Time-sensitive -  join us to help protect Mills Estate Park in Millbrae!  This park provides critical large greenspace & habitat for wildlife in a suburban area - it is over 5 acres on a unique site for people, pollinators and wildlife to enjoy. Current proposed park development plans by Verde Design DO NOT include preservation & restoration of habitat for our native birds and butterflies.  Join us insisting that the City of Millbrae restore and improve Mills Estate Park to provide a beautiful space for both people and the native flora and fauna.  The City must develop a plan that uses the principles of sustainable design to develop a park for people to enjoy nature to exercise outdoors in a natural environment, walk their dogs and to picnic and play with friends and family.  The use of drought tolerant native flowers, shrubs & grasses, permeable trails and rain gardens is essential to help support the resident and migratory birds along with the butterflies and native pollinators, flora and fauna that live at the park.

The park is currently a valuable bird, butterfly & wildlife 'Waystation' that is East of Crystal Springs Reservoir/San Andreas Lake along 280, West of the San Francisco Bay and South of the important San Bruno Mountain habitat. Mills Estate Park is surrounded by pines and native Oaks and is home to Great Horned Owls, Gray foxes, a local Cottontail species, a myriad of native and migrating birds, butterflies and other native flora and fauna. On the SF Bay Peninsula, the need for these 'waystation' habitats to be planned, restored and provide connections and viable habitats for our native Birds, Butterflies, Bees and other wildlife species is critical to their survival.

Residents made clear in a Dec 2020 Survey that they prioritize the keeping the park as a natural space with enhancements to enable all to use and enjoy the park - yet all 3 of the current 'preliminary' design proposals by Verde Design contain the use of invasive non-native Bermuda Grass, no mention of habitat creation/restoration using California native plants, predominantly non-permeable surfaces and lack of designated rain garden areas.  Rain gardens are an essential element as the park is surrounded by steep slopes on multiple sides & receives an excessive amount of rainfall and run off . The park should include numerous picnic areas, accessible and permeable trails running throughout with regularly spaced benches along the way, playgrounds for younger & older children, (an example is the play areas at the Presidio Tunnel Tops Park in San Francisco), separate small playing fields with islands of native plants interspersed and exercise areas - all made with design principles that support and enhance the natural beauty of the park.  With houses around the perimeter of the park and the amphitheater shape that amplifies sound, this is really not the place for basketball hoops or soccer fields.  The native trees on site should be preserved and non-native and dead trees removed. Picnic tables should be prioritized for shady areas and new native trees planted to provide additional shade.  Make this a truly stunning and inviting natural space for all to enjoy!

All planting should be done with California natives in a manner that creates both habitat and a beautiful space for people to enjoy and should not include foreign, non-native species that provide no value for our birds, butterflies and other wildlife and are often a fire risk. Mills Estate Park is in a designated High Fire Hazard Severity Zone (FHSZ) per the California Office of the State Fire Marshall.   As such, no barbeque areas should be built in the park. The Fire Safe San Mateo County Council has provided the following list of recommended native plants to be planted a High Fire Risk area:
Native Fire Resistant Plant Species of San Mateo County
https://www.firesafesanmateo.org/preparedness/defensible-space/fire-resistant-plant-list

Millbrae now has a chance to be a leader and an innovator in restoring this park and creating a beautiful area for people to picnic, play and exercise while engaging in the use of sustainable design with drought tolerant native flowers, shrubs & grasses to support our native flora and fauna. The planted areas could also serve as a demonstration of fire safe planting principles for the community at large.

The development of the park as a greenspace that supports our wildlife affects all of us in here in Millbrae as well as the Greater San Francisco Bay Area.  These greenspaces have become very rare and need to be preserved and treated with the utmost respect.  This petition will be shared with the Millbrae City Council at an upcoming meeting on October 14th 2025.

UPDATE:  The Sept 4th meeting was a chance to give design input and advocate for the preservation and restoration of native habitat in the park.  We had a good showing.  The upcoming Parks and Rec Commission Sept 16th Meeting and the Oct 14th will be important to attend as well.

ALERT:  For those in Millbrae who can join, the next important meeting is the Parks and Recreation Commission meeting on Tuesday September 16th at 7 PM at the Millbrae Recreation Center 477 Lincoln Circle, Millbrae, CA.

The City Council will have the park plans on the agenda on Tuesday October 14th at 7 PM  621 Magnolia Ave, Millbrae, CA.

The City has promised design updates here at the following site: https://www.ci.millbrae.ca.us/167/Projects

This is time sensitive & happening now - please forward and share this on all social platforms!  We need to have our voices heard!  

Mayor Anders Fung   afung@ci.millbrae.ca.us    
Vice Mayor Reuben D. Holober  rholober@ci.millbrae.ca.us
Councilmember Stephen Rainaldi  srainaldi@ci.millbrae.ca.us
Councilmember Sissy Riley  sriley@ci.millbrae.ca.us
Councilmember Bob Nguyen   bnguyen@ci.millbrae.ca.us

City Manager Thomas C. Wilson  twilliams@ci.millbrae.ca.us
Tricia Baxter Project Manager   tbaxter@ci.millbrae.ca.us
Ahmad Haya  Capital Improvement Program Manager  ahaya@ci.millbrae.ca.us
Andrea Pappajohn   Environmental Programs Manager  apappajohn@ci.millbrae.ca.us