Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Concern about growth hit an emotional peak when neighbors realized SummerHill Homes had its eye on 103 acres along Blossom Hill Road near Union Avenue. Among those protesting the 42-home development, which included removing the apricot orchard at the front of the property, were Dennis Hickey, Phyllis Hickey, Nadine Buswell, Chuck Golling, Susan Arroyo, Cam Moretti and Al Jones.

Year in Review

What price is the community willing to pay?

If 1996 was the year everyone wished the town had more money, 1997 might go down in history as the year Los Gatans realized they should be careful what they wish for.

Fallout from the Silicon Valley economic boom resulted in long-delayed repairs to the Civic Center roof and repaving of surfaces on many town streets. Library hours, cut in 1996 for budgetary reasons, were restored, thanks to a grant, and the ranger position that caused such emotional debate when it was cut the previous year was restored. A facelift was ordered for playground equipment at Oak Meadow Park.

So far, so good.

The downside of the economic boom was that all the while the town was in a holding pattern because of a lack of money, developers and property owners were delaying plans of their own.

Good times allowed developers to move on projects languishing on drawing boards. And it was this flurry of building fees and permits--twice the activity of the previous year--that made the town flush.

Work began on the Old Town renovation and expansion in 1997; Dave Flick leveled the landmark Buffalo Trading Co. building and started construction on a mixed-use retail and residential structure on the long-vacant lot at the corner of E. Main Street and College Avenue.

By the end of the year, Sue Farwell had proposed a mixed-use commercial and residential building downtown behind Lyndon Plaza, and construction was going on along Los Gatos Boulevard, where residential neighbors battled plans all year for expansion of facilities at Calvary Church.

On little patches of land all over town, it seemed, someone wanted to build something. The Landmark Development Co. wore a path to Town Hall with revisions of its planned high-density development on two acres of the Yuki property on Lark Avenue--yet to be approved.

In March, owners of the Los Gatos Trailer Park said they would file an application for as many as 150 residential units in their 12-acre mobile-home community that straddles Los Gatos Creek at the intersection of highways 9 and 17.

Just a couple weeks later, residents near the 103-acre Heintz property off Blossom Hill Road near Union rose up in arms over a proposal by SummerHill Homes to put 42 homes on the property that Heintz had willed to the University of California. The issue of growth on that development was nearly overshadowed by the emotional tie neighbors had to the old apricot orchard at the front of the property.

The buzz in Los Gatos was beginning to be about growth.

On top of that, the town agreed to wording in the long-debated housing element of the general plan that committed the town to consider rezoning for higher density when an appropriate project came before the town. The state indicated its pleasure by approving the housing element. And although a mere seven citizens turned out for the public hearing on the housing element, the town's nod toward higher density did not go unnoticed.

In response to growing restlessness about how development might affect the character of the community, the Town Council appointed the General Plan Task Force, a 30-member team representing a cross-section of Los Gatos, to help assess community attitudes about several growth issues. The task force's charge was to formulate the questions that need to be asked and to prioritize them in anticipation of a public airing as part of the process of revising the general plan.

Among the tools the task force used was a survey, and although the survey was not done scientifically, results strongly suggested that growth and high density had become hot-button issues. The task force completed its work just as the year ended; its report to the council is due Jan. 26.

If 1996 was the year Los Gatans wished they had more money, and 1997 was the year they realized the price they would have to pay for the luxury of street repairs and restored services, 1998 is shaping up as the year the town searches its soul to determine what its future should be.

--Editor

January

The Los Gatos Museum Association received news of its second windfall in less than a year: Native Los Gatan Harriet Webley Mesenburg left the organization $100,000. She also left $50,000 to Los Gatos Live Oak Senior Nutrition and Service Center. Earlier, the museum association learned it had been named the beneficiary of the estate of one-time Los Gatan Rosalie Jacobsen Burns.

Town Attorney Larry Anderson announced that he is leaving to accept a position as the city attorney in Burlingame.

Newly elected Monte Sereno councilmember Joel Gambord hit the deck running as he asked Mayor Jack Lucas to schedule a council discussion so Gambord could propose staff evaluations and a renovation of the city code. Echoing his campaign message, Gambord said he and colleague Gordon Knight, who was elected at the same time on the same "less government" platform, were looking to revise city codes to make them less intrusive.

Fearful that paid parking on public lots would be bad for downtown business, local merchants told the Town Council they would wage a campaign to raise private funds to add a lower parking level to the underground lot scheduled to be built beneath the proposed Old Town addition.

