Annexation slated for the Garden Gate area

Neighborhood is the largest unincorporated area in city

By KEVIN FAYLE

Residents of the Garden Gate neighborhood gathered at the Quinlan Community Center on the evening of Jan. 24, to hear presentations from city of Cupertino and Santa Clara County representatives about the merits of annexation. Cupertino wishes to annex the neighborhood, located on North Stelling Road above Stevens Creek Boulevard, the largest unincorporated area left in the city.

Residents had a chance at the meeting to voice their questions and concerns about the process, which could conclude by July 1, 2001, if the proposal gains the support of enough property owners.

Don Weden, principal planner for Santa Clara County, explained to the residents that the county supports annexation wholeheartedly, as it can no longer provide adequate services for the unincorporated areas under its care efficiently. The county often cannot respond to problems in the neighborhood, he says, primarily because the county has moved away from providing the kinds of services that neighborhoods need.

"We don't even have a public works department anymore," he says.

The unincorporated areas, known as "pockets" or "islands," remain from the time when Santa Clara County consisted of mostly agricultural land. As cities began to expand and annex the undeveloped land around them, the already developed areas tended to remain independent of the cities. Thus, they fell under the jurisdiction of the county.

However, unincorporated pockets began to merge with cities more and more as the cities kept growing, and now the number of remaining pockets has shrunk to the point where the county can no longer provide the needs of such small population clusters that are dispersed over such a large area.

The Garden Gate area represents the largest unincorporated pocket left in Cupertino since the residents of the Rancho Rinconada neighborhood decided to incorporate with the city in 1999. The city has already begun to annex individual parcels of land in the Garden Gate pocket when they come up for development or major redevelopment, but the parcel-by-parcel method constitutes a "long and inefficient process," according to a city information packet distributed to Garden Gate residents.

Colin Jung, senior planner for the city, presented the advantages of annexation to the residents at the meeting. He said the city would provide more efficient civil services to the neighborhood, and explained that the city's corporation yard, which houses many physical services, sits only a half-mile away from Garden Gate.

He also told the residents in attendance that they would have more of a voice in city affairs after annexation, since they would have representation on the city council. Residents, he said, would also enjoy the vigilance of the city's code enforcement, which would ensure that unsightly areas within the neighborhood would receive timely attention.

Residents had many questions concerning the level of service the city would provide and the monetary cost, if they agreed to the annexation. Jung, Weden and Marc Auerbach, a Rancho Rinconada resident and new member of the planning commission, all stated the taxes imposed by the city would not typically raise homeowners' fees significantly from those the county charges for service. Because the city has initiated the annexation process, the residents do not have to pay the annexation fees the city imposes, usually in excess of $5,000, if a resident requests annexation.

In the next step in the annexation process, the city will pre-zone parcels in the neighborhood, so as to alert the homeowners of their zoning status if annexation proceeds. The city will then open public hearings on the matter, take public testimony and receive any written protests.

Once the city closes the public hearing and validates the written protests--if less than 25 percent of registered voters, or 25 percent of landowners owning at least 25 percent of the land in the area protest the annexation--the city approves the annexation. If more than 25 percent but less than 50 percent protest, the city will hold an election on the annexation. If more than 50 percent protest, then the city will automatically reject the annexation.

If the decision favors an election, a majority of the votes would determine which course the city would take.

The city included a postcard on the back of the informational document it sent to Garden Gate residents that can be used to either register support for annexation or protest the process. Jung encourages residents to respond so the city can learn their opinions concerning annexation.

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If residents have questions concerning annexation, they can contact Colin Jung from the city of Cupertino at 408.777.3257, or Don Weden from Santa Clara County at 408.299.2521.

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