Willow Glen Resident
News
Alano Club, neighbors explore ways to reconcile differences
By Alicia Upano
It's been a rocky road, but Alano Club West members and Willow Glen residents have finally reached common ground.
Members and neighbors who attended a meeting about the club's future on Oct. 30 came ready to reconcile their differences and end the animosity.
The problems began in 2004 when ongoing noise at the club had neighbors seeking help from the city. The city discovered the club had been operating without a conditional use permit, even though its doors had been open for 30 years.
This lead to nine compliance orders and a mid-October Appeals Hearing Board meeting, which ordered the club to close until it received a permit. These actions prompted club leaders to apply for the permit and hold a community meeting.
Neighbors and members offered their opinions on how the club should operate. Community feedback will be included in a report to the San Jose Planning Commission, which will consider the permit application on Nov. 15.
Alano Club representative Mike Formico said the club will install turf blocks and 31 parking spaces to the rear of the club, which will reduce the need for members to park in the adjacent commercial lot. The turf blocks will replace the gravel lot, and be a quieter surface. Furthermore, no motorcycles will be allowed in the lot, and there will be only one outdoor event per year--a children's Easter Egg hunt.
To further reduce the noise, Formico said, the club will plant cypress trees bordering their Iris Court neighbors to absorb sound from the club. Its hours will be limited to 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. most days, but the club plans to close earlier Friday and Saturday evenings.
However, to Iris Court resident Chris Piekarski, the club's deck is the primary source of noise and vulgar language. Club representatives said the deck will be used only for socializing, but Piekarski wanted to see it close. He also requested the hours be shortened to 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and closed on Sundays.
"So we can have one day off," he said.
Several members lobbied to keep the deck open, which they said is an essential part of recovery for Alano Club members. The club hosts numerous meetings for recovering alcoholics and substance abusers. Currently, 150,000 people pass through the club's doors each year.
Members said they use the deck to meet one on one to deal with issues that involve overcoming fear and anxiety in early recovery stages, and to study the program's 12 steps. Several members also said the long hours aid those who need solace and healing every hour of the day.
"I'm addicted to multiple things. My disease doesn't go to sleep when I go to sleep; my disease doesn't take a day off. It's a disease where we don't get to pick the hours," one member said, adding she tried to commit suicide before she found the Alano Club. "Between 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., I know I've got a place to go."
Neighbors praised the Alano Club's importance to the community, and members thought there was a way the club and the community could work together to ensure Alano Club's future. Suggestions by both parties included policing inappropriate behavior on the deck, hiring a full-time manager and having a group of members and neighbors meet monthly to solve problems.
"I don't hear animosity in these rooms," said an Alano Club member and Iris Court resident. "I hear solutions."
Willow Glen Neighborhood Association president Ed Rast offered the neighborhood association's support to help club members, neighbors and business representatives work together.
The San Jose Planning Commission meeting will take place on Nov. 15 at 6.30 p.m. in city hall chambers, 200 E. Santa Clara St. Written comments on the Alano Club West issue may be submitted via email to erin.morris@sanjoseca.gov prior to the meeting.
