Council spurns MD's offer to rewrite the hillside codes
Resident demands clearer rules and more enforcement
By Nathan R. Huff
Arguing that Los Gatos is not doing enough to protect its hillsides from unsafe development, Dr. David Weissman has been pressuring the town to let him work on new rules for hillside vegetation and tree removal.
The Town Council expressed reluctance to direct staff to work one-on-one with Weissman or any community member, and instead voted to accept the community development director Paul Curtis' report on hillside vegetation removal. The council left the possibility open that Weissman could chair a future committee or task force on the issue.
That answer wasn't good enough for Weissman. He became a hillside environmental activist through ongoing disputes with neighboring property owners who, Weissman said, cleared brush and felled trees illegally.
"I'm volunteering; I'll do as much as I can," Weissman said. He added that the council's quick acceptance of staff's hillside vegetation removal report on May 1 was "an insult" after all his work on a seven-page report for possible code changes and amendments.
Weissman wants to work with staff to strengthen tree- and vegetation-removal ordinances, enforcement and penalties, and to create incentives for tree preservation. In lieu of that, he said he will become a regular participant in the hillside discussions during the upcoming General Plan draft review.
Councilman Randy Attaway was the most fearful of setting a precedent by allowing Weissman to work directly with staff. "One thing I respect most is the democratic process," he said at the May 1 meeting. "It's not 'staff and I'--it shouldn't be one individual deciding what the future is." Attaway acknowledged Weissman had positive ideas, but encouraged him to work through a committee or task force.
Councilman Joe Pirzynski also favored the idea of a task force. He was the only council member to advocate establishing a task force to run parallel with the ongoing General Plan review.
Pirzynski said he saw nothing wrong with the groups working closely together, and he cited the recently disbanded Senior Task Force as a model for community involvement. Other council members agreed a task force or committee might be needed, but wanted to wait until the General Plan finished its public hearing process.
Weissman, however, doesn't want to wait. "The pressure to develop the hillsides is just incredible," Weissman said. "We'll wait, but while we're waiting let's get the ordinances ready."
Curtis, in his council report on the subject, defends the town's codes and enforcement record. He also states that the staff will attempt to incorporate Weissman's input.
Curtis' report states that the town is already incorporating Weissman's suggestions to add tree removal information to the pamphlet given to hillside developers. The report notes that other requests, such as documenting every tree trimming, are unrealistically time consuming for staff.
According to the report, staff will return to council with a request to fund the updating of hillside standards as part of the 2000-2001 operating budget. Curtis said at the meeting that the updating might involve committees or commissions.
"It is a high priority item from the council's standpoint," Curtis said, "and when we put together our priorities for next year that will be high on the list."
Councilwoman Linda Lubeck said she felt staff was doing a great job of incorporating public input into code revision. "I think staff has a good handle on where Dr. Weissman and other members of the community want to go," she said, adding that some suggestions required more staff than the town could afford.
But Weissman said many of his ideas and suggestions still haven't even been considered. "The majority of my concerns have either been incompletely or not addressed at all," he told the council.
Weissman argues the town's ordinances should encourage people to save trees rather than find grounds to cut them down. He said developers would seek fewer tree removal permits if the town mandated preserving trees that could be saved for $1000 or less. He added that the town needs clearer guidelines for the lawful removal of trees.
Weissman also said that while the town staff was "imminently responsive" to possible violations of various hillside vegetation ordinances, they did not always know the actual codes. Additionally, he said staff has been reluctant to fully enforce codes. Weissman cited several occasions when staff acknowledged improper tree or brush clearings on Francis Oaks Way near his home, but never filed a report.
John Iaquinto, the town's director of parks, said he had visited the Francis Oaks property several dozen times and a violation had been recorded. "We have an ordinance that's working quite well and we enforce it as well as we can," Iaquinto said, adding that in his 15 years with the town, the number of illegal tree removals had gone down. According to Iaquinto, other towns have based their tree removal ordinances on Los Gatos'.
Pirzynski said the possibility that violations were being ignored was a cause for concern, but he applauded staff's general performance. "As far as I'm concerned, we've done a good job protecting the hillsides, but the community wants us to do a better job," he said. "What if 95 percent of the [necessary hillside protection] language is in place, but because of circumstances we have things fall through the cracks? Well, we have to fill the cracks."
Those cracks are exactly what Weissman said he wants to fill, and while he pledged to continue work on strengthening hillside protection, he acknowledged his growing frustration.
"The town keeps saying they're interested in citizen involvement," Weissman said. "But when you volunteer they tell you to go take a hike."
Los Gatos, California Since 1881
