Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Editorials

Models help people visualize proposal

Two years ago, more than 200 Los Gatans gathered around tables covered with butcher paper; they rolled up their sleeves and, with brightly colored marking pens, began to create a new vision of Los Gatos Boulevard. Soon, those labors will bear fruit.

Last week, the Town Council allocated funds for the required environmental and engineering reports.

The General Plan Committee, which was charged with completing the plans, intends to return to the council once more to request approximately $5,000 for graphic representations and models. While such visual representations are not mandatory, they can make a big difference in public response to a proposal.

The development of the boulevard plan has been a commendable chapter in Los Gatos history. It's absolutely critical when it is presented to the public that discussions not get bogged down because only those with planning backgrounds can visualize the end result.

Members of the General Plan Committee learned that lesson the hard way when they held a public hearing to preview the draft boulevard plan. They handed out stacks of printed descriptions and flashed overheads on a screen, but no one seemed to be able to visualize what they were talking about.

Instead of constructive criticism, those who had spent months and months working on the plan encountered hostility.

Those who sustained the attacks came to embrace the idea of presenting dramatic changes graphically.

With the town so dependent on sales tax for revenue, there is little choice but to encourage development along the boulevard. Thanks to the two-year effort by the entire community, chances are greatly improved that growth will not only bring the town needed revenue, but will dramatically improve an important and neglected area of town.

Bridge to the future?

A bridge across S. Santa Cruz Avenue linking the Toll House to additional meeting and conference rooms is a long way off. Some might say if it never happens, it would be too soon.

But the council has taken the first step in opening up the idea for discussion. It has agreed to have the town-owned property across the street from the Toll House surveyed and appraised.

There's a natural inclination--especially in a community devoted to its history and old-fashioned charm--to laugh at the idea of such dramatic proposals. We'd like to suggest, however, that it might not be such a bad idea.

All over the country, cities and towns of all sizes have hired economic development consultants who have advised them to build gateways to welcome visitors to town. Many communities spend enormous amounts of money building arches across roads.

Because of its location, the bridge the Toll House wants to build might just serve as such a gateway. With a little comprehensive planning, elements of the design might be incorporated into a gateway--already under discussion--welcoming visitors to the soon-to-be-bustling Los Gatos Boulevard.

A bridge is a bold and dramatic idea. While it could be a disastrous addition to downtown, it also has the potential to become a valued landmark.