Rosita neighbors prefer area enhanced, no pool
Debbie Torok
Ten years ago, my husband and I were looking for a larger house in a quiet and safe neighborhood with good schools to raise our young children. We were assured by the 1994 city council that the land had been sold to a developer and destined for single-family homes which would fill the vacated area. Little did we know that the city would buy the land.
Since the purchase of the land, there has been continuous growth in recreational activities, as well as educational, filling up most if not all the space. These activities have brought with them increased traffic which has cause for alarm today.
Rather than invite more turmoil and unsafe traffic to the neighborhood, why not work with the neighbors to make Rosita’s current uses better for the entire community.
If the pool complex goes in, many Los Altos activities will be misplaced. Wouldn’t it be better to work with us to help you:
• Provide safe routes to school for Los Altos kids.
• Restore the mini park to its once green area with shaded picnic tables and barbecue pits complete with a sand volleyball pit. This area was once used by businesses for company barbecues.
• Make the parking lot more attractive by adding trees, lines etc. Currently its blacktop generates so much heat during the summer that cars are forced to park up and down the streets.
• Maintain a safe neighborhood rich in growth with young kids.
• Continue to offer community activities such as soccer, baseball, tennis, volleyball, basketball, YMCA camps, rollerblading, football, day camps, etc.
• Preserve open space (i.e. plant apricot trees or redwoods to replace trees ripped out by recent change).
I would be happy to work toward bettering the current neighborhood for the community at large rather than continue to fight and waste our (Los Altos) money on something which doesn’t fit. Let’s work with what we have and make it right rather than making it worse.
Reasonable compromise on ham radio tower
Chris Verbil
The ongoing controversy concerning Jim Abraham’s desire to install an antenna tower for Amateur Radio operation strikes me as a classic case of the “not in my backyard” syndrome. It is clear that Mr. Abraham’s neighbors look past the benefits of allowing such a tower, in the view that their property values will be harmed and their pastoral views will be negatively affected.
Unfortunately, here in the Bay Area, money is often the primary driver for such disputes. There is absolutely no evidence, anecdotal or otherwise, that supports the view that a ham radio tower in a neighborhood degrades values.
The federal statute, sometimes referred to as PRB-1, requires that municipalities provide reasonable accommodation to such antenna tower requests. PRB-1 has been incorporated into California law since July 2003, and also states that local governments may still zone for height, safety and aesthetic concerns.
Optimum height of an antenna tower is dictated by the lowest radio frequency intended to be used. A 40-foot tower as suggested by the town would not be tall enough to offer efficient performance on many widely-used Amateur Radio bands (frequency ranges). However, Mr. Abraham’s request for a 106-foot tower does not offer any significant signal gain (improvement) over some shorter tower heights.
A very reasonable compromise is to allow a tower approximately 66 feet tall; this is an optimal height to operate on all Amateur Radio bands as low as 7 mHz.
There are only three Amateur bands below 7 mHz; antenna arrays that require tower mounting for these lower bands are very impractical due to size, and larger sizes do become a safety concern in windy areas.
For operation on these lower bands Mr. Abraham can use “wire antennas” such as dipole or sloper designs, which can be anchored to one end of his tower and then run towards ground level.
Compromising on Mr. Abraham’s request to this moderate tower height, in the name of safety, will allow full utilization of his radio equipment, address his neighbor’s concerns, provide the Town of Los Altos Hills with a strategically located emergency communications resource and allow the Town to comply with Federal and State statutes.
Photo-radar cameras the best traffic solution
Edward Kelley
Regarding the Dec. 8 Sidewalk Interview about traffic solutions: Roundabouts and speed bumps are not the solution. Growing up in the Boston area we had both, although we called our speed bumps “potholes.”
There isn’t one country outside of Germany that knows how to regulate traffic in a roundabout. In Boston, it is a game of “chicken.” In Germany those in the circle have the right of way and all others must yield until the way is clear. In France and many other countries, it’s just the opposite. Anyone entering the circle has the right of way creating total chaos for the rest.
Los Altos should set up photo-radar cameras at strategic places throughout the city to ticket speeders. These radar cameras will give you the date, time, license plate number and speed you were going, as well as the posted speed. It has worked in Europe for many years and can work here if the city is willing to fight state government which, I’m told, has a law on the books requiring photo-radar cameras to be manned. If true, it’s a joke.
These things work 24/7, rain or shine with no holidays, vacation, sick time or retirement pay so long as they are routinely calibrated.
I suggested photo-radar a number of years ago to the city council but they opted for motorcycle policemen instead. Guess what? The police, motorcycles or cars, spend most of their time patrolling Foothill Expressway rather than the main problem areas of our thru-streets.
In fact, I believe lights on Foothill Expressway are regulated in such a way as to encourage people traveling south on 280 to exit at Magdalena, turn right on Foothill and turn left on Homestead where they enjoy a double left turn light. By that, I mean the left turn light onto Homestead goes green twice before the light on Vineyard goes green once. This could easily be remedied by putting a light at the 280 south exit at Foothill Expressway and resetting the other lights along Foothill. Right now, people opt for Magdalena because the Foothill exit for those wanting to turn left is too dangerous.
