The Sun
Sunnyvale's Newspaper

City Council candidate Michael Szymanski

Szymanski proposes big changes downtown

By Natasha Collins

Saying Sunnyvale is fast becoming a "drive-through" community, City Council candidate Michael Szymanski suggests dramatic changes to give the city an identity.

Szymanski, a planning commissioner for 18 months, says Town & Country shopping center should be razed, downtown Sunnyvale should be renovated and Murphy Avenue should be closed to traffic.

"Town & Country is just too old and doesn't meet the needs of the community anymore," he said. "There are a lot of businesses on Evelyn and Mathilda that would benefit from a hotel being there instead."

By closing Murphy Avenue to traffic, a plazalike setting would be created and people could sit outside and eat their meals, Szymanski said.

"Instead of people parking their cars on the street, I see tables and chairs and a more user-friendly atmosphere," he added.

Szymanski, a businessman and a graduate of Leadership Sunnyvale, is running for Seat 2, currently held by Council-woman Robin Parker.

Although as a resident he will vote for the utility tax put on the ballot by the present council, Szymanski does not believe it is something candidates should be debating. "It is for the people to decide if they want the increase or not," he said. "I will vote for it myself because if we kill the tax increase, revenue will be reduced, and the city will have no choice but to reduce services."

He also thinks Moffett Field should be kept the way it is. Opening it to commercial air cargo flights--or even to industry, a space museum or housing--will increase traffic too much, he said.

"It would be nice if the federal government would leave half of the airfield to us and the other to Mountain View, and we turned [our half] into a park," he said. "I don't see that happening anytime soon, so the best option I see is to have a plan that will have the least impact on the community."

People must also realize that Sunnyvale and Mountain View do not own the airfield and can only make suggestions as to what NASA should do, he said.

"It is a federal airfield, and we may have an influence on what they do there, but in reality, they can do whatever they want," he said. "I think it is important for us to form a relationship with NASA so when the time comes, they will be willing to listen to our suggestions."

The zoning and development in Sunnyvale need to be evaluated and changed, he said. "There needs to be more consistency. We will approve one development that fits one set of rules and will not approve another that follows the same rules," he said. "If you drive around, you will see too many developments that do not work well together and look out of place."

Lower-density development should be encouraged to help alleviate the traffic problems in the community, and the standards for development should be higher, Szymanski said.

"There is very little space left to develop in Sunnyvale," he added. "I think we are in a position to be choosy and to only put in top-quality developments. I will kill any project that is not exceptional."

As a planning commissioner, Szymanski voted against the development of a Target on Olson's orchard. He said the development was not what the community needed in the center of town.

"Olson's should be a showplace with character," he said. "It should have an inviting feeling, where people will want to come to spend time with their families and be proud of when they drive by. Target just wasn't that."

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, September 3, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.