Is the Town Council out of touch?

By Pat O'Laughlin

It appears to me that several recent land-use decisions by the Town Council are out of touch with the majority of citizens in Los Gatos. On one hand, the town encourages citizen participation in the General Plan amendment process, on such projects as the Los Gatos Boulevard/North 40 Specific Plan, the Los Gatos Boulevard Charette and other long-range planning exercises.

Indeed, hundreds of citizens have spent thousands of collective hours attending a mind-numbing number of meetings, discussion groups, and hearings. Against this backdrop, the nitty-gritty work of processing development applications continues apace.

During economic good times, development applications increase exponentially, with an attendant increased workload for staff, the Planning Commission and the Town Council. The current economic climate also mandates eternal vigilance by Los Gatos residents, or applications may be approved by the Town Council which appear directly at odds with the earnest, well-intentioned ideals of all the preceding "plans" containing citizen input. I think three fairly recent examples will illustrate my point.

First, the application for a hotel complex on Main Street, across from Los Gatos High School. Although this represents the applicant's long-held dream, to me and many others it represents a nightmare. No one disputes the need for additional hotel space somewhere in the town, or a complete renovation of the Los Gatos Lodge.

Also, most citizens can understand the town's lust for TOT revenue (Transient Occupancy Tax, i.e. if your room costs $100 and the TOT is 10 percent, the municipal government will receive $10). This is especially attractive, because so far, the TOT revenue cannot be legislatively snatched away by the county, state or federal governments.

However, to place a significant "hotel complex island" with the high school in front and a residential street behind is just asking for trouble. In other words, it's poor planning. The Planning Commission did a heroic job in downsizing this project for many years and finally denying it for a host of legitimate planning reasons.

Almost everyone thought this was a dead issue when it appeared before the Town Council on appeal. In an appalling 3-2 split vote, the project was approved.

What will the town's response to the hotel's complaints in the future that teenagers are loitering, talking, smoking and littering on or near the hotel premises? How will the town address the neighbors' concerns in the future regarding the increased noise, lighting, parking and traffic problems, such as delivery and garbage trucks at various times?

Second, the Planning Commission wisely denied the application of the Lark Avenue car wash to sell "premium" wine at its location. The decision was consistent with previous decisions denying Chevron at Highway 9 and Massol (twice) from converting a service bay to a food and beverage minimart. In planning circles there exists the very common-sense notion that a gas station is a gas station, a car wash is a car wash, etc.

Again, on appeal to the Town Council, the Planning Commission was reversed, and the application approved on a 3-2 split vote. Apparently, three council members were the only ones gullible enough to believe that selling wine at a car wash is for "the convenience of our customers" instead of "to increase our revenue."

In the grand scheme of things, the decision itself is probably not a big deal. However, I am concerned about precedent. Will auto-related businesses in the future be able to apply for tanning booths and nail salons on their premises "for the convenience of the customer" while they wait for their cars?

Third was the recent outrageous proposal for a gas station, food minimart (as big or bigger than any 7-Eleven in town) car wash and second story office space on top of the car wash! The proposed location is at the intersection of Burton Road and Los Gatos Boulevard, right next to Highway 85 and the Highway 85 off-ramp.

The proposal was roundly criticized by a diverse group of citizens for many reasons. It was inappropriate for this site which had been identified as one of the crucial node intersections and one of only three North entrances to town by the Los Gatos Boulevard Charette. This amounted to "spot" zoning at its worst. A residential home on a residential street was proposed to be torn down and re-zoned commercial.

The proposal would ignore at least 30 years of precedent and allow ingress and egress onto a residential street instead of Los Gatos Boulevard. The proposal would ignore another 30 years of precedent of not allowing drive-thrus in town (10 to 15 cars, idling in line and producing exhaust fumes while waiting to have their car washed, constitutes a worse drive-thru than Jack in the Box which was grandfathered in many years ago). Based on these and many other reasons, the application was overwhelmingly denied.

This time, on appeal to the Town Council the Planning Commission's decision was narrowly upheld, again on a 3-2 split vote. This nail-bitingly close vote was on a project that rightfully should not have got past the Conceptual Development Advisory Committee.

My conclusion is that the Town Council is sending mixed signals to its citizens. It is encouraging citizen participation in generalized, future planning guidelines, but is ignoring the spirit and intent of those guidelines by its willy-nilly, inconsistent land-use decisions here and now!

When the Town Council routinely reverses important Planning Commission decisions by the very people they appointed, it is more important than ever that citizens attend Town Council meetings, if only to remind the members of the promises they made (maintain small-town atmosphere, attempt to reduce traffic and parking problems, and implement comprehensive planning for Los Gatos Blvd.) when they were elected.

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Pat O'Laughlin is a former Planning Commission chairman and a former mayor of Los Gatos.

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