The two-hour mobile workshop on Aug. 26 gave the group a chance to assess various projects and discuss those that were considered a success and areas for potential improvement.

The workshop, proposed by the Campbell Community Development Director Sharon Fierro, was an opportunity for the planning commission to become reacquainted with projects in Campbell, Planning Commissioner Tom Francois said.

The commissioners reviewed four specific city areas—downtown Campbell, Winchester Boulevard, commercial sites and various residential projects. Some projects were passed during the present commissioners' tenure, while others were not.

There were a number of workshop highlights, such as the Pool Patio and More building on the corner of S. Bascom and McBain avenues, an example of a great project, some commissioners said.

Francois said the two-story building, with its floor-to-ceiling windows on each story, was an example of a well-thought-out building.

Another successful development, initially steeped in controversy, is 30 new homes being built on the former Rolling Hills Shopping Center. The homes are scheduled for completion in 2004.

"That's a good example of a new residential development," planning commissioner chairman Joe Hernandez said. "The homes actually have yards. There's a tendency now to squeeze the yards."

Hernandez added that these yards give a family an opportunity for recreational use not often found in new residential developments.

Yet in with the successes were some areas of the city that the commissioners wanted to see improved.

Francois said during the workshop that he saw areas of "blight" around Campbell, with unkempt yards, junk, and trailers hooked up to the back of buildings—an image of the city that he hopes the planning commission can change.

"It's just not Campbell," he said. "We do need to make some improvements."

Francois was referring specifically to Cristich Lane, a side street off McGlincy Lane. Planning Commissioner Bob Alderete said that Cristich Lane was a private street and that because it is not part of the city, the same rules and standards don't apply.

In this section of the city, there are people living in trailers behind buildings, a transportation company parking charter buses all over the road and speed shops racing vehicles up and down the street, Alderete added.

"It's a free-for-all," he said.

But many of the businesses on Cristich Lane are grandfathered in, and the new zoning codes do not apply to them.

Just a few blocks down is the Campbell Technology Park—the former site of the Winchester Drive-In. The development is also home to Edith Morley Park. Several commissioners said it was an example of a good project.

After the workshop was completed, staff from the city planning department requested that the commissioners write down any further comments for discussion.

"It was good to go out as a group and hear the commissioners' thoughts in real time," Hernandez said. "I plan to go back out myself."

Referring to future developments, Hernandez said he'd eventually like to see the parking lots moved to the back of the buildings for developments on Winchester Boulevard. Older buildings on Winchester now have the parking lots in front of the building. He also added that drafting a set of residential-design guidelines would be helpful.

After looking at all the different developments in the city, Alderete said, "In hindsight there are always things we can do better, but we try to limit those kinds of flashes."