Community Meeting on Proposed Changes to Mise Park at 7 P.M.

John Mise Park, which could be headed for renovations to turn it into a larger, artificial turf soccer and softball field under a shared agreement with Archbishop Mitty High School, is the subject of a community meeting Monday at 7 p.m. at the school during which some members of the surrounding community are expected to voice fierce opposition.

“This is a public park and the residents of the neighborhood need to have their say in the development,” wrote Christina Pratt on a petition to prevent San Jose Parks and Recreation from pushing through the changes to the San Jose City Council.

San Jose Parks is negotiating with Mitty to provide up to $375,000 toward a $4.1 million capital construction of the field, which would convert one existing diamond and one rectangular field into the proposed adult-sized soccer and softball fields from its current youth size, install energy efficient lighting—and also hoped to mitigate any light cast into residents’ homes—and move the parking lot.

Mitty, under the 25-year agreement, would also agree to ground maintenance of the almost 12-acre neighborhood park, which would save San Jose an estimated $70,000 to $80,000 annually, according to a spokesman in San Jose City Councilmember Pete Constant’s office.

The school would also contribute yearly toward the eventual replacement of the artificial turf, which has a life expectancy of about 13 years.

Among the changes to the park that are among debate are replacing the natural turf with artificial turf, which some say increases injuries to players and leaches toxic substances into the ground below.

“We've been to friends parties and gatherings, read books in the sunshine, watched dog training, and been bombarded by balls kicked and thrown by Mitty athletes. Open space on which children can play and adults enjoy relaxation is necessary to a health neighborhoods,” wrote Mary Lopez on the Change.org petition.

“On school days, Mitty currently makes the park inaccessible to anyone who can't walk there because students take up all the parking. Students in sport practices frequently find it amusing to tease and scare younger children who play there and dominate play areas,” she wrote.

Mise Park is located at at Moorpark Avenue and Mitty Way in West San Jose—east of Lawrence Expressway and south of I-280—across the Cupertino border and about a block from Mitty.

Mitty, a private high school, currently uses the park and under the new agreement would be given exclusive use on school days from 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. without having to utilize the city’s normal booking process.

The community meeting, which will be attended by Constant, is expected to run from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and will be held at 5000 Mitty Way, San Jose.