Letters

Does community really need more monster houses?

The planning commission on Nov. 16 unanimously approved a three home subdivision at 130 Nina Court. They cited the benefit to the community as improving the housing stock and the repair of a storm drain by the developer, Dividend Homes.

Of course the town will reimburse the developer for the work. The developer will contribute up to $40,000.

The title 130 Nina Court. is deceiving--in reality it should be called the Pinta Court project. A new street will be put into this 1.5 acre hillside parcel running behind and above existing homes on Pinta Court just below the crest of the hill.

It puts lights from traffic into the living areas of existing homes and creates security and safety issues for the neighbors. The landmark mammoth eucalyptus tree seen from the entire Nuevo Mundo area will be replaced by the sight of houses sitting on the ridge.

Do we really need three more multimillion dollar houses that badly?

Laverne Nolan
Los Gatos

Is town's charm just as phony as a movie set?

The article in the Nov. 22 issue of the Los Gatos Weekly-Times reporting the stunning reversal by the planning commission, which voted to grant a conditional-use permit for a third Longs Drugstore in Los Gatos, incorrectly identified me as the leader of a group opposing Longs. I am not.

However, regardless of who led the opposition, what really matters are the issues.

Testimony in favor of Longs was primarily based on one subjective argument--that a Longs Drugstore would benefit people who wanted evening shopping convenience. Conversely, testimony in opposition to Longs covered important goals and policies specified in the General Plan, such as the preservation of our small-town character and quality of life concerns, such as traffic and noise.

School officials again expressed their concerns about how this development would impact the safety of children who attend the Rolling Hills Middle School located just across the street. These were the same issues as last year when the planning commission denied Longs a conditional-use permit on a 5 to 1 vote. What changed?

Furthermore, I suspect that the true intentions of Longs and the landlord of the Rinconada Hills Center are yet to unfold and it will be their corporate vision, not ours. Unfortunately, it will probably be too late to do anything about it. The decision-making process behind this project goes beyond the fate of this quiet neighborhood. It should be of concern to all Los Gatans.

Does Los Gatos support the General Plan, described as, "a constitution for development, the foundation upon which all land decisions are to be based?" Do our leaders have the foresight and the courage to follow it? As owner of the last independent pharmacy in Los Gatos, I want to know.

As a Los Gatos resident, I want to know if the only concern is for superficial niceties, like a Hollywood movie set. From afar, it looks like Small Town America, but up close, it's all phony. What does that make us?

David Matsuo
Los Gatos

Big business was the winner, our town the loser

The Cats--our town--has gone to the dogs!

I am shocked that our town planning commission voted 4-0 on Nov. 15, to grant a use permit to Longs Drugstore.

A year had elapsed since Longs' application was resoundingly rejected by a commission 5-1 vote. What has changed? Only that the absentee landlord had consciously allowed the Rinconada Hills shopping center to languish with stores vacant. No attempt had been made to find local, small-business occupants.

As commission co-chairman Jim Lyons referred to the center at the meeting, it was becoming a blight on the community.

Enter the landlord as the hero. He finally will refurbish the declining center--if Longs is admitted. And, instead of requiring that the center meet an architectural code and by enforcing the town charter to promote local-owned businesses, the commission now has agreed to the entry of big business.

Longs has said it will pay for a lion's share of the center upgrade--instead of the landlord. So the landlord is rewarded for years of deterioration by granting him a minimal cost to upgrade.

Winners: Big business (owner and big renter conspiracy)--who can raise rents, drive out remaining family stores and expand.

Losers: The Cats--our beloved small town.

What message does the planning commission give to absentee landlords and future developers? "Run down your property and we will reward you with big-chain permits!" Shame on the planning commissioners for not upholding the General Plan as they have been entrusted to do!

Karl Rapp
Los Gatos

People should be prepared, and show some I.D.

With all of this mess going on in Florida, we have our own little problems right here in Los Gatos. I went to vote in the morning on election day and had not been able to find my ballot. So I went through my wife's and then marked down the numbers corresponding to my selections.

When I went in to sign my name, I had my license ready to show the volunteers for I.D. Nobody asked for it; nobody questioned who I was, and I had to tell them to LOOK at my license so they would know who I was! I was astonished that this could take place. I didn't know anyone at the location. Yet, they "trusted" me? Wow!

By the time this letter gets printed, the election should be over but this is the type of human error that needs to be avoided. Having to manually recount the ballots is absolutely insane. The types of errors that could occur and the fraud that will take place will be huge.

My point is that first, you need to have either your ballot and I.D. present to be able to get into the polling booth, and if you are confused, then ask one of the workers to answer a question BEFORE you poke your little hole. Finally, every voter should read the ballot carefully before making a selection.

This will avoid the whining about all of the so called "confusion" that took place in Florida with that butterfly ballot. How embarrassing to have voted so fast that you didn't study what you were doing.

I don't feel sorry for those people in the least, and I think they should learn a lesson for being ignorant going into the voting booth. It amazes me to see them actually think they should be able to vote again. Live and learn!

Curt Walton
Los Gatos

Mammograms a team job

Today my friend Guyonna and I drove the 50 minutes to South San Francisco from San Jose to have our yearly mammograms. We've been going there together for several years and doing this potentially gruesome task as a twosome is fabulous.

We rendezvoused and cheerfully talked nonstop until we arrived--the 50-minute ride truly felt like 10 minutes! The usual pre-mammogram fear that others tell me about is absent, completely dissolved in our pleasure at having time together. We're good friends who are so busy and active as to almost never see each other and this is a guarantee of at least a once-per-year visit.

Besides the wonderful opportunity for talk, there is the support of a dear friend as we wait for the mammo-technologist to say that the doctor is satisfied with the film and--yippee--we can get dressed to leave. Were it necessary to repeat the film, which has happened, we each have a friend to support, sustain and distract us during the worry period.

When we are dressed once again, a crucial topic must be discussed: where will we eat lunch? I don't "do lunch" very often and this lunch is fun! It is almost celebratory. We both feel good for each other and ourselves that we are healthy, at least so far as the mammogram can tell. And we are delighted to have this time together.

Dorothy Dorsay
Saratoga

It's time to think beauty for holidays

The Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce Beautification Committee will honor one retail merchant and one residential neighborhood with the fourth quarter "Best Seasonal Decoration Award."

All merchants and residents are invited to do their part to make "The Gem of the Foothills" the place in the valley to experience the beauty of the season.

Shirley Henderson
Beautification Committee Chair

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