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More than a dozen Palomar Park residents gathered on Saturday, June 10 to celebrate the unveiling of a commemorative plaque and to honor their neighborhood, which has stood just above Emerald Hills since the 1920s.
The celebration was held on the side of Palomar Drive, which is just off to the right of Edgewood Road and near Highway 280, in front of the location of the new plaque.
Palomar Park is a small neighborhood located in the hills of western Redwood City and just above Emerald Hills. The land that became Palomar Park was first purchased in 1927, and the area became known for having secret underground bars during the Prohibition era. Since then, Palomar Park has gone from about 15 residents to nearly 300.
The plaque, which is bolted onto the side of a large rock, reads:
“In tribute to our residents whose endeavors have made Palomar Park an oasis of tranquility, natural beauty and rural life — a very special place to live.”
Dan Petelin, who has been a resident at Palomar for nearly 75 years, was the mastermind behind the idea for a plaque and a celebration.
Before the unveiling, Petelin thanked the crowd for sticking with him during the long process of getting the plaque together and for inspiring him to make the plaque in the first place. He said that a combination of COVID and fundraising efforts made the process challenging.
“It’s taken four years, but as we all know, there’s been a lot of drama and discussion about this. Everybody here in the crowd actually made this possible,” Petelin said.
Rich Landi, the president of the Palomar Park Property Owners, said that the plaque is meant to honor the first generation of residents who helped build Palomar Park into what it is today.
“That’s what the plaque is for. For all the people that contributed to this thing, from 1956 till now. And hopefully, the newer generation will continue it,” Landi said.
Jeff Garratt is a current Palomar resident and former president of the homeowners’ association. Garratt said that Palomar models the values that a community should have.
“We’ve got a lot of people up here that do a lot of things for the community. There’s a good group, a solid core group of people who work way beyond their means. That’s what a community is all about,” Garrat said.
Garratt said that the closeness between the residents could have something to do with the hilly geography of Palomar.
“This is just one of those neighborhoods that is a little different,” he said. “You’re going to have people that know each other more in a neighborhood like this because it’s a little more remote. We get up here and you're kind of away from everything so you just kind of hunker down and hang out with your neighbors.”
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