What is now The Parks housing project at the Measurex site appears to be a fairly reasonable project when viewed on its own; however, viewed in the context of all the housing developments currently taking place and being planned in Cupertino, it seems to be just one more part of the city council's plan to cram as many people as possible into our city.

Until the city council exhibits some measure of restraint in approving housing projects, I oppose any property being rezoned as residential unless an equal amount of land is removed from residential development.

When Measurex provided employment on that site, I never heard any complaints about it; but now, at least according to Paul Fong, it should be obvious that commercial development should never have been allowed there.

Concerning his complaints that those few people opposed to this project don't believe traffic experts, school officials or city officials, he pretty much hit the nail on the head; however, as someone who holds a healthy skepticism of such officials, I take that as a compliment rather than an insult.

Finally, the renaming of this project "The Parks" is just such an obvious public relations ploy that I have to ask what other spin is being applied to us.

What is really unfortunate is that this may well be as good a housing project as comes along in Cupertino, because the city council is always willing to approve projects that are so much worse.

David Radtke

Cupertino

InefÞcient land use will
keep housing costs high

Robert Garten (Letters & Opinion, Feb 22) may be amazed by the price of an "affordable" house in Texas, but I found one that tops his example. How about a five-bedroom, 2,600- square-foot house with two kitchens for $159,000? Unfortunately, the land that this house sits on is located outside Fargo, N.D.

In Silicon Valley, homes for families with moderate incomes are hard to find due to the cost of land, not the amenities lavished into a structure. As long as a few vocal residents with a drawbridge mentality demand inefficient land use policies, families will struggle with exorbitant home prices and rents.

Garten's argument against enabling moderate-income families to live in Cupertino rings with an insulting and denigrating tone. Can you picture teachers and deputy sheriffs living in the blighted hovels that he paints with his rhetoric? I can't.

Garten's hostility against middle-class Americans does not represent the mainstream values of Cupertino. While he may wish that only wealthy property investors lived in Cupertino, the majority of Cupertino voters rejected his exclusionary vision in November. Cupertino welcomes families of diverse races and incomes. We reject neo-segregationist rhetoric and policies that isolate and divide our city.

Charlie Ahern

Cupertino

Developer gets the proÞt;
residents get problems

Taylor Woodrow, the developer of the Measurex project, has tried every way to get the project approved by the city council.

The project was voted down by the city planning commission, but Taylor Woodrow appealed.

I have great respect for the planning commissioners for listening to citizens' concerns and considering the long-term plan for bringing in city revenue.

However, Taylor Woodrow hired a consultant company, which sent out a beautifully designed brochure to all residents telling how great the development would be for the community. They even asked Paul Fong, a Chinese community leader, to send out letters about The Parks at Monta Vista project.

The developer is clearly in it for the money and doesn't care about Cupertino or its residents. That is why they are trying so hard to get approval for the project.

City council members are elected to represent the will of Cupertino residents. They should be looking out for the benefit of the residents, not just the city coffers.

It seems that Taylor Woodrow will reap the most benefit from this development and leave behind the aftermath of increased traffic congestion and overcrowded schools for everyone else to deal with.

What can later be done to undo this damage? Bus students to other schools? Will city council members bear responsibility if there is a fire, and it is hard for people to be evacuated and difficult for fire fighting units to respond due to congested roads?

Jill Lin

Cupertino

Crane collapse accents
Vallco's incompetence

When Mike Rohde, general manager for Vallco, appeared before the city council asking for extended construction hours, he said, "The work will be done with the utmost care for safety."

Securing large cranes, which are inherently unstable, is standard operating procedure in stormy weather; this wasn't done. So much for "utmost care."

Vallco and DPR Construction, builders of the Vallco project, are trying to minimize the seriousness of the crane collapse. In fact, this was a very serious incident that came extremely close to causing injuries and fatalities. Characterizing it as a minor accident is convenient for Vallco and DPR, but inaccurate; it was negligence.

Who will be evaluating the structural integrity of the damaged steel frame? Will a structural engineering firm be retained to evaluate whether or not the entire structure needs to be removed and replaced? Or will we just trust Vallco and DPR to do the right thing and not take shortcuts to get construction back on schedule?

What other safety shortcuts is Vallco taking that could further endanger the public? This project has no oversight by the city; Vallco is simply granted free rein by the city council that dreams of the mythical $4 million a year in new sales tax revenue, while approving hundreds of millions of dollars" worth of zoning changes that hurt our schools and threaten the long-term fiscal health of the city.

"We exist to destroy great things," might be a more appropriate description of what's happening at Vallco.

Steven Scharf

Cupertino

Vallco's redevelopment
has lost all its integrity

The Feb. 27 crane accident could have been avoided had Vallco developer and its construction team heeded logical safety concerns.

