San Jose's Cevalo Riding Academy evicted from Silver Creek property
Los Altos approves $800K for Westwind


San Jose's Cevalo Riding Academy evicted from Silver Creek property
By Lisa M. Krieger
Mercury News, 01/18/2009

Cynder is moving. Again.
For the second time in less than a decade, his home has grown far more valuable for houses than horses. So just like when he was evicted from his previous barn by Los Gatos developers, the aging Appaloosa and 35 other horses will be loaded into a trailer today and forced to leave their San Jose stable, before the bulldozers arrive to flatten it.

The popular Cevalo Riding Academy, which sits on fertile pasture in an increasingly asphalt world, is one of two public riding programs left in San Jose. The academy is part of the valley's long agricultural tradition, dating back to the cattle-herding padres of Missions San Jose and Santa Clara.

But over the decades, dozens of horse barns have closed. The sole remaining San Jose public stable, Calero Ranch Stables, has a lease with the Santa Clara Valley Water District that expires in 2010.

Even the recent housing slowdown was not enough to shield Cevalo from Silicon Valley sprawl; it lost its lease last week. The 14-acre ranch above Silver Creek will be developed for about 40 single-family homes.

Thanks to last-minute rescue efforts by Cevalo's leadership, room has been found for the animals at Hibbitts Family Stables near San Jose's Kelley Park. The tight-knit program will continue. But it will need to share the space with others. The academy will no longer have a barn. And there won't be room for everyone.

"It's stressful. There's no time, and so much to do," said Deb Adair, president of the board of Cevalo, whose mission is to preserve convenient and affordable access to riding in the South Bay. On a tenuous month-to-month lease while the property was being sold, she got word just last week that Cevalo needed to be out.

Sunday, teams of weary volunteers cut down fences and boxed up halters, saddles and other tack. Sensing change, restless horses pawed and neighed.

Everyone helps out. Cevalo is a cooperative program, with no paid staff, in which everyone helps feed, muck stalls and organize camps and riding lessons.
"My pay is when my daughter says, 'That was a good day, Mom,' " said AnnMarie Eagle of San Jose.

"It's amazing to watch the transformation of kids who come here," Adair said. "They arrive not knowing what to do with a pitchfork or a screwdriver. They've never led a horse. They learn how to follow instructions and take responsibility. It builds confidence."

The Cevalo property was once part of the vast Piercy Ranch. In the 1960s, the ranch was subdivided into smaller parcels. For a while, it was a prosperous Morgan horse breeding facility. But one by one, neighboring ranches were developed as the parcels were sold off.

Because it stood outside San Jose's urban growth boundary, which keeps the lid on dense development in San Jose, Cevalo felt safe.

Then the property owner, Piercy Development Company, asked the city to change the property's land-use designation from "rural residential" to "high density residential."
The land value in the area has soared. At nearby Edenville Business Park, vacant office condominiums are being sold for $235 a square foot, even in this economy.
"When I first came here 27 years ago, the whole area had little pockets of barns and stalls," said Cevalo trainer Diana Disney. "It seems like they've been closing on a daily basis in the last five years. This is the 11th move for me. We just keep having to go from place to place."

It is just one example of a sweeping statewide trend, said Deb Balliet of the Kentucky-based Equestrian Land Conservation Resource, which keeps data on vanishing horse properties. In the city of Dublin, the vast Yarra Yarra Ranch recently was subdivided for homes. So was Napa's Wild Horse Valley Ranch and Chico's Bidwell Stables. A parking lot now stands at the site of Sacramento's former Cal Expo equestrian showgrounds.

No room for 35
"More and more, horse riding is becoming a pleasure restricted to only those who can afford to own their own horse," said Nancy Couperus of Los Altos Hills, a board member of the nonprofit group Bay Area Barns and Trails, which works to save land for riding.

Hearing news of Cevalo's eviction, volunteer Nancy Harrington rushed to the Internet and the telephone. "I spent hours and hours calling around," she said. "I'd find one place that would have space for one horse, but not 35. In the Yellow Pages, there was a whole list of places. But they were all gone."

Key to 'our souls'
"It's heartbreaking. And frustrating. The land is important to our souls," said Harrington, a minister at Evergreen Presbyterian Church, who owns a bay Arabian gelding named Bear. "To be out riding and see deer, rabbits and hawks up in the hills "... right here in San Jose."

Neighbor Richard Nero, who runs nearby Hampton Stables, could offer only a few temporary spots. "Everything's closing down," he said.
"It was all farmland. They told us nobody could build here," said Charles Green, 54, who has lived on the property for 20 years and helped Cevalo with odd jobs.
"Then all of a sudden there were people with money, buying up property," he said. "Now they're going to tear it down.

"You expect growth," Green said. "But when it happens to you, and you're the one out, it's tough. You know that once it's gone, it's gone."
- Contact Lisa M. Krieger at lkrieger@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5565.


Los Altos approves $800K for Westwind
Funds to help repair deteriorating stables
By Melanie Carroll / Daily News Staff Writer
In recognition of the Westwind Barn's importance to the town, the Los Altos City Council will spend $800,000 to rehabilitate the aging facility.

"I can't imagine Los Altos Hills without Westwind," Council Member Breene Kerr said. "If you can't imagine the town without the barn, you're compelled to fix it."

The city council's 3-1 vote Thursday night paves the way for the $1.7 million restoration work, half of which is to be financed through privately raised funds.

Applause broke out when the council approved the expenditure about 10 p.m. after much debate.

Council Member Craig Jones, who cast the dissenting vote, said "there is no other topic more troubling than Westwind Barn. ... There's a dilemma. It's really expensive. We're talking huge numbers."

Because the stables, built in the 1940s, are seismically unsafe, restoration will include "collapse-prevention" work.

"Westwind is a town treasure," longtime Westwind supporter Nancy Couperus said. "Westwind is a community asset that needs to be cared for."

Nearly a dozen riders from the local Pony Club and 4-H groups told the council how much they love Westwind.

Resident Jim Abraham, however, argued against spending so much for "this place that sucks money." He said Westwind caters to a small group of people, mostly girls who like to ride horses.

Ulli Sharma, president of Friends of Westwind, which runs the barn, said the city should be as generous to the stable as it is to its Little League fields...”

E-mail Melanie Carroll at mcarroll@dailynewsgroup.com.
http://www.paloaltodailynews.com/article/2007-12-15-12-15-lah-facilities

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