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Hills Above Fremont Ranch To Be Newest East Bay Regional Park

FREMONT (KPIX 5) -- 1,249 acres that once were home to a cattle ranch in the hills above Fremont now make up the newest East Bay Regional Park.

"Yes, it's very exciting! It's not every day we open a new park," East Bay Regional Parks Spokesperson Carolyn Jones said.

With lots of finishing touches being completed, the Vargas Plateau Regional Park is not open just yet, and it's not exactly new either - the district bought the property 23 years ago.

"The planning process is five years here, five years there, and also we faced some lawsuits from neighbors up there," Jones said.

Just below the ranch, folks in the Northgate neighborhood say a planned main gate created concerns about traffic, and the amount of people hiking and biking through the neighborhood, which led to lawsuits. The lawsuits left the land languishing, but the suits have been settled, and the main gate has moved.

"I guess, realistically, we'll have to wait to see how it goes in terms of traffic and parking," Northgate homeowner Doug Koth said.

The new main gate is on top of the hill, with only one narrow lane road leading into it - Vargas Road, which is so narrow that vehicles can barely pass each other.

"There's going to be a serious injury or a death on that road," Christopher George, owner of George Ranch said.

George says the park is opening before the promised road improvements have been completed, and wants the park district to follow the settlement agreements first.

"Any other developer would have to build up there would have to make that road safe," George said.

The remote, yet beautiful land may not have seen its last lawsuit.

The Vargas Plateau Regional Park opens Thursday. The district says because the site is hard to get to, it recommends visiting by carpool or bike.

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