Why is Midpen, a public agency with a $107 million annual budget and the $300 million Measure AA bond, so fixated on opening Bear Creek Stables to the public before making it safe and compliant?
- Deteriorating buildings. Dry vegetation against wooden structures. Extension cords routed through damaged siding.
- Children, visitors, and the horses already living here deserve a safe facility. Why aren’t repairs and code compliance coming first?
- Photographs taken September 16, 2026, document conditions at Bear Creek Stables that raise serious questions about Midpen’s push for public programming.
Midpen knows this barn is unsafe and needs to be secured. Why is it still unfenced?
These September 16, 2026, photographs show rusty and loose metal roof panels, exposed and deteriorating roofing beneath them, jagged glass at a height children can reach, damaged wood, and open stall windows. Dry vegetation and leaf litter have accumulated against the building. Yet there is no safety fence around it to keep visitors away.
Midpen knows the barn needs to be secured. The plans this government agency submitted to the County of Santa Clara call for a fence around this building to protect visitors from being hit by falling debris. There is no fence and the stable operator is holding public events at the stables.
Why is Midpen bringing visitors in before doing this work? Restoring the barn may take time. Keeping children away from it should already have been done. Repairs and code compliance need to come before public programming.
All photos taken on September 16, 2026.
Deterioration inside and out
Dry vegetation and leaf litter against wooden walls. Damaged siding, deteriorating roof edges, and a board hanging from the roofline. Inside the barn, plants grow in the aisle between stalls.
These are the conditions documented on September 16, 2026.
What Ana Ruiz, General Manager of Midpen says about Bear Creek stables:
“We now have a site that is in very poor condition, where the structures and facilities are now past their lifespan. In order to retain a safe and functional operation into the future, major capital repairs are necessary. The types of repairs that we need to make need to happen within a short time span. Otherwise, we will see buildings and the facilities structurally and functionally fail.”
~ May 14, 2024 Board meeting
What is currently allowed at Bear Creek Stables under its legal nonconforming status (grandfathered use)?
Boarding for up to 72 horses.
Public lessons, camps, educational programs, and other expanded public uses require a Commercial Stable Operation Use Permit.
What did Midpen’s rental contract in 2000 allow the operator of Bear Creek Stables to do? |
“The Premises may be used solely for the typical activities involved with the boarding of horses, of which no more than seventy-two (72) horses … are allowed.”
What is the Use Permit Midpen has been trying to get since 2021?
A Use Permit is official County approval to use land or a building for something not automatically allowed under its zoning. Midpen must obtain one before it can legally add public horse lessons, camps, and educational programs at Bear Creek Stables.
The required code-compliance work is meant to turn the deteriorated, structurally unsound stable complex, with concerns about asbestos and lead-based paint, into a site that meets County standards for public use, including building, fire, accessibility, sanitation, parking, and safety requirements.
Has Santa Clara County ever authorized public programming at Bear Creek Stables under County zoning?
2000: County to Midpen: Only use that is authorized is boarding of 72 horses, nothing else. No expansion or intensification.
2015: Midpen to County: Can we add public programming, including camps, educational programs, and horse lessons? County: Only with a Use Permit and code improvements.
2018: Midpen to County: We understand that expanding use to include camps, horse lessons, and public programming requires a Use Permit and expensive code improvements, so we are going to maintain the status quo use established by the 2000 compliance letter.
2021: Midpen reverses course and applies for a Use Permit to add public programming, submitting architectural plans to the County.
2026: Midpen’s Use Permit application remains under County review. As of June 21, 2026, the County has deemed the application incomplete.
Suffering Horses
Animal welfare concerns, inspections, photographs, public records, and the events that led to criminal charges against the former Bear Creek Stables manager.
Disappearing Birds
Historical nesting records, wildlife surveys, environmental documents, and questions surrounding the loss of nesting birds at the stables.
More: Midpen, where are the birds?
Public Funds and Oversight
Public spending, repair plans, board actions, fundraising proposals, and questions surrounding government oversight and accountability.
More: Coming Soon
