By Bruce Barton

A proposed ordinance to protect local creeks has residents concerned about losing portions of their property.

A Creekside Protection Ordinance aims to reduce residents’ property lines from the middle of the creek to the top of the creek bank. City officials said the ordinance is intended to protect creek habitats from overdevelopment of bordering properties and so creek repair projects can go forward without legal entanglements.

However, residents are concerned the city and the Santa Clara Valley Water District are taking land away from properties and decreasing property values in the process. In addition, a section noting that structures within designated setback areas are considered nonconforming raises the possibility that public agencies could force removal of such structures that may include decks, fences and toolsheds.

The ordinance is the subject of a Thursday public hearing before the Los Altos Planning Commission.

“The impacts are going to be fairly severe,” said Larry Gardner, whose Van Buren Avenue property is one of an estimated 494 Los Altos homes impacted.

“Three-fourths of the back of my home is seven feet within the 25-foot (setback) area,” said Raquel Court resident Tom Olsen.

David Kornfield, Los Altos associate planner, said the ordinance is a reflection of the city’s general plan, which considers creek channels natural resources and open space. The goals, he stated, are to retain creeks and creekside areas in their natural state and establish buffers from adjoining land use.

In a staff report, Kornfield noted that “accessory structures” within the setback areas, while considered nonconforming, would not be forcibly removed, although fences at the top of the creek bank would have to be approved by the water district.

But Gardner, who lost an old oak tree in December because of creek bank erosion in back of his home, feels the water district is slow to make repairs, even sorely needed ones, because it is first seeking easements. He said the practice amounted to a “land grab.”

That’s not true, according to Mike DiMarco, spokesman for the Santa Clara Valley Water District.

“What gain is it to us? We’re a not-for-profit agency,” he said. “I understand their concern. But, if we can’t protect your property from flooding or erosion, which is the worst (possibility)?”

DiMarco said the district is in the process of revising its own creek protection ordinance and wasn’t aware of the Los Altos efforts.

Gardner and others, meanwhile, assume the district is working with Los Altos on the city’s ordinance since the water district has jurisdiction over creek work.

Thursday’s hearing is set for 7:30 p.m. at City Hall, 1 N. San Antonio Road.