Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Letters

New structure will bring life to the boulevard

I was so disappointed to read another letter lamenting the new construction at Los Gatos Boulevard and Blossom Hill Road. A fundamental difference between livable cities and those that are less so is the impact of the automobile. Less fortunate cities (and mall developers) would die for the ambiance of downtown Los Gatos. Downtown works because the buildings, close by the sidewalk, do not allow the car to dominate. The resulting outdoor space is contained and defined by the activities of people on foot. The downtown's pedestrian-friendly character is due almost entirely to the fact that it was built prior to the advent of cars. Pre-20th-century cities were organized around important buildings and activities. Cathedrals occupy the major sites in most European cities while gas stations weakly anchor the important (and visible) sites of many California cities. Stevens Creek Boulevard is certainly a good example of the visual chaos precipitated by a car-dominated environment (though finding a parking place is never a problem). But to compare Los Gatos Boulevard with the anonymity of Stevens Creek betrays a deep misunderstanding of the part good buildings play in making a place memorable, attractive and livable.

If and when design standards are developed for Los Gatos Boulevard, this new building should be studied as an example of what can be done right. Its tall corner element will serve as a landmark identifying an important place much as the witch hat-roofed Cañada building does in downtown. And, just as the town's professional consultant advised, the building's proportions are appropriately scaled to the vast dimensions of the busy public space they enfront. Instead of an image of squat, distant buildings lost in a sea of tail fins, this new center will bring life to the street by showcasing the activities of people while placing their cars neatly out of sight.

In my perfect world, all the corners at this important location would be developed in a similarly bold way.

Evelyn Lecznar-Checke

Los Gatos

Wasn't the idea beautification?

I applaud John Walnon for his letter in the April 17 issue of the Los Gatos Weekly-Times.

I thought the general idea was to beautify Los Gatos Boulevard. Certainly, the ugly, obtrusive structure on the corner of Los Gatos Boulevard and Blossom Hill Road does not accomplish this. Each day I drive through this intersection, I cannot believe this is Los Gatos, the town I have always loved.

What is the Town Council thinking of?

Evelyn Lecznar-Checke

Los Gatos

Special interest groups shouldn't influence planners

Steve Boersma, executive pastor for administration at Calvary Church, in a commentary in the March 27 issue of the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, offered advice to the Town Council and Planning Commission concerning a more cohesive working relationship.

Mr. Boersma must feel that his experience with the planning process while trying to attain passage of Calvary's master plan qualifies him to offer this advice.

He acts as if he was not pleased with the experience, but I cannot understand why. Didn't Calvary manage, with its 11th-hour proposal, to have the council overturn the Planning Commission's decision to deny Calvary's master plan?

Hasn't it been approved by the council for Calvary to build its massive multipurpose building and tear down a residential home, so the church can turn the end of Robie Lane into a parking lot?

Perhaps what bothers Mr. Boersma and the Los Gatos Boulevard Community Alliance about the Planning Commission's inaccessibility is that the commissioners can function without being bogged down by the input of special-interest groups.

The commissioners deal purely with town architectural standards and, more importantly, with aesthetic standards that make this town unique. The commissioners are inaccessible so they can view each building proposal with a clear mind.

Mr. Boersma may feel that the commission's inaccessibility has created difficulty in his life, but we on Robie Lane feel it keeps the system democratic. Isn't Mr. Boersma busy enough as executive pastor at Calvary and chairman of the Los Gatos Boulevard Community Alliance without wanting to dictate town policy?

Vera Pierce

Los Gatos

Garbage rates not set in concrete yet

Your front-page article about garbage rates may have unnecessarily alarmed some of your readers. The document referred to was a preliminary draft of rate information for discussion purposes.

When members of the Town Council adopted the residential recycling program last year, they did so knowing that the new rates would not be enough to cover the full cost of the greatly expanded recycling program. The proposed rate increases for 1996-97 quoted in your article reflect what would be needed if the town wanted to "pay off" in one year's time the deficit that has built up. If the town chose to do this, then the projections also show that rates for the following year, 1997-98 would be lowered and very similar to what residents now pay.

We expect, however, that the town may prefer to work on paying down the deficit over several years, which would mean that residential rates would not increase as much as quoted in the article.

Green Valley is open to discussing many options for determining how the costs of garbage collection and recycling programs are paid.

Gerard Wen

General Manager,
Green Valley Disposal Company Inc.