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City Beat
Residents say streets, soil study should be priorities
City will upgrade sewers near I-280
By Kate Carter
Residents in Willow Glen's Strong Neighborhood Initiative area can expect some improvements to their aging streets and buildings soon. But some critics say the city should correct the problems more quickly because it should have addressed these problems years ago.
Neighborhood leaders and community members from the Gardner, Atlanta and Gregory Plaza areas in northern Willow Glen filled the room at Gardner Community Center on Feb. 26. It was one of the most well-attended meetings they have had with city officials since the process to bring new life into an old neighborhood began.
Residents say they want their broken streets fixed and cleaned, gutters upgraded to drain standing water and help rebuilding the foundations in their homes. City officials and other consultants are also proposing cosmetic and safety improvements to thoroughfares and to businesses throughout the neighborhood.
Neighbors want to make sure that what they see as their real needs are addressed first.
The city is paying attention. Project consultant Terry Bottomley said the city will be reconstructing the sewage system in the neighborhoods just south of Interstate 280 and north of Brown Street. Residents there say the smell in the air makes them embarrassed to have people visit their homes.
Bottomley said the problems with the sewage system have the same cause that makes streets buckle and houses collapse--"differential settlement" in the soils. To really fix those problems, the first step is for the city to conduct a soil study. He said there are no records that a soil study has ever been done in the area before.
Neighbors said they want the study done soon because any improvements they want won't last unless they are solidly grounded.
"That study should've been done a while back," said neighbor Reymundo Mendez.
"That's at top of pyramid and everything relates to it," neighbor Debbie Palmer said.
Bottomley said the city could explore finding a funding source to do the work quickly.
Resident Norma Mendez has been working with the city to get no-parking hours enforced during street sweeping around Gardner Academy. Street sweeping between Interstate 280 and Jerome Street and Illinois Avenue and Highway 87 takes place the fourth Thursday of each month. Mendez said the enforcement will happen every three months and will start in March.
Participants at previous meetings had discussed the possibility of turning a portion of Fuller Plaza, east of Delmas Avenue, into a permeable-surface parking lot for use by the Word of Faith Christian Center. The city, however, currently requires parking lots to be fully paved and to have a larger setback than allowed by the space along Fuller Avenue, Bottomley reported.
After some discussion, the group decided to leave the open space open, and allow the church congregation to park on Fuller. The group would like to see increased enforcement against abandoned and stored vehicles along the street, and asked the city to include Fuller Plaza as one of its parks to receive regular maintenance.
The city is still trying to establish a policy for small open spaces that are prevalent in older neighborhoods. Currently these "atypical open spaces" aren't recognized as parks by the parks, recreation and neighborhood services department, Bottomley said.
Code Enforcement Inspector Diane Buchanan told the group that the city would begin enforcement on the Yellow Cab Company at 615 Bird Ave. The company uses a back lot to work on and store broken-down cars, which is a violation of the site's zoning, she said. The city has approached the company to clean up the area, but promises the company made were not kept and the deadline for action has passed.
Buchanan told The Resident that a developer submitted plans last week to put housing on the company's site. She said the proposal by Blackwell Homes will be reviewed by the planning department, but she would still pursue the code enforcement issue.
Unless it makes the appropriate changes, she said, the Yellow Cab company could be fined as much as $2,500 a day.
The next meeting of the Strong Neighborhoods Initiative area is scheduled for March 26, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Gardner Community Center. Food will be available at 6:30 p.m.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