The Los Gatos History Club, an organization of women who first came together to study history, made a little history of its own by celebrating its 100th birthday. The club celebrated with an open house and a rededication to its roots with the reopening of its history section.

A referendum attempt aimed at yanking the carpet out from under plans to renovate the Old Town shopping center never really got off the ground because organizers were unable to get the required number of signatures to put the issue on the ballot.

What started as a family vacation to the snow ended in tragedy when three members of the well-known Peckler family died in a head-on collision while driving to the Northstar-at-Tahoe ski resort Jan. 17 on Highway 267. Jim Peckler, a 52-year-old real estate broker and investor, was driving the family's sport utility vehicle with children Jill, 21, and Jeff, 15, when a pickup truck in oncoming traffic veered out of its lane and struck the Pecklers' vehicle.

The Claravale Dairy Preservation Committee announced it would exercise its option to purchase the dairy, which had been run by Kenneth Peake at 18170 Bicknell Road in Monte Sereno since the 1930s and is one of only two dairies in California licensed to sell unpasteurized milk.

Downtown merchants announced they had pledges of $360,000 toward a public parking lot on a second underground level of the parking garage planned at Old Town and a commitment from one individual to loan $1 million to the cause. On the basis of these facts, the Town Council authorized Town Manager David Knapp to work with Old Town owners on a deal to get the 105-space parking deck built.

By a 3-2 council vote, Leonard Pacheco hung on to his Planning Commission seat for another four years. Pacheco is a tireless crusader for historic preservation and is known for carefully scrutinizing details of architectural drawings, often, in his words, trying "to coax better designs out of them."

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Larry Brown of the town staff shows methamphetamine seized in connection with the third meth-lab bust in a year in Los Gatos.

February

Los Gatans were beginning to learn how to play the game of bocce ball as Campo di Bocce opened on University Avenue at the site where El Gato Building Materials did business for 30 years.

Monte Sereno moved closer to gutting its historic preservation ordinance when councilmember Suzanne Jackson joined new councilmembers Joel Gambord and Gordon Knight in supporting a proposal to make historic-preservation laws voluntary. Meanwhile Gambord awaited a decision from the state's Fair Political Practices Commission on whether he could vote on the proposal, given that he is the owner of what is arguably Monte Sereno's most historic house, author John Steinbeck having once lived in it.

The town began the first phase of its downtown streetscape plan with the removal of several wooden planter boxes near Mtn. Charley's. Several trees were removed and relocated near the Civic Center. Replacement planters, made of concrete and clay-fired brick with wrought-iron fences, were scheduled to replace the old boxes.

For the third time in less than a year, police discovered a methamphetamine laboratory within the town. Working in conjunction with the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety, the Santa Clara County Specialized Enforcement Team and the Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement, the Los Gatos/Monte Sereno Police Department confiscated liquid methamphetamine and chemicals used in the manufacture of the drug from a house at 14335 La Rinconada Drive. Several arrests were made, and three rifles were taken into safekeeping by agents.

The Santa Clara County Office of Education launched a study to determine if school boundary lines should be redrawn in the Los Gatos, Saratoga and Campbell areas. The county said its action was in response to the many requests it's received for interdistrict transfers.

Landmark Development scaled down its proposal to build 40 condos on the Yuki property at 16673 Lark Ave., claiming that the town says it wants high-density housing to meet its housing needs but then won't support proposals when they come in. Under the gun to gain approval of its housing element, the town agreed in December 1996 to add language stating that it would rezone land when affordable housing was proposed there.

Monte Sereno councilmembers Joel Gambord and Gordon Knight continued their crusade to simplify local government, with Gambord proposing that city staff be given leeway to permit "wiggle room" for property owners who don't quite meet the conditions of zoning laws because of special circumstances.

Postmaster Kathie Faupel announced that she had asked the postal service to redraw ZIP code boundaries for those with 95030 and 95032 ZIPs on either side of Highway 17 so that the boundary zig-zags roughly northeast to southwest rather than north to south. A new 95033 was proposed for the Lexington area.

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Three-year-old Charlie Knoth rides his bike around Los Gatos Trailer Park. Owners said they would file an application for as many as 150 residential units on the 12-acre site.

March

The Los Gatos Weekly-Times put itself on page one to celebrate the newspaper's 15th anniversary. Metro Publishing president Dan Pulcrano told how a chance encounter with Pat O'Laughlin led to Pulcrano's founding the Los Gatos Weekly in 1982. The Weekly and the Times-Observer merged in 1990.

