Los Gatos Weekly-TimesLettersOld age alone not a reason to preserve building Your editorial "The Town Cares About Its History" is shortsighted. The old, decrepit house at 634 N. Santa Cruz Ave. is not of historical value; it is merely old and not worth saving. It is ugly, poorly located and poorly built. The dentals and other crudely constructed ornamental details may represent a carpenter's attempt at elegance, but the house is a sorry example of "carpenter's Gothic," whatever that means. You and the Planning Commission would do well to cherish the truly historical and beautiful old buildings in Almond Grove and along Los Gatos Boulevard and forget about such trash as the house in question and the monstrosity of a laundry building on E. Main Street. When history is indiscriminately equated with the mere passage of time, it is diminished and cheapened.
Charles Roberts Downtown trees are being replaced as part of a plan Some people have voiced concern about replacing the planter-box magnolia trees along N. Santa Cruz Avenue. The town values our urban forest and does not make the decision to remove any tree lightly. A major thrust of the town's Redevelopment Agency is to beautify our downtown. The community has been concerned in recent years about the poor condition of the downtown planters and street furniture. The magnolia roots, having outgrown the planter boxes, are destroying the planters, impacting underground utilities and raising sidewalks. Unfortunately, pruning the tree roots would have killed them. Further, the dense crown of magnolias at the crosswalks prevented the streetlights from illuminating the sidewalks and crosswalks, making them unsafe at night. The town relocated the first two magnolia trees, but this proved to be difficult since the roots were intertwined with the utilities. We thought that it was too risky to relocate the remaining trees. In all, 12 trees were removed from downtown (two were relocated), and 12 new ones will be planted. The development of the new Streetscape Plan began in 1995. Since then, the town has held five public meetings which generated substantial public comment. The Los Gatos Weekly-Times printed two articles about the plan, encouraging people to participate, and the town mailed public hearing notices to every property owner and merchant in the downtown area. We also placed a quarter-page advertisement in the newspaper inviting the community to participate. As a result, more than 250 people attended various meetings, providing valuable input on the issues along with possible solutions. In addition, the town developed a display with a suggestion box that was posted in several downtown locations, which allowed people to comment on the plan. To further encourage participation, the Chamber of Commerce sponsored a raffle, with the winners receiving a dinner for two at a local restaurant. The town decided to slightly reduce the size of the planter boxes for three reasons: to prevent cars from hitting the planters, to preserve existing parking spaces and to preserve the sidewalk width. The planter boxes needed to be attractive yet require minimal maintenance. A new irrigation system also had to be installed, and decorative streetlights were included to improve safety. It may seem easy to select a tree for the new planters, but the process involved satisfying a number of criteria. Based on extensive public input, the replacement trees need to be evergreen, flowering, small enough to fit into the planter box, drought-tolerant and nonpoisonous. In addition, the foliage has to allow light to filter down to the sidewalk and street, and the roots have to be noninvasive. After careful review and discussion, the Indian hawthorne was picked because it meets all these criteria. The first two replacement trees (24-inch box specimens) were deemed to be too small, and the next replacements will be 36-inch box specimens. The new Streetscape Plan is the result of extensive public input, sometimes competing concerns and a good deal of compromise. Our downtown is a precious resource that deserves the careful consideration and special attention given to this project.
Bud Lortz Los Gatans are the greatest I am wishing to celebrate and to applaud the humanity of some Los Gatos folks. My exasperating adventure began last week late into the evening. As I pulled up in my brand-new RAV 4 onto the Santa Cruz Avenue side of the city's post office drop box, I jumped out to mail a letter. To my dismay, I returned to my vehicle to find all of the doors and windows tightly shut and locked--motor running, lights on and radio booming. It was a matter of seconds before a gentleman noticed my distress and offered the use of his car phone. My insurance failed to cooperate with my request for a tow truck, but in less than 10 minutes, two firefighters came to my rescue. After many attempts on their part, the car remained locked. They then summoned a tow truck and remained with me until it came. But, alas, even the highly trained technician, with his myriad of tools, had no success opening my car. He was, however, amenable to stand "guard" while I sprinted across the street to the local tavern. There, the bartender loaned me the use of his phone and suggested that I ask some friendly pool players for a ride to my home to get my other key. Astonishingly, they obliged. The key was retrieved and my car reclaimed. Thank you, citizens of Los Gatos, for bolstering my faith in my fellow man--three citizens, two firefighters, a tow truck driver and a bartender. Thanks to you all for my safety!
Kathi Woods Stagnaro misunderstood the concept of a 'calling' Frank Stagnaro's recent critical assessment of Mother Teresa is problematic because of his misunderstanding of "calling." He questions what good her life's work really was because, according to Stagnaro, her stand against "abortion, artificial birth control and sex education that recommends anything but abstinence" will lead to "unrestricted population growth" and therefore a situation in which "all peoples ... will be essentially destroyed." It has been said that God's call makes all things possible. Mother Teresa believed she was called by God to be poor and love the poorest of the poor. This she did faithfully in the way she best understood. I don't believe it is fair to question someone else's call, especially the call of someone who brought real human love to so many who would have otherwise never experienced it. From Frank Stagnaro's recent opinion, it appears he, too, has a calling. Rather than criticize the calling of others, I hope he acts on his, and perhaps he can impact the world as significantly as Mother Teresa. Go for it, Frank.
Steve Hammack
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This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, October 8, 1997. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||