The Guadalupe River Park is a unique park located near Downtown San José, just south of the Norman Y. Mineta San José International Airport (SJC). The Park consists of a community garden, Heritage Rose Garden, Historic Orchard, and more, and offers spectacular views of low-flying airplanes as the Park is also located in the airport approach zone.

A Master Plan for the Guadalupe River Park, adopted in 2002, envisioned a mixture of horticultural, agricultural, and recreational uses for the 120-acre site. DJP&A team members Julie Wright, and John Hesler prepared an Initial Study for the Master Plan in coordination with the City of San José and SJC. Notable issues that were analyzed in the Initial Study were primary related to impacts occurring during construction including air quality emissions, noise levels, nesting birds, buried cultural resources, previous hazardous materials (pesticides) use on the site and water quality both during and after construction. In addition, the environmental analysis ensured that implementation of the Master Plan would not interfere with airport operations or create a navigational safety hazard due to the site’s location in the airport approach zone.

John’s familiarity with airport operations and regulations allowed for an efficient environmental review process despite the scale of the project site.