A swelling economy had town finances so flush just halfway through the fiscal year that the Town Council restored a ranger position that had been cut the previous year. Thanks to a state grant, library hours, cut the previous year because of budget restraints, were scheduled for reinstatement.

The Planning Commission gave thumbs down to a plan by the Chart House for outdoor patio dining. Commissioners cited objections from neighbors who live in the Almond Grove district behind the restaurant, who said they feared outdoor dining would increase the noise level in the area.

The town's Redevelopment Agency gave a hand to downtown merchants in their efforts to raise private funds for a second level of parking in the Old Town garage by agreeing to guarantee any loan taken out to finance the project.

Owners of the Los Gatos Trailer Park said they would file an application for as many as 150 residential units in their 12-acre mobile-home community, which straddles Los Gatos Creek at the intersection of highways 9 and 17. According to family spokesman Doug McNelly, the family had signed a deal with the Barry Swenson Builder company to develop the land. No specific plans had been developed, and Swenson project manager Mark Hansen said the company would first try to learn what would be acceptable to neighbors and the town.

A battle that could be labeled "Blossom Hill vs. SummerHill" began to take shape as neighbors of the 103-acre property once owned by Ralph Heintz began to hear that SummerHill Homes was proposing to build 42 homes on the land Heintz left to the University of California. The issue was emotionally charged because the property included a stand of apricot trees that blooms every spring, creating a nostalgic reminder of the days when someone standing at the crest of Blossom Hill Road in the very early spring would enjoy a view of the Santa Clara Valley blanketed in white and pink blossoms.

Citing lack of contributions, the Claravale Dairy Foundation dissolved and gave up its option to purchase the dairy. Kenneth Peake's attorney told the city of Monte Sereno that Peake intended to sell two of his remaining three acres. Meanwhile, dairy operator Ron Garthwaite said he's looking for other places to set up a dairy with Claravale's equipment and cows--just in case.

Planning commissioners turned down an application to put a High-Tech Burrito restaurant in the Cornerstone Shopping Center, saying property owners should be discouraged from converting Los Gatos Boulevard retail spaces into restaurants.

April

Members of the Monte Sereno Heritage Preservation Committee were expected to resign after councilmembers voted 4-1 to add language to the revised general plan, making historic preservation voluntary. Committee members wrote a letter to the council in February saying they would resign if the council ruled that homeowners could choose not to allow their homes to be designated historic. Councilmember Gordon Knight likened the threat to a "temper tantrum."

A century of history came tumbling down when a bulldozer toppled the Buffalo Trading Co. building on Main Street and the Soda Works building around the corner on College Avenue. Demolition of the Buffalo building followed a long community debate about the landmark structure. The Planning Commission, after reports by consultants, determined that it lacked the historical integrity to stand in the way of progress. Many local history buffs expressed surprise and anger, however, at the demolition of the Soda Works building, which they believed the town had voted to preserve. In fact, Dave Flick, the developer, had been given permission to tear down the Soda Works and replicate the structure, using what he could preserve from the original building.

The community effort to piggyback on an underground parking lot planned at Old Town met a soggy demise when environmental tests showed that the second level would be sitting under two feet of water. More than $80,000 in pledges were returned or forgiven.

Pete Denevi confirmed that he is resubmitting plans to build a golf course on the former Alma College property on Bear Creek Road. Opponents organized Friends of Bear Creek Redwoods to fight the proposal and to try to buy the land.

A 5,996-square-foot two-story house proposed at 16095 Ridgecrest Ave. in Monte Sereno got a unanimous "no" from the city. Councilmembers said the house wouldn't fit the character of the neighborhood. Although the house would have needed only an approval from the Site and Architecture Committee, the committee asked that the entire council vote on the project because of the heated opposition from neighbors. The council told the designer it would consider a toned-down revision.

California housing officials gave their nod to Los Gatos' draft housing element, the document that explains how the town will provide the hundreds of affordable units the state wants to see. After a seven-year struggle to get a plan approved, the state was swayed by new language in the town's plan that says the Town Council will consider rezoning land to allow for more high-density housing.

The town budget process began with a discussion of the Capital Improvement Plan. Nearly all of the proposed five-year plan--$2.1 million of the $2.9 million total--was earmarked for the street and signal program. Massive repaving projects were projected over the next few years, since decaying asphalt went unrepaired for several years because the town lacked money to do the work.

The Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School District, in anticipation of putting a bond measure on the ballot, authorized $36,895 for a study to find out what repairs are needed and how much the work would cost. In addition, said Superintendent Tod Likins, it would also be necessary to determine what a bond measure's likelihood of passage would be before the board could commit to putting it on the ballot. It was expected that tens of millions may be needed to replace decades-old P.E. lockers, science buildings and other facilities.

The debate over redrawing school boundaries took on a new dimension when state Sen. John Vasconcellos introduced SB1258, a bill which would require that any school district losing property in a district reorganization be compensated at fair market value.

Although residents have traditionally fought high-density housing in town, just seven people showed up at the Planning Commission's public hearing to decide if the town should adopt the housing element, with new wording including a commitment to rezone to higher density in order to provide more affordable housing. The commission unanimously approved the housing element.

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Sergio Sernia, 12, and his brother, Alfonso, 8, investigate a train that derailed in May near Pollard Road and Highway 85.

May

The Los Gatos Elementary Education Foundation, established in 1982, went over the $1 million mark in its fundraising efforts. The foundation raises money for the district's science, music and physical education programs; Triad counseling; parent education; art docents; mini-grants for teachers; and the after-school homework program at Fisher Middle School.

A Monte Sereno resident purchased the Claravale Dairy shortly after plans to save the dairy fell through and informed the city he plans to build a house on the site. Kenneth Peake, who founded the dairy more than 50 years ago, was expected to remain in his home, and Ron Garthwaite, who bought the dairy from Peake, said he was hoping to move the dairy to a new location.

Orry Korb was hired as the town's new attorney. At the time, Korb was the city attorney for the city of Galt, near Sacramento. He's also been a legal counsel to local governments, including Gilroy, San Jose and Los Angeles County.

The Town Council overturned the Planning Commission's decision and gave the green light to High-Tech Burrito to set up shop at the Cornerstone Shopping Center. In denying the burrito eatery earlier, the Planning Commission virtually threw down the gauntlet to protest the potential proliferation of fast-food restaurants along Los Gatos Boulevard. The town restricts downtown restaurants by not permitting restaurants to move in to former retail space.

Monte Sereno threw itself a party, complete with birthday cake, to celebrate its 40-year anniversary as a city.

The Los Gatos Union School District put together a committee, headed by Mayor Joanne Benjamin, to explore its options with one year left on the parcel tax and facilities in dire need of repair.

Community Against Substance Abuse released results of a drug survey that showed that students consume more drugs than they did four years earlier, and the rate of drug use among Los Gatos High School students is significantly higher than the average level of drug use by students nationwide. The survey also showed that seniors--who took the same survey as freshmen--had dramatically increased their consumption of alcohol, marijuana and hallucinogens. Principal Ted Simonson said the school's thrust is to keep drugs off the campus and indicated he wanted to bring a drug-sniffing dog on campus several times a year.

A power struggle erupted over the Vasona Substation that PG&E wants to build at the corner of Lark Avenue and Winchester Boulevard, a station originally proposed to provide more reliable service to the utility's Los Gatos customers. The town said the utility needed to apply for a conditional-use permit because the one granted in the 1970s had expired, but the utility company said the Public Utilities Commission ruled in 1995 that the PUC has sole authority in such cases. Neighbors, meanwhile, began raising questions about noise, lighting, electromagnetic hazards and appearance.

The Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School District hired Dr. Cynthia Ranii as its superintendent. Ranii, 50, a principal at Fullerton Union High School in Fullerton, replaced the retiring Dr. Tod Likins.

Citizens FOR Monte Sereno struck again with a letter mailed to all residents of that city just a week before the City Council was set to evaluate City Manager Gay Strand in a closed session. The letter pressed for downsizing city staff, suggesting that the city manager and planner position be consolidated into one position and that the building official and engineering position also be consolidated.

The Town Council accepted the Town Plaza Master Plan that calls for $48,500 in improvements, including new turf and a safer fountain. The original blueprints drawn up by landscape architect Paul Rodrigues called for moving the plaza's bell tower to the Forbes Mill Museum, but councilmembers agreed with members of the Lions Club who argued for keeping the tower in the plaza.

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Chatham Forbes speaks to friends of Los Gatos Weekly-Times columnist Bob Aldrich during a memorial service. The painting of Aldrich was done by Bruni.