It was well publicized that strong winds and heavy rain were to be expected last week, yet the crane was left upright until it broke. Why didn't they lower the crane? Why wasn't the red warning light on when visibility was poor? Why did a resident notify the city and nothing was done?

The fact that the neighborhood has repeatedly begged the city council to slow down this project has met deaf ears. The haste with which the developer and city council insist on meeting a November deadline is no longer in their hands because of Monday's falling crane. Will CAL-OSHA shut them down indefinitely or just give them a slap on the hand?

Miss the deadline with the theaters. And we don't need a four-level parking garage or 137 more condos on 5acres, right?

Because due diligence wasn't used from the beginning of this project, the redevelopment of Vallco has lost all integrity.

How many more accidents will there be in Condotino land?

Janice Ishii

Cupertino

Cards response boxes
stacked the 'yes' deck

In reply to Paul Fong's Feb. 22 letter on the proposed Measurex housing development: Of course he's only had positive responses to his three mailings. There is no place on his postcard to indicate that one is against the proposal.

The only responses he can return to the city council are positive ones. Talk about stacking the deck.

Why is he so adamantly in favor of this housing project that he's paid for three major mailings to "his neighbors," including three sets of postage-paid reply cards?

And since when is Rainbow Drive, where he lives, part of Monte Vista? He's no more my neighbor than Vallco is. I can only conclude he's one of the investors that are pushing this project. If that's the case, he should come forward and say so.

How does adding 94 new multi-bedroom homes to an already bursting area lessen the traffic congestion and the pressure on our schools? The plan is to dump the excess traffic onto Imperial. After that, it's not the developer's problem, just yours and mine if you ever drive to the post office.

It's already a three-ring circus there. And the big dollar carrot they are dangling in front of the schools is only for a few years. What happens then? Do the extra children disappear?

Measurex has always been commercial property, and Bubb Road handled the traffic just fine. It still could. What our neighborhood can't handle is the impact of 94 new families and their kids.

Peggy Kopf

Monte Vista

Lobbying for development
shouldn't go unchallenged

Some weeks ago many residents of Cupertino received a letter from someone called Paul Fong who was promoting the development of the old Measurex site by Taylor Woodrow homes. Most residents who received that letter now know that the facts stated in the letter were completely erroneous.

I have just received a second mailing from Paul Fong encouraging everyone to get in touch with their city council members and write letters to the Cupertino Courier to show their support for The Parks at Monta Vista project, which is what this lobbying group is calling it.

I smell a rat here. These mailings are supposedly coming from a Cupertino resident who says he lives at least 2 miles from the Measurex site and is willing to spend probably several thousand dollars of his own money on these mailings to promote the Taylor Woodrow homes project.

Am I the only one who would wonder why someone would do this if they don't even live in the neighborhood? I will just make a wild guess here and say it is a lobbying effort by Taylor Woodrow homes to influence the city council. I would also guess that there is no Paul Fong, and if there is, he is on the Taylor Woodrow payroll.

I don't really care, even though I live a few blocks away from the site, what they do with the Measurex site because I am convinced that the city council and the developers have already decided what is going to be built there. I do think that this lobbying effort should not go unchallenged just because the developers think the residents of Cupertino are a bunch of dummies.

Jim Carlisle

Cupertino

Paul Fong is a resident of Cupertino and on the board of the Foothill-DeAnza College District. He has a daughter who attends Monta Vista High School. --Editor

Card gave no box for
those against proposal

The assertion in the Feb. 22 letter by Paul Fong that a "large number of my neighbors and friends" support rezoning to add 94 single-family homes should not be interpreted as public support for the project.

Fong sent a very general letter on the benefits of the project and a pre-stamped/addressed postcard soliciting support for the project. The postcard had a check box for "urge the city council to approve the project," and box for "I'll find more supporters," and one for more info.

I read the letter and did not respond because no check box was available for Cupertino residents concerned with over- development in the community. In talking with a few neighbors, I did not hear any support for the development.

The city of Cupertino's website currently lists seven proposals in the application phase, which if approved will add 672 residential units to Cupertino. No data were provided on the numbers of new students this will bring to Cupertino Union School District, but it is a safe bet that families with schoolage children will be the target market for these units. Cupertino schools are a great selling point in real estate marketing.

The Parks at Monta Vista may be a wonderful new development. Don't know. If all the pending applications are approved, is the CUSD ready for an additional thousand students? Every year?

If we are to keep our schools great, we need to evaluate these individual proposals from developers to see how they impact the city and the schools and choose a few good ones.

At this point I am in no rush to support The Parks at Monta Vista.

Barry Whall

Cupertino