By Clarence Cromwell
Red curbs will probably ban parking on a pair of narrow streets north of the downtown area after emergency officials and one resident asked the Planning Department to address the dangerous circumstances.
Most Olive Street residents, who want to preserve their streetside parking, sent letters to the Town Council and also implored council members at the April 7 meeting to protect their parking spaces.
Olive Street is wide enough for only one vehicle to pass through when cars are parked on both sides.
The 23-foot-wide street poses a couple of dangers to its residents, according to a report by Scott Baker, director of Building and Engineering Services.
The narrow travel lane between parked cars doesn't leave enough room for people to stand on the street side of a parked car or open the door to get out. It's also difficult and unsafe to back out of driveways because of the small space drivers must maneuver into, according to the report.
The narrow street is nearly impassable for fire trucks, said Fire Chief Hal Hendrix of the Santa Clara County Central Fire Protection District.
On a recent test run, firefighters tried to drive a fire engine--9.5 feet wide from mirror to mirror--up the street. When passing between parked cars, the engine was squeezed so tight that the firefighters couldn't open their doors more than an inch or so; they also would have needed a few more feet of clearance to hook hoses up to the truck, Hendrix said.
When a driver jockeyed the truck between a mobile home and the fire chief's parked Suburban, other firefighters stood by to direct the way--only a half-inch of clearance remained between the truck's mirrors and each of the other vehicles.
Baker proposed painting red curbs along one side of Olive Street, but neighbors argued against reducing the number of parking spaces.
Some said the red-curb areas should be staggered, leaving a little parking on both sides of the street. A letter asking for staggered parking areas was signed by 19 of 21 Olive Street residents.
Others added that the red curb should be accompanied by a permit parking program; a red curb would take away half the parking in the neighborhood, so the remaining spaces should be reserved for residents, Olive Street neighbors said.
Hendrix said the staggered parking might also cause problems for firefighters, who must usually lay hose down one side of a street.
Olive Street's narrowness went unaddressed for 50 years because the street hasn't had a fire or a serious accident, Baker said--partly because drivers recognize the danger and slow down along the one-block stretch.
Baker said it would be nearly impossible to widen the street because most lots have tiny front yards.
"We'd have curbs at the front door-steps of these homes," Baker said.
The council continued the decision to its May 5 meeting to allow Baker time to discuss parking issues with neighbors and fire officials.
A few blocks away, an identical problem has cropped up on Industrial Road, behind Campo di Bocce, the new bocce ball center.
The block between Andrews Street and Roberts Road is barely wide enough for two cars to pass. When the bocce courts get busy, customers begin parking on Industrial Road, leaving only one lane for traffic.
"It's a lot like Olive, but it's commercial in nature and not residential," Baker said.
Police, who first noted the Industrial Road problem, asked that the council make the one-block portion behind Campo di Bocce a no-parking zone.
Baker is expected to present a report on the Industrial Road parking problems to the Parking Commission on May 1.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, April 16, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.