June

Los Gatos/Monte Sereno police were continuing an investigation begun May 28 to determine how and why the severed leg of a woman ended up in a dumpster behind a technology firm on Knowles Drive in Los Gatos near the Campbell border.

After 30 years with the town of Los Gatos, Director of Parks, Forestry and Maintenance Mike LaRocca announced he would retire June 21.

Fearing noise, traffic, unsightly equipment and even explosions, more than 50 Los Gatans packed the Council Chambers to tell the Planning Commission that a natural-gas filling station doesn't belong at Lark and Winchester avenues. Saying it didn't have enough information to make a decision, or enough time to gather more information, the commission turned down the town's bid to place a storage tank and pumps that would fuel the town's fleet of natural-gas-powered police cars and cars from other cities.

Town Council members accepted a housing element for the general plan. The state had already indicated it would approve the housing element as revised. Only councilmember Randy Attaway opposed the plan, calling the state's required changes to the plan "blackmail."

The Santa Clara County Committee on School District Organization was considering six scenarios as solutions to the problem of interdistrict transfers. Among the options were several dramatic ones, such as unifying 11 West Valley districts into two districts along the current high school boundaries.

Beloved "Our Town" columnist Bob Aldrich died at the age of 76. He had arrived for a visit in Los Gatos in 1955 and wound up staying. He fell in with a loosely knit band of poets, writers and local history buffs with whom he formed lifelong friendships. In 1982, his friend Vern Hansen recommended Aldrich to the editor of the Los Gatos Weekly, which had just started publishing. Aldrich was invited to submit a piece, which led to the weekly column that he wrote faithfully for 15 years. His illness in the last several months of his life forced him to miss several columns. Several days before his death on June 14, he submitted his final column. It ran in the same issue with the announcement of his death and the many tributes from friends in the community.

Students at Fisher Middle School planted and dedicated a grove of trees to the memory of Jim, Jeff and Jill Peckler, who lost their lives in a traffic accident in January. Both Jeff and Jill had attended the school.

Responding to overwhelming objections from residents in the La Rinconada neighborhood, the Town Council turned down a proposal for a compressed natural-gas station at the corner of Lark Avenue and Winchester Boulevard. Town staff was eager to build the station so it could fill its own police cars that have been converted to CNG. The town had been awarded a grant in 1994 from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District to build a CNG station. Town staff agreed to explore the Miles Service Center as a possible alternate location.

Monte Sereno Councilmember Joel Gambord launched a campaign to get Monte Sereno its own ZIP code. He told the Los Gatos Weekly-Times: "The people who live in Beverly Hills have their own ZIP code. Saratoga has a ZIP code. We don't want to be identified with Los Gatos. We want to remain independent. ... We just want a separate identity."

Some 400 people attended a meeting at Monta Vista High School to hear what some 50 speakers had to say about several scenarios presented earlier as possible solutions to the growing problem of requests for interdistrict transfers. A number of speakers who live in Los Gatos or Saratoga, but not in those school districts, said that they felt they could not be full members of the community if their children could not attend schools in the communities where they live. Many from the Los Gatos Union School District carried signs with such slogans as "If LGUSD is not broke, don't fix it."

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Architect Gary Schloh designed and built the smallest house in the county on the smallest lot in the county.

July

The town conceded that PG&E did not need town approval to build a substation at Lark Avenue and Winchester Boulevard, but agreed to hold a public hearing to collect testimony that would be sent on to the Public Utilities Commission, which does have the final say. Neighbors vowed to take their fight against the substation to the PUC.

The process of developing a long-range vision for Los Gatos into the next century began with the establishment of a 30-member General Plan Task Force. Members were selected from 54 applicants; they represent a broad cross-section of the community based on neighborhood, age, education, employment, etc. Objectives of the task force are to identify issues and inconsistencies in the general plan, the hillside specific plan and the downtown specific plan and to help the Town Council achieve a sense of how the community feels about growth in Los Gatos.

Local architect Gary Schloh completed building the smallest house in the county, built on the county's smallest lot. The house, on Nicholson Avenue, boasts 13-foot cathedral ceilings, a walk-in closet and huge wood-framed windows, all in 514 square feet.

The Town Council overturned the Planning Commission's decision and approved outdoor seating at the Chart House after a long fight by the restaurant's owners. Residents of the Almond Grove neighborhood behind the restaurant argued that outdoor patio seating would increase noise.

