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Letters
Three reasons for not developing orchard
Let's retain the Heritage Orchard as it stands, except for the library expansion and parking for the library.
There are three major reasons for not developing the Orchard:
First, safety issues. The portion of road between Saratoga Avenue, Fruitvale Avenue and Highway 85 is the highest trafficked area in our city. It is the most dangerous and has the highest rate of accidents in the entire city. We've already added a light at Scotland. We may need one at Ranfre and one farther up Saratoga at Herriman. Do we want these streets to become any more congested or unsafe for the many neighborhoods that funnel onto Saratoga Avenue or Fruitvale?
Why would we want to put our children's sports facilities there? Please protect our children by distributing the traffic more evenly throughout the city instead of drawing them back to this dangerous spot at rush hour for after-school practices and games.
Second, beauty and heritage. It is a beautiful gateway to our village. We have maintained an ambiance unique to Saratoga, and it is a village, not a metropolis. I feel we would lose our village atmosphere with the development of the orchard with sports arena, theater, soccer fields, etc., which is what some seem to be advocating. Once our orchard is gone we cannot bring it back.
Finally, fields already are available. Children need outdoor recreational facilities in this city, but additional soccer fields are not necessary. The city has already spent $60,000 for drawings and plans for all the current sites that have playing fields: Blue Hills, Marshall Lane, Foothill, Congress Springs and for a new one at Azule Park. Most of these sites can be made safe and playable and the city and schools can maintain them for far, far less than building and maintaining new fields. Cannot we reconsider upgrading and using these sites, which have been enjoyed by so many children in past years?
We want playfields for our kids and grandkids. Demographics of our city may be changing. But, we have much better options than orchard development. Use Parks and Recreation dollars to upgrade existing fields and not to destroy the most beautiful land in Saratoga.
Phylis Ballingall
Wendy Lane
DeCinzo mislabeled bicyclist as idiot
I was surprised that DeCinzo mislabeled what appears to be a bicyclist as a "Modern Idiot" in the June 7 issue of the Saratoga News. Everyone knows that a "Modern Idiot" looks more like the "busy person" who endangers us all by driving one-handed on Saratoga Avenue at 50-60 miles per hour, while jabbering a mile a minute into his or her cell phone.
K. R. Kummerer
Lanark Lane
Commission shouldn't OK Montalvo Park project
The Saratoga Planning Commission hearing scheduled for June 14 deals with the proposed buildings at Montalvo County Park. We strongly oppose approving the request, which more than doubles the amount of cut and fill for a proposed building project on a 10-acre site at Montalvo.
This is county parkland that should remain as open space. With the crush of building throughout the valley, we should not have to lose open space in the park to building on 10 acres. That is an excessive amount of open space parkland to lose.
The project has already been approved, but it was approved last summer, and few people were aware of what was happening. Reportedly no one at the meeting spoke out for the intent of our county parks and that is to keep them natural for open space enjoyment, not for constructing buildings.
Buildings should be kept to a minimum on county, state and federal parklands. One needs only look at what happened to the Valley in Yosemite with all the buildings there.
Since this is a county park, did the Saratoga planning commission have the legal right last summer to decide to build on 10 acres of the park? The land is a beautiful meadow and should remain that way. Most of Montalvo is redwood and oak forest, so this project will remove a vital part of Montalvo's natural lands.
Gail and Doug Cheeseman
Kittredge Road
Orchard should be maintained as it is
The recent concern about the viability of keeping the Heritage Orchard deserves some comment.
First, this orchard is excellent for its type and I speak from over 60 years operating orchards right here in Saratoga. It is an excellent illustration of the type of orchard that filled the whole valley and as such deserves to be maintained as was intentioned when the city first secured it.
Besides, it also adds a refreshing piece of open space.
Where the present library is was the location of the dryer and cutting shed. It was normal procedure for farmers to remove and replant trees constantly and as years progressed, the mix of tree variety was constantly changing as was the ages of the trees.
When compared to Sunnyvale or Los Altos, you should note they have only preserved a single variety orchard, apricots. They do not have prunes, peaches, pears, and cherries, all of which were planted here in Saratoga and were produced in commercial quantities.
Vince Garrod
Garrod Farms Mt. Eden Road
Citizens' opinions count in Saratoga
The city of Saratoga and its parks and recreation commission want to know what facilities Saratoga's residents desire. Do you want more sports fields? A community gym? An improved community center or "hub?" Are you willing to support a bond to pay for these facilities? Are you willing to support a bond to purchase land on which to put these facilities? Would you support putting any of these items on any portion of the Heritage Orchard land? Please let us know.
Each residence should have received a copy of the Spring 2000 The Saratogan, which included a survey on these issues and a postage pre-paid tear-off card. If you returned the survey, thank you. If you haven't done so yet, please take the time to provide your input. If you have misplaced the survey (or didn't receive one) please feel free to send your comments to the City Manager's office at City Hall. 13777 Fruitvale Avenue, Saratoga, CA 95070.
The Saratoga Parks and Recreation Commission
Saratoga
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
