The Sun Sunnyvale's Newspaper Letters Let Heritage residents pay for improvements and block access for all I operate a small business with 50 employees, with my office located at 150 West Iowa Avenue in Sunnyvale, on the corner of Francis Street. I read the article on the council's decision on the blockage of streets in the Heritage District, including Taaffe and Frances streets. I am not taking a position on whether or not these streets should be closed. I understand the positive and negative aspects of this change. I do, however, have a strong opinion on how this is implemented, if it is implemented. First, residents should pay for the improvement, not the general fund. Creating a cul-de-sac would result in an increased property value of the residents on the south end of these streets and perhaps a slight decrease in property value of the residents on the next block to the north (my block). If implemented, I believe the residents directly benefiting from the street closures should pay the full cost of the improvement--and not the rest of the taxpayers. Unlike other improvements such as public landscaping or local parks, the rest of us will never realize even the slightest benefit, but we will in fact suffer a measurable inconvenience by this change. Second, I ask that the council not create a privileged class. If the residents want access to El Camino cut off, fine. However, the thought that access might be cut off for me, but not for them, strikes me as unfair. It required the combined gall of the residents and a lack of analysis by City Council for this proposal to be approved. Did anyone at the meeting point out that all of the city will be inconvenienced so that this select group's property values can be increased, while the same unappreciative group is exempting themselves from the inconvenience they are imposing on everyone else? Please think about this. If the council closes the streets, close them to all traffic, including use of the residents making this request. If there is any exception, limit the exception to emergency vehicles only. If council allows residents of the privileged block access to El Camino, I would encourage creation of a legal fund to fight the first ticket the city gives to anyone else using the same access. The unfairness of this situation is so flagrant that I would not be surprised that creating such a privileged class at the expense of others is illegal as well as unfair. Since the council represents all the citizens, it should revisit its decision. Edward Doyle Sunnyvale [ Back to Contents Page | Sunnyvale Sun Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, October 28, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.