The Planning Commission sent the Landmark Development Company back to the town's Development Review Committee for further revisions to the company's proposal for a high-density housing project on two acres of the Yuki orchard at 16673 Lark Ave. Commissioners said they wanted to see more open space in the development.

Acting as a subcommittee on parking, councilmembers Jan Hutchins and Steve Blanton recommended adoption of an ordinance that will let private-property owners charge for parking or for valet services only if the town starts up such services.

A 20-member 4-H Club was facing ejection from its farmyard at Los Gatos High School after being notified that its contract to use the space would not be renewed. The 4-H Club had built pens on the location some 30 years earlier; the pens house sheep, pigs and goats, most of whom are auctioned off at the county fair. The high school administration said the school simply needed to have the facilities for its own use because of increasing demand for sports practice fields.

Anthony Garcia, a 21-year-old Los Gatan, pleaded guilty to nine charges of furnishing methamphetamine to minors and to related charges. Most of the charges stemmed from sales to four teenage girls, three of whom attended Los Gatos High School.

August

Three families lost their homes; hundreds of residents fled or were evacuated; and fire departments around the county rushed 50 fire engines to Los Gatos when a wildfire burned 15 acres in the mountainous region southwest of town on Aug. 7. The fire snarled traffic for hours, left 4,500 PG&E customers without electricity and offered a spectacle for crowds of viewers who lined every downtown street within view of the hills. Some 240 evacuees were elderly residents of the Los Gatos Meadows. Some went to hospitals or The Terraces, but most ended up at First United Methodist Church, where a potluck dinner that had been planned turned into a "loaves and fishes" story as donations came in from businesses around town to feed evacuees.

PG&E agreed to pay the cost of fighting the Aug. 7 wildfire that devoured three homes and to repay losses of any uninsured victims. The utility company and the Santa Clara County Fire Department agreed that the cause of the fire was a spurt of molten aluminum from malfunctioning equipment.

The sale of Contempo Realty Inc. to National Realty Trust was finalized, creating an affiliation for Contempo with Century 21, a global network of 11,000 offices. The sale appeared to be part of a trend of mergers in the real estate field.

The county Committee on School District Organization announced it would offer three possible scenarios at the next public hearing on school boundaries. Gone from this list was a scenario that proposed one giant school district; in the previous meeting, the public response to that option was strongly negative.

The Town Council awarded the Town Chamber of Commerce a $20,000 grant to purchase maps and brochures and to increase office hours to 30 hours per week with a paid staff person.

The small, olive-green ranch house where Neal and Carolyn Cassady once lived in Monte Sereno was demolished to make way for a new home. The home was a frequent stop for Beat poets Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. In the 1960s, the guest list included counterculture novelist Ken Kesey.

Photograph by George Sakkestad

A firefighter rips smoldering shingles from the roof of the home at 302 Almendra Ave. in the early evening of Sept. 17.

September

Owners of the Toll House Hotel began a second attempt at expanding their hotel. A year earlier, the owners explored expanding across the street and connecting the two structures with a bridge across S. Santa Cruz Avenue. That idea met with opposition; the new proposal is for expansion behind the current building, but neighbors had already begun to organize their opposition.

Before the public hearing held by the county Committee on School District Organization was over, a new scenario had been added, this one thanks to a suggestion by representatives from Saratoga Union School District. The district asked the consultant to look at how several of the scenarios that would affect boundaries in Los Gatos and Saratoga might be impacted by unification in each community.

Monte Sereno residents, responding to a survey on councilmember Joel Gambord's proposal to try to get the city its own ZIP code, said overwhelmingly that the plan should be dropped. The council complied.

Monte Sereno councilmember Joel Gambord continued his attack on City Manager Gay Strand with a 14-point list of complaints that the council deliberated for two hours. Gambord, who tried to oust Strand during the June budget sessions by deleting her salary, claimed the manager performs poorly, but other councilmembers disagreed.

Some 61 people attended the Town Council public hearing on the proposed Vasona PG&E substation. PG&E maintained that the substation is needed to improve service in Los Gatos, but neighbors voiced concerns about burning transformers, cancer-causing electromagnetic fields, falling property values and noisy equipment. The town, which has no say in the decision, planned to forward residents' concerns to the PUC.

Sue Farwell said that if the town approves her proposal for a mixed-use building behind Lyndon Plaza, she would like to put the historic Lyndon cupola on top of the building. The Los Gatos Community Foundation had been raising funds for several years in an effort to move the cupola to Oak Meadow Park, where the group hopes to build a bandstand.

