Willow Glen Trestle fight crumbles
Judge does not support group’s claim that 95-year-old bridge has ties to agricultural history
The Willow Glen Trestle’s chances of hitting the century mark were significantly reduced earlier this month when a Santa Clara County judge ruled it isn’t historical enough to preserve.
In a 32-page ruling, Superior Court Judge Helen E. Williams sided with San Jose city leaders who have tried for years to raze the bridge.
Williams’ Oct. 5 ruling said San Jose’s determination that “the trestle is not a historical resource is supported by substantial evidence, slim as it may be and even though there is also substantial evidence on the other side.”
For more than four years the city and a group called Friends of the Willow Glen Trestle have waged a legal battle over the fate of the 95-year-old bridge.
The city’s plan to complete the Los Gatos Creek Trail connection calls for replacing the trestle with a $1 million custom-built steel bridge that’s sitting in storage.
The Friends group has been arguing that the trestle’s ties to San Jose’s agricultural history warrant the approximately $2 million needed to restore it.
Williams wrote that the California Environmental Quality Act “does not appear to confer an affirmative duty on a lead agency to undertake a historicity determination of what could be a discretionary historical resource.”
Williams acknowledged the “practical challenges” of establishing historical status and the “analytical gap when it comes to affording CEQA protection and transparency to agency decisions on a discretionary historical resource,” but noted “this is a gap that is not a court’s job to fill.”
As for the trestle’s placement last year on the California Register of Historic Resources, Williams said that was “irrelevant to judicial review” of the original demolition approval.
Friends member Larry Ames said he still plans to attend a State Historical Resources Commission hearing on Friday, which was prompted by a letter the city sent several months ago asking the commission to reconsider its decision.
“I feel that many in the city want to save the trestle, but the system had to keep going,” Ames said. “There are several places where the stored bridge would be most useful. San Jose has a rich history—why tear down one of the few remaining reminders of it?”
With District 9 Councilman Don Rocha’s recent effort to bring the trestle issue back to a city council that includes new members, Ames said he’s hoping the tide will turn in the group’s favor.
But Councilwoman Dev Davis, who represents the Willow Glen neighborhood, said that although “there’s always the possibility of an appeal,” she and others are ready to move on.
“I think the residents are looking forward to a resolution that would allow the Los Gatos Creek Trail to be connected to the Three Creeks Trail,” Davis said. “The Three Creeks Trail construction is on schedule for a spring 2018 completion. We can honor the history of the railroad without further hurting the environment and delaying the trail connection.”
There is no timeline or immediate plan to raze the trestle. Construction and demolition in the creek are prohibited during the rainy season, which started this week. The city’s permit to remove the trestle also expires at the end of the year.
Contact Julia Baum at 408-200-1054.