Why Modesto wants to trade Beard Brook Park for land Gallo owns along the Tuolumne
Modesto is working on a land swap with the world’s biggest winery for a riverwalk along the Tuolumne for walkers, joggers, bicyclists and nature lovers.
The city wants to trade its 12-acre Beard Brook — which sits along Dry Creek and south of Yosemite Boulevard, between the E.&J. Gallo Winery and Stanislaus Food Products — for a 12-acre, half-mile strip of open land Gallo owns along the Tuolumne River between Dry Creek and Santa Cruz Avenue.
The land swap would let the city build a nearly three-quarter-mile riverwalk in the Tuolumne River Regional Park from its Gateway Parcel to its Mary Grogan Grove, an oak woodland just east of Legion Park.
The city estimates the project’s cost at $6.3 million. That includes a pedestrian bridge across Dry Creek, a picnic pavilion, restroom, paved riverwalk, lighting, security cameras, concrete benches and tables, and other features.
The city has funding for the design work and expects that to start this summer. It needs to find funding for the rest of the project but hopes to start construction in summer 2025. Modesto has paid for many of the regional park’s improvements with grants.
The project is a big piece in the city eventually constructing a riverwalk along the entire length of the regional park. Tuolumne River Regional Park is more than 500 acres and runs for seven miles along the river, from Mitchell Road to Carpenter Road.
It includes Mancini, Legion and Bellenita parks, as well as the 87-acre Gateway Parcel, which is in the center of the regional park and near Beard Brook and downtown. The park is a partnership among Modesto, Ceres and Stanislaus County. Modesto manages it.
“We’re as anxious as anyone to have this part done,” Modesto Parks, Recreation and Neighborhoods Director Laurie Smith said about acquiring the Gallo property for the riverwalk. “We see it as a critical connection. ... We want people to enjoy the entire seven miles, hiking, biking, walking.”
Some of the riverwalk exists now in the Gateway Parcel and Legion Park.
This project has been envisioned for a long time. Obtaining an easement — or permission — from Gallo to use its riverfront property from Dry Creek to Santa Cruz Avenue for the riverwalk is identified as a priority in the Tuolumne River Regional Park 2001 master plan. The city is working to update the plan by 2023.
Because Modesto used state money to put in a new playground at Beard Brook about 20 years ago, it needs the California Department of Parks and Recreation’s permission for the land swap.
The city in January submitted to the state agency the required documentation for the swap. Smith said state parks and rec recently told Modesto the documentation meets its requirements. The assessed value of Beard Brook and the Gallo property are both about $240,000, according to appraisals included in the documentation.
Smith said Modesto’s next steps are to reach an agreement with the state and to continue its negotiations with Gallo.
“We are supportive of the City’s request but are awaiting approvals before making any plans on what to do with the land (Beard Brook),” a Gallo spokeswoman said in an email.
City Council approval needed
The Gallo property is part of four parcels totaling about 75 acres owned by E.&J. Gallo Winery and Gallo Glass. The site, which fronts Yosemite Boulevard, includes Gallo’s corporate offices, fermentation and wine-aging tanks, bottling, sales reps, a research building, a glass plant and warehouses.
The land swap eventually has to come before the City Council for approval. The city’s parks planning and development manager, Nathan Houx, said that could happen by the end of this year.
Modesto has until June 30, 2023, to complete this deal. That is based on a law passed last year that allows the swap. The city worked with Assemblyman Adam Gray, D-Merced, in passing the legislation.
Houx said Modesto would keep a narrow strip of Beard Brook along South Morton Drive for a paved trail the city expects will one day be part of a connection between its Dry Creek Trail and the Tuolumne River Regional Park riverwalk.
Beard Brook once was a jewel among the city’s parks. Bee archives show it opened about 90 years ago.
It had been home to the Modesto Children’s Park, which opened in 1960 to great fanfare, drawing 3,000 children to its groundbreaking, according to Bee archives. In its heyday, the park featured a steam engine, jet plane, firetruck and wading pool.
But in recent years, it has been a popular site for homeless people. Modesto temporarily opened the park to homeless campers in September 2018 as it worked to comply with a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision involving Boise, Idaho, that held it was not a crime for homeless people to sleep on public property when alternative shelter is not available.
Modesto closed the campground in early 2019.
Dog park never opened
Modesto did attempt in recent years to encourage more positive uses at Beard Brook. That included working with Pacific Gas & Electric Co. to move the steam engine from the park to the city’s Amtrak station in 2018.
The engine had sat neglected in the park after the city put chain-link fencing around it in the 1970s because it was a hazard for the children who played on it. The train got a new coat of paint as part of its relocation. PG&E moved the engine because it had sat atop a gas line about five feet below the surface. The project gives PG&E faster access to the line.
As part of the project, PG&E built a dog park at Beard Brook. But the city never opened it. Houx said that was for several reasons, including that allowing homeless people to temporarily camp in the park caused damage that would need to be addressed. The pandemic was another reason, he said.
Modesto has faced issues with homeless camping, vandalism and the dumping of trash and other junk in Tuolumne River Regional Park. The city closed Legion Park to cars and other vehicles in October because of that. It is expected to reopen the park to vehicles in April.
The city has pursued a strategy of increasing the amenities in its parks — including Tuolumne River Regional — to encourage more positive uses and drive out negative ones.
Several projects underway
Modesto has pursued several projects in Tuolumne River Regional Park in an effort to make it a regional attraction.
That includes building three soccer fields near Bellenita Park. Modesto was awarded a $1 million state parks and rec grant in 2017 for the project. Construction is expected to start in the fall.
The city also expects to start construction this summer on a boat launch for canoes, kayaks, rafts and other nonmotorized watercraft. Modesto received a $775,000 state grant for the project, which would be off Neece Drive near John Thurman Field.
The city is working with the Modesto Area Disc Golf Club on building a nine-hole beginners course in Legion Park and an 18-hole advanced course just east of Legion Park. Construction is expected to start in the summer.
And the city undertook a $3 million project in the Gateway Parcel that included an outdoor classroom, about 2,700 feet of paved trails that comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, a backwater channel that helps with flood control and lets nature lovers view the river up close, a pedestrian bridge over the channel and an observation deck overlooking the river.
Modesto is seeking $4 million from the California Legislature and-or Congress this year to pay for more improvements at Gateway. They include a park access road, more trails, plaza, picnic area, amphitheater and security cameras and lighting, according to the city’s legislative priorities for 2022.
As part of revitalizing its downtown, Modesto’s long-term vision is to connect 10th Street to the Gateway Parcel.
