Saratoga News

Letters

Council showed good sense on park issue

I would like to applaud the members of the Saratoga City Council for their sensitivity and wisdom in striking a good balance between community needs and neighborhood concerns.

I feel their handling of the Kevin Moran Park issue was fraught with common sense. By establishing a policy of cooperation with local schools and surrounding cities in the development and allocation of playing fields, money will be saved, resources will be utilized more efficiently and everyone will benefit.

Anthony Hoffman
Saratoga

Let's build houses big, beautiful and expensive

I enjoyed reading the rebuttal in "Speak Out" [July 31] to my letter about big houses in Saratoga. My thesis was that a surprisingly large number of people here favor tight restrictions on the size of our houses.

Saratogan Robert Wallace argues that this is not true, and the real "phobia" here is fear of "affordable" or "low-cost houses"; he thinks that most people want "luxury" homes. He says he sees Saratoga as a community of "conspicuous consumers with an overwhelming need to display their wealth."

Questions about a bit of exaggeration aside, Mr. Wallace does raise the broader issue not addressed in my letter regarding what would we like to see constructed on those very few remaining raw land sites and occasional tear-down lots. In order to consider this, let's first think about what the little town of Saratoga means to some of us.

To me, Saratoga is a green bubble--a delicate anomaly in an ocean of burgeoning humanity. I see a community of relative serenity and quiet streets, a place of gorgeous trees and fine homes and sweet-scented gardens, a place remarkably free of crime, a place whose residents luxuriate in near perfect weather, a place of beauty still free of graffiti and all the other stink and negative consequences, which so often arise when humankind is forced to live in high density.

The town of Saratoga, with its charming little village, its close library, its fine schools, its lack of industry and other commercialism, is a lush island garden, an exquisite perfection, a paradise.

I can't imagine why anyone who already lives here, someone who surely must have a large investment to protect, would favor building "affordable" homes in Saratoga. Affordable? That's a code word for cheap and crowded and ordinary. I don't want it. On the very few remaining places to build here, let's go big and beautiful and expensive. Let's keep that bubble from bursting.

Mr. Wallace points out in his letter that homes are going up right now in Saratoga that are 5,000 or 6,000 square feet. Big deal. These are big homes? A really big home might be two or three times that size. Big homes generally demand big lots--both factors which keep the density down and the prices up.

Finally, I'm still waiting for someone to write in and explain to me the real reason why the current codes in Saratoga on house size are so penurious and why they are so vehemently enforced.

James A. Cunningham
Saratoga

A child's view of alcohol in the park

I am a 12-year-old and I live near El Quito Park. I used to enjoy playing ball and riding my bike with my friends in the park. Now I feel uncomfortable with big groups of people that have been drinking lots of beer, that stare at us.

We have to be careful where we play hide and seek in the park because of the broken glass and beer cans everywhere. We are taught in school that alcohol is not good for you and grownups that drink in front of kids set a bad example for us to follow.

Once I was walking in the park with my sister and we saw a large group of people at the picnic tables drinking beer and gambling. I feel that when people use a public park they should clean up after themselves. When I play basketball at a park by my friend's house in San Jose, there is no drinking allowed. Why is it allowed in El Quito Park?

I feel that police have more important things to do than arrest people who have had too much to drink at a public park.

Max Doss
Saratoga

Cromwell house could add to Saratoga history

The letter July 31 from Mr. Bommarito, project manager for Pinn Brothers Construction Co., was most surprising. He states, "It's unfortunate that you have to raise interest in this issue at the expense of the developer." Rather, he should commend the Saratoga News and the citizens of Saratoga for taking pride in the history of the city and investing the time and energy to preserve the history and beauty of Saratoga.

As for the "at the expense of the developer" comment, please spare us the moaning. We would all like to make the money that developers make when they purchase land and build homes that list for $1.8 million.

I think Mr. Bommarito and the Pinn Brothers Construction Co. owe the Saratoga News an apology. The Saratoga News did not state one derogatory or disparaging remark about Pinn Brothers Construction Co. They simply were continuing to report the facts on the status of the historic homes in the city of Saratoga.

The Pinn Brothers Construction Co. should be proud to be able to build homes in such an outstanding community. They should praise the efforts made by the community and the Saratoga News to protect the best interest of the city and its residents. In addition, it would be a philanthropic and magnanimous showing from Pinn Brothers to work with the city of Saratoga to aid in the preservation of the heritage of Saratoga in order for it to remain the city that commands some of the highest real estate prices in the Bay Area.

The Warner Hutton house is a historical home that was discarded on the side of the road on Saratoga Avenue for several years. It also looked unremarkable at that time. Today, the Warner Hutton house is an excellent example of the success of the efforts of the citizens of Saratoga to preserve the historical homes in our community. The Warner Hutton house was restored to its present beauty by the efforts of the city of Saratoga, the citizens, and the help of the Saratoga News to get the information out to the residents of Saratoga.

One other developer in the area donated the landscaping to beautify the Warner Hutton house. The Warner Hutton house is used as the Saratoga Teen Center and by the Saratoga Community Center for some of the classes that are offered to residents of Saratoga. The proud old home now resides next to the Saratoga City Hall on Fruitvale Avenue.

This home is a "remarkable" and beautiful display of a period that would have been lost to our community. This historic home is beautifully preserved along with our Heritage Orchard for this generation and all generations in the future to view and enjoy. The citizens, the Heritage Commission, the City of Saratoga and the Saratoga News have contributed to the outstanding beauty and uniqueness of Saratoga by putting in time and effort to preserve the quality of the schools, the community and history of Saratoga.

The historical Cromwell house on Douglass Lane that you call "unremarkable" could also become a remarkable and beautiful addition to the Saratoga Heritage Orchard on Fruitvale Avenue. It would be decent for Mr. Bommarito to apologize. Please reflect on what a very famous president stated: Ask not what Saratoga can do for you, but what can Pinn Brothers do for Saratoga?

Mary Reitano

Saratoga

Willys Peck's column is enjoyable reading

We are very much enjoying reading Will's Peck's Saratoga Steropticon columns in the Saratoga News. We hope that someone is accumulating all of them for publication in some way for us to keep for historical reference. If there is such a plan, please let us know in a future issue.

Ed and Genie Sack
Saratoga