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Annexation process is set to begin with first meeting
By Jeff Kearns
Town Council members will open the first official hearing on annexing county pockets within the town on Sept. 7, when they are expected to adopt a resolution that formally begins the annexation process.
Although some county residents appear to be warming up to the idea, many say they'll have to be dragged kicking and screaming into the town's jurisdiction, and that they plan to fight the process every step of the way.
Once the council initiates the annexation process, it also starts the opposition process. Several of the questions asked of town and county staff at informational meetings held last week were not about how the process will work, but how those residents who are against annexation can derail it.
At least a handful of neighbors may be leaning toward annexing.
Members of the Englewood Neighborhood Action Group, who have long been upset about traffic speeding through their neighborhood, are frustrated about the lack of response they've received from the county on the issue. Annexing into the town, say some members of the group, would be a good way to get more traffic cops to crack down on speeders in their neighborhood, although many others in the group are opposed to annexation.
Greg Moss, who annexed about 10 years ago, says that many other group members have grown frustrated at the lack of response they've had from the county. And while some members may have reservations about annexation, they see it as a solution waiting to happen.
"The town at least has some things in place to address [the neighbors'] concerns, and they actually return your phone calls," Moss said. Moss also charges that the county is turning its back on problems in the county pockets.
Englewood Avenue resident Judy Shade, whose house is in the county, says she was fairly ambivalent about annexing when the issue came up this year, but now she says she might be warming up to becoming a Los Gatan.
"I'd like to do it if it would help us slow down traffic, because we haven't gotten either the county or the town to do anything about the problem," Shade says.
And although many county residents say they're wary of becoming part of the town because its development guidelines are much stricter than the county's, Shade says that's one thing she sees as an argument for being in the town.
Many families in the area are remodeling or planning to do so. But while those residents may be wary of having to deal with the tougher Los Gatos approval process instead of the county's rubber stamp, Shade says she's starting to favor the town's tighter guidelines because they might keep houses in the neighborhood from becoming too big.
"What they don't allow can really be a benefit at times," she says.
Property owners and registered voters in the county pocket areas will be able to send letters to the Town Council, but the town's planning staff cautions that any protests will be invalid if they're dated before Sept. 15--when the notice that the process has begun is officially published.
If more than 50 percent of voters in the pocket areas file written protests against annexation, the town and county will drop the push to annex. But if less than 50 percent of residents protest in writing, then the question will go to an election.
The Town Council, however, can vote by itself to approve the annexation if less than 25 percent of voters in a specific area protest by the time the council closes the public hearing.
For information about protest guidelines, call the Los Gatos town clerk at 354-6834 or the county registrar of voters at 299-2161.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
