12th Council Agenda Item 8.1: “Purchase and Sale Agreement for Properties Extending the Five Wounds Trail from E. William Street to the Proposed Little Portugal BART Station.”
Dear Mayor Mahan and Councilmembers,
The San Jose All District Leadership Group (SJADLG) is a consortium of the leadership of the active San Jose leadership groups. The purpose of the SJADLG is to strengthen two-way communication between neighborhoods and government agencies and representatives and build a stronger sense of community within all Districts in the City of San Jose.
We wholeheartedly support Staff’s recommendation to purchase, at no cost (other than closing costs), lands and recreational trail easements from the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA). These lands and easements will enable the City to construct over 2 miles of off-road trail in eastern San José.
The Five Wounds Trail is of regional significance:
● This trail will connect residential communities to the planned Little Portugal BART Station, enabling residents to access public transportation without needing to drive (and park) a car.
● It provides an off-road alternative to the on-street alignment of the planned Coyote Creek Trail. (This region in central San José was densely developed prior to riparian corridor setback requirements, and so a streamside alignment of a future trail is highly unlikely. The Five Wounds Trail would provide a convenient bypass, connecting to the Coyote Creek Trail at Olinder Park in the south and Watson Park in the north.)
● By bridging the downtown gap in the Coyote Creek Trail, it will enable dedication of a significant portion of the South Valley segment of the SF Bay Area Ridge Trail.1
● And the Five Wounds Trail can connect to existing and planned segments of the Three Creeks Trail, Los Gatos, Guadalupe, Bay, and Coyote Creek Trails to form
1 https://ridgetrail.org/trail-maps/
what we in the community are calling “The City Loop Trail.”2
We urge you to accept Staff’s recommendation and to approve this no-cost acquisition of lands and easements for the Five Wounds Trail.
Thank you,
Greg Peck
San Jose All District Leadership Group
District 1 – Gary Cunningham
District 2 – Lalabu (Babu) Prasad
District 3 – Joan Rivas-Cosby
District 4 – Linda Locke
District 5 – Juan Estrada
District 6 – Larry Ames
District 7 – Alie Victorine
District 8 – Pat Waite
District 9 – Bobbi Pena-Atak
District 10 – David Heindel
cc: City Clerk; City Manager; PRNS Director; Bay Area Ridge Trail Council; Friends of Five Wounds; Save Our Trails.
2 http://wgbackfence.net/CityLoopTrail.jpg