By Linda Taaffe
 Photo by Monique Schoenfeld, Town Crier |
New group takes service-oriented approach to solve city problems
If anyone had asked Leslie Lodestro two years ago if she would be the person responsible for launching a community group intended to help residents push their neighborhood issues through the city hall process, the Los Altos mom probably would have laughed.
“The notion that I might be involved in a … new community group was about as likely as the possibility that I might train for a moon mission,” Lodestro said.
Lodestro knew little, if anything, about city hall processes.
“I had my own problems to work on, like how to keep my third grader from chucking his lunch in the trash bin daily and which type of font to use on our block party invitation,” she said.
Lodestro had her eyes opened to the long and sometimes daunting city hall process when a family decided to build a two-story home in her Jay Street neighborhood, something that Lodestro said could potentially threaten the street’s rural character.
Lodestro organized a neighborhood meeting to collect feedback from other residents and quickly found herself leading a campaign to keep two-story homes out of the neighborhood.
Lodestro said the process was neither quick nor easy. She said oftentimes, the neighbors and the Architectural and Site Control Committee would leave meetings feeling frustrated and without much direction. The Los Altos City Council ultimately approved a one-story overlay zone, a tool that enables residents to restrict two-story homes from their neighborhoods.
“Through my journey, I learned a lot about how our city works,” Lodestro said. “I think sometimes people show up to a (city) meeting and don’t understand the process. They feel like they’re not taken seriously, like they’re being dismissed.”
That experience was the catalyst for the formation of the Los Altos Neighborhood Network, which Lodestro launched last August. Lodestro said the group is intended to be a neutral resource to educate residents on city hall processes and city issues. The volunteer group’s mission includes building community awareness on Los Altos issues, influencing community leaders and encouraging residents to organize and voice their concerns to the city council, Lodestro said. There are currently 600 members, including a nine-member board and seven advisors.
Lodestro said the staff and members are all volunteer. She said the point of the group is to work with residents and the city to educate both sides and create a win-win situation.
“We empower residents and help give guidance. If we cease being a resource, we’re nothing and become a pawn,” said member Vickie Clements.
The group educates residents on how to best communicate with city hall employees, where to get information and what issues the city is facing.
Traffic, schools and development have been three key issues that network has focused on over the past year, Lodestro said.
Development
Like Lodestro, Los Altos resident Eileen Elam found herself thrust into planning commission meetings after she learned that a developer was planning to build a 6,232-square-foot office building and 12 affordable housing units in her neighborhood. Elam and many of her neighbors felt the project was too massive for their neighborhood and wanted some compromises.
Elam said she had no idea how the process worked, until Lodestro, who was at a planning commission meeting for another topic, introduced herself. Elam said Lodestro gave the insight needed to organize the neighborhood and better formulate a presentation for the planning commission.
“She told me how I should conduct myself, what to expect at the meeting and how the process works,” Elam said.
With the network’s help, Elam was able to organize a neighborhood meeting and formulate the points of concern that each resident would speak about during the next planning commission meeting. She also circulated a petition opposing the project.
“I felt like both teams were working together,” Elam said about the second planning commission meeting. “We were able to be concise, and I think they heard our points.”
The project is scheduled to go before the Los Altos City Council for approval this Tuesday. Part of the planning commission’s report includes a list of neighbor concerns. The council might not have had that list if the neighborhood hadn’t been successful in expressing their concerns to the commission, Elam said.
The network has also taken steps to keep its members abreast of possible plans for the city-owned lot on First and Main streets.
A network poll, which represented about 10 percent of the group’s membership, indicated that 27 members wanted a theater; 16 preferred a hotel; six preferred neither; and one wanted a fitness club at the site.
The network passed these results onto the city council, Lodestro said.
Traffic
The network has tried to educate and help residents push the city for better bike routes, updated pedestrian signs and funding for traffic programs.
Traffic-related items accounted for five of the top 10 community concerns among network members, according to a recent poll. The network passed those results onto the city council. Councilman Lou Becker serves as a network advisor and sits in on the group’s monthly meetings.
Network traffic chairman Bill Crook said he believes several traffic issues stand a good chance of receiving city funding. More traffic safety officers and an additional engineer dedicated to traffic management items topped the city council’s tentative budget list up for review later this month.
When a resident noticed that neighboring cities had installed updated fluorescent green pedestrian signs and Los Altos had not, Crook began investigating every pedestrian and crosswalk in Los Altos.
He made a list of each location by type of sign, and estimated that it would cost about $3,500 to replace the signs and $100 each to install the signs. He also discovered through Caltrans that the signs were approved in California and are being used routinely.
Network member Vickie Clements said studies show that the new fluorescent green signs provide more visibility than the current school bus yellow ones. She said the green signs can provide drivers as much as 40 percent earlier detection than other colors and the new signs are 50 percent brighter.
Crook provided the information to the city hoping to encourage the council to replace pedestrian signs in front of schools before the end of August when the new school year begins.
“The city seems committed (to replacing the old signs), but their timeline appears very elongated with their approach,” Crook said. Long delays could jeopardize the safety of school children, he added.
The network proved a useful resource for a group of El Monte Avenue neighbors who challenged city hall after staff suggested raising the street’s speed limit so police could use radar to enforce the 25 mph speed limit.
El Monte is a street where officers are prohibited under state law from using radar to enforce the speed limit, unless the posted limit is within 5 mph of what 85 percent of the motorists on that road travel. The disparity between the posted speed limit and the surveyed speed limit could lead to tickets that are rejected by the courts if radar is used.
A city speed survey of El Monte showed that 85 percent of the motorists drive at 34 mph. In order for police to use radar, the council would have to raise the posted speed limit from 25 mph to 30 mph, as it chose to do last December on Springer Road, or use what’s called “visual friction” to narrow the street.
“The neighborhood was very confused with a strategy that allowed commuters to travel their street even faster,” said network member Kristi Clarke.
Neighbors met and ranked their concerns, requested that the city place speed trailers in the neighborhood and researched traffic calming devices being used in other cities.
Once they had finished their research, the group circulated a petition asking the council for traffic calming solutions other than raising the speed limit. The council approved a traffic calming design to improve bicycle and pedestrian safety on El Monte, Hawthorne, Higgins and South Clark avenues last September.
Schools
Just keeping the public abreast of situations also falls under the networks charge. Revenue shortfalls, state testing information and campus renovations project updates have been recent school topics.
The Los Altos Neighborhood Network is currently seeking to fill two board positions: co-chairperson of membership and secretary. For more information about the network, call 949-5560 or e-mail: lannline@aol.com.
