Parkway or "Parking Strip"

Maintenance: Responsibility of owner of adjacent property - Special circumstance for Heritage Trees

Curb/gutter maintenance: Responsibility of owner of adjacent property.
Composition: Concrete, natural color, broom finish

Use:
- Landscaping is required but planting trees require a permit.
- Covering with an "impervious surface" such as concrete is prohibited.
- Storing vehicles, garbage, yard clippings, compost piles, furniture, toys in the parkway is prohibited.
- Special visibility requirements for owners of corner-lots. (View blocked by shrubs over 30" tall, tree limbs less than 84" from ground.)
- Animals are not permitted to run at large on public or private property other than that of its owner.
- Animals are permitted to urinate or defecate on public property provided the animal's owner immediately removes the excrement to a proper receptacle.

Parking Rules for Palm Haven: Click HERE for info.
To view the actual code, CLICK HERE.

History:
Developer, Eaton, Vestal, & Herschbach, opened Palm Haven in 1913 with a high level of street and streetscape improvements. This included Macadamized streets, curbing, wide parkways planted with Mexican Fan Palms, and generously sized sidewalks. All this including the plaza in the center of Palm Haven and pillars and Wait Station for the trolley line.

Originally, all of these public spaces were under maintenance of the developer of Palm Haven and were intended to be turned over to a non-profit association of Palm Haven property owners in 1915. The first World War broke out in 1914 and real estate sales had suffered. With few property owners in Palm Haven, it would be a heavy burden for so few to care for so much area. So the developer sold the remaining properties and public areas to local banker, William Knox Beans, in 1916. Beans, upon purchase of the property, immediately held auction to sell as many lots as possible to regain a large part of his investment. He also carried the responsibility for maintenance of the public areas until 1917 when the Palm Haven Tract Association incorporated and took over. The Palm Haven Tract Association was initially incorporated for a period of 50 years. However, when and how it exactly dissolved is under research.

In a 1909 book commissioned by The Outdoor League of San Jose to Charles Mulford Robinson, the author stresses the importance of creating wide parkways and laments some failures in San Jose:

"There is the better chance for the nourishment of the trees and the less probability that their roots will injure the sidewalk. The wider strip of parking is easier to mow and to make beautiful than the narrow strip. It seems to give more front garden to the houses, settling them further back from the street, and it adds much to the beauty of the thoroughfare. One of the saddest sites in San Jose today is the meagerness of the strip between the walk and curb on some of the streets of the Naglee Tract, which in certain other respects are attractively developed. There is no space for trees on some of those streets, and about the only thing the householder can do is to fill the little strip with flowers."

The Naglee Tract was subdivided around 1904 and was not developed with the public streetscape beautifications typically found in Residence Parks. Robinson points out some deficiencies and Palm Haven's developers may have taken the recommendation.

The parkways in Palm Haven are a full 6' 4" wide on most streets. Bird & Coe Avenues have a tighter 4' width and the south side of Riverside Drive from Bird to Plaza has a 5' 5" width. In Robinson's report, a photo (below) is included to demonstrate the beauty of a wider parkway.

The use of palm trees was an excellent choice in terms of root control as palms have one of the smallest root-masses of any tree. Mexican Fan Palm trees were originally set in the parkways 25' apart. It is likely that grass was planted in the parkways as well but more research is needed to confirm what was planted besides the palm trees.

The rest of the Riverside Drive lots above the 635 address were purchased en masse by San Jose attorney, Ralph McComish on Bird Avenue and held for development. McComish died before Riverside Park and the remaining Riverside Drive lots were developed but the developing owners did not plant parkway trees. They encouraged buyers to plant matching Mexican Fan Palms to tie to the rest of Palm Haven.

LANDSCAPING TO CREATE A UNIFIED STREETSCAPE

As described elsewhere in this site, Palm Haven was a "Residence Park". The whole focus of the Residence Park concept was in the beautification and integrity of the streetscape. It is the one thing that unifies the neighborhood regardless of the many sizes and styles of homes built in it.

A big reason why Palm Haven stands out as one of the most intact historical residential districts today is because most Residence Parks that have survived have lost part of their streetscape appearance due to the use of other, shorter lived trees or trees whose regular maintenance fell into the hands of various homeowners through the years and often suffered or were changed as a result.