Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Editorial

Survey may lead to general plan revision

Councilmembers and Planning Department staff say they are not surprised by the results of the Los Gatos General Plan Questionnaire. Those exclamation points that chairwoman Suzanne Müller observed in the comments people added to their surveys come across to planning staff and elected officials in the agitated tones of constituents who've been calling to register their displeasure about growth in Los Gatos.

To their credit, councilmembers appointed the General Plan Task Force in large part because they recognized unrest in the community about a variety of issues, growth in particular.

Traditionally, the sound of hammers and saws has been associated with growth, and growth with prosperity.

It was a good sound.

The current development boom--which, it should be noted, is occurring all over the Santa Clara Valley--is more the result of prosperity generating pressure for growth.

With money available for developers, even those with modest parcels are cashing in while prosperity and optimism are in the air.

That means little patches of green where wildflowers popped up every spring are disappearing all over Los Gatos.

It makes one nostalgic for the bad old days when no one, including the town, had enough money to do anything.

While the survey was not intended as a stand-alone document, it has the potential to take on a life of its own, particularly since the town is making copies available to the public.

It would be a mistake, though, to put too much faith in an unscientific survey outside the context of its intended purpose--as one of several tools in a process aimed at prioritizing issues of concern about the general plan.

It is the general plan, after all, that is the blueprint for land-use decisions. If the general plan has become out of step with current thinking, then the general plan must be revised.

It would also be a mistake to overemphasize the negative in the survey. What was probably more surprising than how strongly residents oppose growth and high-density housing was how positive they were about other issues.

For years, the Planning Department has taken heat for allegedly making developers jump through hoops to get their applications approved. The survey results, however, show that residents do not think the town's design standards intrude excessively on individual property rights. Citizens are happy with the town's landscaping, and they think the town staff does a good job preserving the character of the town. And an overwhelming 81.1 percent of survey respondents say they feel safe from crime in Los Gatos.

Small wonder there's so much opposition to growth and development. Los Gatans love their town just the way it is.

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