By Elizabeth Cloutman

The Los Altos Hills City Council has scheduled a single item for the agenda of its June 6 meeting - hearing residents’ comments on the updated version of its 1981 Master Path Plan map. The town’s pathways system has long been a divisive issue among some residents. Controversy arose again during a May 16 council discussion on how the hearing should be conducted.

Some council members expressed the hope that one evening would be sufficient to hear public comments if discussion is limited to off-road pathway easements that the pathways committee has recommended for removal and if each resident is allowed to speak for 60-90 seconds. However, some residents have said one public hearing with limited time for comments may not be sufficient on a matter so important to the town’s future.

“I’m concerned you’re going to rush this through in one meeting,” said Ginger Summit, a pathways committee member. “In the past, we’ve seen these things can take a very long time. It really bothers me that on something with this level of significance, you limit comments to one minute of time. This is the height of rudeness to your constituents.”

The length of the public hearing is further constrained by its location. Because Bullis-Purissima School has slated that same night for graduation, the hearing has been scheduled at Congregation Beth Am. A venue larger than Town Hall is necessary in order to accommodate the expected turnout. The synagogue’s conditional use permit requires all events held there must end by 10:30 p.m. The hearing is slated to begin at 6:30 p.m., June 6.

Mayor Toni Casey and Councilman Steve Finn have said several times over the past months that the hearing should encompasse only the off-road pathways. Casey reiterated that opinion at the May 16 council meeting. “We don’t need to be told the history of the pathways system by the public,” she said.

Council members agreed that discussion of the revised map should be taken grid by grid. The town’s engineering staff has divided the map into 16 grids. All residents are scheduled to receive both a notice about the hearing and copies of the revised map through the mail a week or so prior to the public hearing.

Casey recommended limiting comments to off-road pathway easements that the pathways committee recommended for removal from the revised map. These pathways are indicated on the revised map as red dotted lines. She said she thought residents living near these easements should be allowed to comment first, followed by other residents.

Casey said those pathways identified on the 1981 master plan as having no easements or no existing paths, which the pathways committee also recommended be removed (indicated by a dotted orange line on the revised map), should not be subject to public comment, but be placed on the consent calendar.

The mayor also told the other council members she expected them to be fully informed prior to the public hearing since the meeting time was limited. She urged council member to talk to town staff prior to the hearing if they had any questions and also to walk some of those pathways under discussion beforehand, if they weren’t familiar with them.

If the city council adopts the revised map, town staff plans use the information to establish a maintenance schedule and to make residents aware of pathway easements that may exist on their properties.

Some residents fear that adopting the revised map may mean a collapse of the interconnecting pathways system because the pathways committee has recommended about 40-50 off-road pathways and easements be removed from the map.

Furthermore, a majority of the city council is in favor of making off-road pathway easements voluntary rather than required, and opponents fear that if easement dedication is voluntary, many of those residents who view pathways as intrusive and a threat to their safety may request their easements be vacated.