Council approves the Montessori preschool at Faith Lutheran Church
Traffic-calming measures are promised to residents
County's share a question
By Nathan R. Huff
The Town Council handed Mariposa Montessori its long-sought permit to open a preschool at Los Gatos' Faith Lutheran Church. The council simultaneously approved a traffic-calming plan for the congested area.
A detailed traffic study and calming plan by TJKM Transportation Consultants led to the April 3 council reversal of a Sept. 8, 1999, denial by the Planning Commission for the permit.
Mariposa Montessori's proposal was originally denied because the school could not fund a mandated traffic study. After a number of continuations, the council agreed on Jan. 3, to fund a traffic study for the preschool neighborhood.
The majority of Ferris-Englewood neighbors, who steadfastly opposed the introduction of a preschool, signed a petition supporting TJKM traffic engineer Gary Kruger's traffic-calming plan. While some aspects of the mitigation plan involve the cooperation of Santa Clara County, the council, by a 3-2 vote, agreed to grant the conditional-use permit and implement those measures within the town's control.
Mariposa Montessori president Joanne Varni said she was quite tense as the council discussed the matter, especially when Mayor Steve Blanton had to cast the tie-breaking vote. "You never know which way it'll go," Varni later said.
The decision marks the end of a long-running effort by the Mariposa Montessori group to open a Los Gatos site to replace Casa Maria Montessori, which closed a year ago. Varni lamented that the process had turned neighbors against the school, when the real problem was the pre-existing traffic situation. "I don't think there's anyone in this room who's against children, against preschools, or against education," Varni said at the meeting.
Neighbors agreed the problem was pre-existing, but a number of them asked that the town implement the traffic-calming measures and then reconsider the preschool.
"Since the last time the council voted no, traffic has not changed one iota," resident Mark Corasini said. "I don't see any reason why the council would change its view when the reality of the traffic hasn't changed."
But council members believed the school had been delayed long enough. Councilman Jan Hutchins, who was the sole vote in support of the school's appeal when it first came to the council, said the town needed to act now.
"We could put a variety of different things in the way," Hutchins said. "But the losers, when we stand on process or form like that, are the parents and the kids."
Council members Linda Lubeck and Randy Attaway voted against the preschool's appeal. Lubeck reiterated her previous stance on the application, saying that while she felt sorry for the applicants, the school was still "an absolutely wonderful use in the wrong place."
Attaway sided with the neighbors who wanted to see the traffic- calming measures in place prior to school opening, particularly the mitigation measures on county land. "Once we approve it like this, the county has no incentive to pay their portion of this," Attaway said.
The county's "portion" of the proposed calming plan includes several traffic islands on Englewood Avenue to slow neighborhood and cut-through traffic.
Measures the town will implement include tightened intersections at Ferris and Spencer, Loma and Ferris, Englewood and Kennedy, and Englewood and Shannon avenues. The town also will improve signal operations along Los Gatos Boulevard to discourage cut-through traffic, will ban trucks on neighborhood streets and will restrict turns onto Ferris Avenue.
Varni said the school will continue to work with neighbors and the town to reduce the impact of traffic. Although the group hoped to open by fall 2000, two major obstacles must be overcome. Varni said the school must raise close to $80,000 for renovation, equipment and material, and must secure the necessary state licensing. "Fall would be ideal," Varni said, "But like I said back in January, it's going to be quite a stretch."
Once the site opens, finding 50 preschoolers to fill both morning and afternoon sessions probably won't be a challenge. "My guess is we'll have a waiting list before we even open," Varni said.
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