A registered sex offender fled Los Gatos after police delivered a flier to residents in the Lark Avenue-Highland Oaks Drive area alerting them--in accordance with Megan's Law--that he was living in their neighborhood.

Los Gatos Coldwell Banker announced it would shut its doors Sept. 26 in a consolidation move that followed the purchase of Cornish & Carey by Coldwell's parent company, National Realty Trust.

By the time the Town Council voted to shut down O'Shea's, the embattled pub and grill had already been closed for two weeks. The closing marked the end of a seven-year battle between the town and the establishment.

The General Plan Task Force prepared a survey it planned to distribute via the town newsletter in an effort to find out what issues are on residents' minds.

Photograph by George Sakkestad

George Werner and Greg Crum stand on the foundation of the Redwood Estates' new community center and pavilion. The original was destroyed by the 1989 earthquake.

October

Los Gatos residents Mark and Barbara Beck took the old saying about making a silk purse from a sow's ear and applied it on a larger scale by creating a restful neighborhood park from what was once a weed-covered lot and traffic hazard. The new park, located where Ellenwood Avenue curves left and Alexander Avenue intersects at the right, is called the Ellenwood Neighborhood Park.

The new Megan's Law touched Los Gatos for a second time when a Los Gatos man convicted at least three times of sex offenses became the subject of an effort by Los Gatos police to notify neighbors of the potential risk. Neighbors included a park, a church day-care center and a school in the Shannon Road area.

The Community Against Substance Abuse announced it would sponsor the first in what was planned to be an annual fundraiser, the Peckler Memorial Relay, in memory of Jim Peckler and his children Jill and Jeff who were killed in an accident caused by a drunken driver in January. The event was planned for Oct. 26.

Councilmembers began debating whether bike lanes were a good idea on Los Gatos Boulevard. Although the lanes have been a part of the plan from the beginning, auto dealers along the boulevard have strongly opposed them, on the grounds of safety and because, they argue, narrower lanes and the addition of bike lanes will discourage those who come to shop for cars in Los Gatos.

Gloria Grimes started her new job as director of the Town Library. She previously served 31 years in the Rancho Palos Verdes library system. She replaced Peggy Murray, who retired.

The Town Council removed its restriction on first-floor office space for five W. Main Street parcels in a one-block section between N. Santa Cruz Avenue and Victory Lane. The zoning change cleared the way for Sue Farwell to proceed with her plans to bring her proposal for a mixed-use office and residential building to the Planning Commission.

Richard Jones, who for 16 years ran Richard's Natural Foods at 111 E. Main St., closed his family shop for good Sept. 30. Jones had made his store a part of the community and gave generously to anyone who asked. Former patrons hung a big banner on the front of his shop, and many customers penned messages.

Residents of Redwood Estates on Oct. 17, the anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake, stopped to reflect upon the event, then looked ahead and proceeded with the building of a new community center and pavilion on the site of the original one, which was damaged beyond repair by the temblor. For some 70 years prior to the quake, the pavilion served as a social gathering place for the mountain community.

When Planning Director Lee Bowman told officials at the Meadows of Los Gatos that the town could not grant the retirement community permission to sell beer and wine at the facility because it was located in a residential zone, officials said they would appeal to the Planning Commission.

PG&E, in response to an internal study, began a $2 million project to make circuits in Los Gatos more reliable for the 10,000 customers connected to them. PG&E said that in the past, the circuits were like old-fashioned Christmas tree lights: When one failed, they all failed. The improved circuits will reroute power when part of the system fails.

The Santa Clara County District Attorney's office filed a criminal complaint against Los Gatan Milton D. Rosenberg on charges of grand theft. During the time the offenses allegedly took place, he practiced law at the law firm of Rosenberg and Rosenberg at 16275 Los Gatos Blvd. The charges were related to a client for whom he was a trustee and executor of an estate.

November

Tempers flared and accusations flew during a question-and-answer session in what was supposed to be strictly an informational meeting at Fisher Middle School organized by Parents for Quality Neighborhood Schools. Among the charges: Those who want to be brought into the Los Gatos Union School District are motivated by a desire to improve their property value.

Merchants took a grin-and-bear-it attitude about construction work at Old Town. While many are looking forward to the completion of the project because it is expected to bring business to town, most agree that for the time being, the loss of 105 parking spaces owned by Old Town, but previously available to the public, is hurting.

