Controversial alleyway remains open

By Sam Scott

At last week's City Council meeting, neighbors battled those who like to get around without cars for the future of an alley.

Standing at the podium in lime-and-black bicycling shorts, Kevin Jackson was the first of a series of cyclists and walkers to urge council members to keep open an alley that connects Reed Avenue with Cassia Way. Neighbors near the alley petitioned for its closure, citing their belief that it provides an entry and escape route for criminals breaking into their homes.

But neighbors' worries didn't convince council members, who voted 6-1 to keep the alley open and gave alternative-transportation fans the decision they wanted.

Jackson argued that the 100-foot pathway--which was created as a condition of the 1970 subdivision that created the Cassia Way neighborhood--enables pedestrians, bikers and schoolchildren to avoid busier, more dangerous streets such as nearby Iris Avenue. "[The alley] sends a message that you don't always have to jump in your car," Jackson said.

Neighbors countered that closing the walkway would pose only a minor inconvenience in exchange for increased safety.

Mike Hazlett--who lives in front of the alley--started the petition to close the alley after suffering repeatedly from vandalism and theft. He said he and his wife think the attacks on their home result from the alley.

"I have a right to feel safe in my neighborhood and safe in my house," Hazlett said. "It's something that has to be dealt with and dealt with now."

Councilman Jim Roberts said he wasn't convinced of a direct connection between crime and the pathway. The Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety reported that two crimes in the previous five years could be connected to the presence of the alley. "I'm not sure the nexus has been reached between the pathway and the crime," Roberts said.

Council members did ask city staff to look into alternative ways to allay the concerns of the neighbors, such as lighting the alley and raising the fences to protect the privacy of houses that abut the alley.

Councilman Jack Walker indicated that even if a relationship had been established between the alley and crime, he still would be in favor of continuing the path. "I'm willing to live with an increase in crime in this area if it benefits the city overall."

Though accepting the defeat, Hazlett objected to Walker's saying that he would accept increased crime in the area for the good of the community. "I am totally offended by a council member making that statement in public," he said. "To me, it was totally outlandish and totally out of line."

The decision pleased Jackson and the others who urged the council to vote no on the petition.

"If this had been a street for cars, there would have been no discussing closing it as a solution to the problem," Jackson said.

In their final verdict, council members voted against the results of a city survey in which 77 percent of local residents stated they were in favor of a closure.

Hazlett said he thinks the will of the neighborhood was ignored

"Three-quarters of the public voice was not heard," he said. "Why weren't they listening to 77 percent of the responders?"

Ray Williamson, city traffic engineer, said that most of those who voiced support for closure did so out of a sense that the alley constituted a crime risk. He said the Department of Public Safety's analysis proved this to be unfounded.

Public Safety Capt. Chuck Eaneff talked to Hazlett afterward about involving the Public Safety Department as a solution to his crime problems.

"His situation is not consistent with the rest of the neighborhood," Eaneff said. "We want to focus our effort to find out why there is this aberration."

Public Safety

Stan Kawczynski: Fidelity, trust - and retribution

Sports Briefs

Monta Vista tops Homestead in football

Saratoga Invitational cross country