By Learn from our mistakes
I’m writing in response to Yvonne Baker’s letter in the April 24 Town Crier. Yvonne says, “I would venture to guess 90 percent of Los Altos residents would vote against two-story homes in obvious residential areas.” I hope that through the mistakes of my neighborhood on Solana Drive, we may be able to help Yvonne and others who have similar questions and concerns.
Three main points I want to emphasize. If you want to protect your privacy and your neighborhood, you must:
1) Educate yourself about the process for the Single-Story Overlay Zone - Go to the Planning Department and ask for the instructions.
2) Be prepared to spend considerable time, money, and effort - The cost for the Overlay Zone application is $4,075.
3) Act NOW! - If a homeowner submits plans to the city for a “monster house” before you apply for an Overlay Zone, this “monster house” will be exempt.
First, the size and character of a house in Los Altos is determined not by zoning but by design guidelines. You should understand that these guidelines provide ample room to build large, two-story houses in residential neighborhoods. If you want to keep your neighborhood one-story, you must join with your neighbors to get a single-story (R1-S) Overlay zone.
The cost of applying for the Single-Story Overlay zone is $4,075. Generally, neighbors share the cost, but it is still considerable. (It is worth noting that Mountain View has a similar program which costs $1,182. Perhaps the city of Los Altos should revisit this topic once more.)
ACT NOW! Our neighborhood was pursuing the overlay zone, but waited for consideration of a proposal to lower the fee. In the meantime, a “monster house” plan was submitted. The house is two stories, maxes out the allowable building space and has 60 windows. It will dwarf the other houses on the street. Our street dead-ends in a court, is made up of 13 one-story houses and has houses on only one side of the street. The 12 neighbors on the street, plus neighbors from surrounding streets, signed a petition against the house. However, the Architechtural and Site Committee approved the plan. We must now appeal to City Council ($210).
Finally, Yvonne, you asked “When will council members and our planning person listen and take pulse of the residents?” Please know if your neighborhood does not have an overlay zone, the city will most likely not stop a “monster house.”
Please learn from our mistake and take the actions I’ve suggested above.
Cheryl WeidenLos Altos
What were people thinking?
I would have voted for Measure A, but I don’t live in the school district. But I’ve moved my children from Palo Alto to Los Altos because Los Altos has better schools! My feelings about the defeat of Measure A can best be summed up by an old Joni Mitchell’s lyric, “You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.”
What could people be thinking, not supporting Measure A? Maybe the facts were not clear enough.
Fact: California ranks 40th in the U.S. for funding for education.
Fact: Santa Clara County is one of the MOST expensive places in the U.S. to live. Teachers cannot afford to live here on what the state provides - the local district has to supplement salaries.
Fact: Palo Alto gets about $2,000 more per child from the state than Los Altos (because of pre-Prop 13 data), making it one of the best-funded districts in the state. Los Altos has been running very lean for many years.
Fact: Palo Alto just increased their funding per student by passing a parcel tax.
Fact: Los Altos has better elementary and middle schools than Palo Alto - look at the test scores!
Fact: Los Altos will have about 30 children per class in grades K-8, about 50 percent more than Palo Alto, which just announced a move to 20 students for K-8.
Fact: Property values go up based on school district rankings - every homeowner benefits!
Fact: It will be harder to retain teachers. All things equal, where would a teacher want to teach: Los Altos with 30 students per class and no support (no teacher’s aides, library staff, etc.) or Palo Alto with 20 students per class and support?
Fact: Public schools are privately funded by parents to provide even basic education. LAEF raised $1.3 million last year by asking each family to contribute $500. With a budget shortfall of $3.2 million, can we expect every family to now contribute $1,200? While some of us can afford this, many cannot. Our children are the real losers. Los Altos has a tough curriculum. Increased class sizes mean more projects will have to be done at home, or not at all. The teachers will not have enough time to teach 10 extra children effectively, especially computer-based projects, which start in earnest in third grade.
So, what do we do, go back to Palo Alto, with smaller class sizes, or stay in Los Altos with better schools and curriculum? We may not have a choice as inter-district transfers may be denied categorically.
Right now, we’ll hope for the transfer and take the better curriculum with larger classes, and continue to support LAEF and the PTA.
Martha Bowden
Los Altos Hills