Wes Peyton resigned his position as a planning commissioner, and commission chairwoman Sandy Decker's term expired, leaving two seats open. Decker indicated that she planned to reapply.

The General Plan Task Force released results of its survey to discover what Los Gatans thought about a variety of topics. Although unscientific, Suzanne Müller, who chaired the survey subcommittee, said some trends could not be ignored. Among them was a strong negative response to growth and high-density housing.

An expansion and improvement project started at the Dell Avenue post office, which serves Los Gatans in the 95032 ZIP code area. Approximately 3,000 square feet will be added to the building.

Mike Winters, the consultant for the county Committee on School District Organization, said that Scenario 4, which involves redrawing school district boundaries to match city limits and/or the unification of Los Gatos into a K-12 district, was a bad idea and recommended that the scenario be dropped for Los Gatos.

Voices from the downtown business community began grumbling about plans for a mixed-use building proposed by Sue Farwell behind Lyndon Plaza. Although a consultant said there would be no significant impacts on the surrounding area because of the office and residential building, downtown merchants, especially those at Lyndon Plaza, said that the plan would reduce parking for their customers by some 50 spaces.

The Town Council named Linda Lubeck mayor and Jan Hutchins vice mayor at its Nov. 17 meeting. Traditionally, the vice mayor is expected to move into the mayor's seat.

Planners gave a thumbs up to the design for a new gym proposed for a Calvary Church expansion. While some commissioners praised architect Sal Caruso's innovative camouflage for the large structure--a three-dimensional facade resembling a row of townhomes--commissioner Len Pacheco said he was concerned about approving something he said appeared to be the back lot of a Hollywood movie studio.

PG&E confirmed that it is preparing a report on alternate sites for the proposed Vasona Substation at Winchester Boulevard and Lark Avenue. Some 16 sites had been identified, but a PG&E spokesman said many were likely to be eliminated from consideration because of their size, location and cost.

December

A Superior Court judge imposed a sentence of 20 years in state prison on 21-year-old Anthony Garcia, a resident of Los Gatos, for dealing methamphetamine to students at Los Gatos High School. Garcia had been arrested by Los Gatos/Monte Sereno police in November.

Suzanne Jackson was named mayor of Monte Sereno; Dorothea Bamford became vice mayor. Jackson said she would like to focus on emergency safety in hillside areas and do "vigilant monitoring" of school district reorganization issues during her term. Outgoing mayor Jack Lucas will resume duties as a councilmember.

The Town Council approved the Los Gatos Boulevard Plan but hedged on bike lanes, which boulevard auto dealers opposed. The council agreed to narrow the automobile lanes from 12 feet wide to 11 feet wide but chose not to stripe bike lanes, at least for one year. Those who voted for the compromise said it would make the boulevard safer for experienced bicyclists without encouraging inexperienced riders.

Hoping to ease the parking squeeze during the holidays, the Town Council set up a valet parking program for Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, with drop-off points in front of Valeriano's restaurant and on Grays Lane in front of the Los Gatos Brewing Co. If it proves successful, the program could become permanent.

The Los Gatos High School Wildcats wrapped up an outstanding football season when they won the Central Coast Section Division III championship with a 28-14 win over Mitty. Los Gatos ended the season with a 10-3 record after losing its first three games of the year.

The Planning Commission asked an independent consultant to gather more information on the impact of a proposed mixed-use office and residential building proposed by Sue Farwell behind Lyndon Plaza.

The Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School District and the Saratoga Union School District came out in opposition to Scenarios 2 and 4 in the list of four options under consideration by the county Committee on School Organization. The two districts joined Los Gatos Union School District, which earlier voted to oppose those two scenarios.

Culminating a three-month undercover operation, Los Gatos/Monte Sereno police went to Los Gatos High School with arrest warrants for six students wanted for selling drugs to an undercover agent. Five students were taken from classes and arrested. A sixth student fled when police arrived on campus. The undercover agent was a part of the Santa Clara County Specialized Enforcement Team.

The Town Council appointed Sandy Decker for another term on the Planning Commission. Also appointed were Joe Pirzynski and Paul Bruno. Pirzynski has just completed serving two years with the General Plan Committee, where he worked on the Los Gatos Boulevard Plan. Bruno was a member of the General Plan Task Force and was scheduled to present that group's final report to the council Jan. 26.

The Town Council, overturning the Planning Commission's decision, cleared the way for beer and alcohol sales at the Meadows.

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