View from Marsh Creek Trail already changing

July 30, 2004

If it has been awhile since you have taken the time to walk in the peace and quiet of the Marsh Creek Trail in Oakley, you may want to take the time to do so fast. While the trail itself will not be affected by Oakley's population growth spurt, in the next few months the view that many have loved will be long gone.

Developers for Western Pacific Housing have already cleared the field that sits between Delta Vista Middle School and the paved trail that lines the creek. It is really quite a surprise to see the field empty at first sight. What was even more surprising was seeing now and then photos. Being an avid photographer, I have taken many pictures along the nature trail. Pulling out photos taken about a year ago and the ones taken now was a sad experience.

Before, the property was lined with a field and an old barn and farmhouse. Today it is just a flat strip of dirt. In the spring the field filled with wild mustard flowers and lupine bushes. There used to also be scores of wild animals in the area. I can remember times seeing jackrabbits playing in the field, fox holes and many different varieties of birds.

Luckily they didn't have to relocate too far since the marsh area that surrounds Marsh Creek Trail will more than likely never be developed. The regret comes when one remembers what it used to look like. Personally, I have never been too much inclined to a no-growth view. I believe that in order for Oakley to survive as a city there has to be both residential and business growth. It's just is a shame when it goes.

I can remember driving through Oakley before the Vintage Parkway area was developed. Back fifteen years ago the area looked much like East Cypress Road looks now. Those driving in from Main Street to Vintage Parkway over the bridge that spans the railroad track will see the view that is to come from the Marsh Creek Trail.

For the next few years growth will be rapid in the Cypress area, just like it was in the Vintage Park area and other new housing developments around Oakley. The new growth in the area was inevitable in light of the new, much needed middle school that was built in an area where there was nothing but marsh and farmland. In another year or so, if all goes well with the upcoming school bond, the Oakley Union Elementary School District will construct a new elementary school on the corner by the middle school.

The development is now in front of the middle school, but already plans are being made for houses to be built behind the school and across the street. There has even been talk of an apartment complex across the street from the middle school. Now that will be an interesting development for Oakley. Other than a disabled housing project and two senior housing communities, Oakley has just one very small apartment complex and a few what I guess could be called duplex or triplex units.

We've seen it all around us that growth is inevitable. So why not enjoy the trail while there is still some time to see the view? Parts of the trail will never change. There are several different entrances to the trail. One on Cypress Road by the railroad crossing gates. Another is directly across the street and allows one to follow the route to Knightsen and Brentwood. That area has already been heavily developed over the past few years, but when you get closer to Knightsen there are several farm areas that are nice and peaceful.

The other entrance is in the Vintage Parkway development that brings people in from behind the Ironhouse Sanitary District's water reclamation area. That view is probably the best now. Nature is in abundance on both sides of the paved trail. On one side is the view of the marsh around the Delta region and on the other are fields where you will likely see a great deal of wildlife.

Even when the houses are built the trail will still be a nice place to take in a summer day with the family. It is just that there is no going back once the houses are built and it will never be the same.

Roni Gehlke's column on life in Oakley appears each week in the Brentwood News.

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