Why not use the same logic?

Eric Lutkin

On Jan. 11, the Los Altos City Council created restrictions on the relative location of large family day-care centers in Los Altos.

As you may recall, these types of centers, which can have at most 14 children, are now required to be at least 500 feet as the crow flies and 1,500 linear feet of city street from the next nearest center.

These restrictions were put in place to maintain the character of our residential neighborhoods by not concentrating these facilities in any one location and sharing the burden of traffic, noise and other inconveniences they might create.

The proposed Pinewood expansion seeks to add 35 pre-kindergarten children to the enrollment of their school. This is essentially placing 2.5 large family day-care centers on the one piece of property.

I would urge city Council to apply the same logic and wisdom that they used in restricting the concentration of large family day-care centers to private schools and not allow the proposed enrollment increase at Pinewood School.

Much evidence of bad driving

Marv Emerling

The death uptown was tragic. This man was an experienced walker, but was the driver doing what most drivers do?

When we first came here from Ohio in 1972, rolling “stops” at corners were cutely called “California stops.” It’s easy to see how a traffic accident can occur when drivers do this. I walk and bicycle all around town, and I see drivers almost never come to a full stop. Worse yet, typically at intersections on divided San Antonio Road, they look left to see whether the coast is clear, seldom checking right to see whether someone’s started in the crosswalk.

Then there’s the limit line and the crosswalk - I notice how few drivers stop behind them as called for by law and courtesy; most drive through into the pedestrians’ domain before checking cross traffic.

The large vehicle/truck folks pose another problem for other drivers and pedestrians: They feel they have a great view of the road up high, not realizing or caring how much they block everyone from having the same right to a safe road. I crave a clear view at two-lane side-by-side intersections, but SUV drivers - who often seem preoccupied - never hang back a little so the other guy can see both ways.

Good sense suggests drivers follow the rules, but when that fails, there’s always stiff enforcement. Police department, take note: Would that have saved this life?

Turning to pathway maintenance

Ginger Summit

This is in response to the April 20 article and editorial that addressed maintenance issues with the Los Altos Hills Pathways.

The off-road pathways in this town are mostly designated as “native paths,” which means that these paths are not paved or gravel surfaced, as many of the on-road pathways are, but are largely left in a “native” condition, perhaps surfaced with bark or loose gravel. Because of this, the paths may become very muddy in the rainy season and also quite overgrown following a lush wet spring such as we have just experienced.

The town has a maintenance staff under the able direction of Art Mendoza which works very hard to clear the obstacles and make the pathways functional for the coming months.

For the past two years, the pathways committee has devoted most of its energies to updating the maps of the pathway system. With this task largely completed, we may now return to one of our primary goals, which is to monitor and help maintain the paths that are already in place.

Because of the many miles that this system includes, we greatly appreciate any input from the residents.

Specifically, there are many ways to help out:

1) Report any obstacle or blocked path to the Town Hall. Forms are available in the office for this purpose;

2) When inspecting the irrigation/sprinkler systems, make sure that the spray or run-off does not go into the pathways, causing drainage ruts or muddy/swampy areas;

3) Try to keep bushes and overhanging tree limbs trimmed back;

4) Keep the pathways in mind when planning landscaping.Many shrubs can be selected which provide dense protection for privacy without encroaching into the pathways;

5) Use and enjoy the pathways often. By frequently using this unique recreational opportunity, you can help to keep the native plants cleated and available.

Sewer overflow ruling potentially biased

Michael Fischetti

I was amazed to read that the Burnses lost their case in the Superior Court (”Los Altos resident fights city to pay for sewer overflow costs,” April 6) on the basis that all homes in Los Altos - and presumably in all cities - are supposed to have backflow prevention devices. I don’t have one and always thought you needed one only if your property was below the level of the sewer line. Perhaps all residents of Santa Clara County need to contact their cities for clarification.

Judge Leslie Nichols was mayor of Mountain View in 1979. Phil Rose, now city manager of Los Altos, was assistant to the city manager in Mountain View at the time. Ronald Packard, now mayor pro tem of Los Altos, was mayor of Mountain View in 1983, during Rose’s tenure in the city government. This has the appearance of a collegial network. Perhaps the judge should have recused himself.

What is more disturbing, however, is the amount of taxpayer money funneled to lawyers defending the city - far exceeding any potential settlement, I would guess. As is too often the case in legal issues, neither the truth nor serving the citizens is the goal; finding a technicality to defeat a victimized resident seems more important.

It would be interesting to see whether the city of Los Altos did indeed conduct all the proper preventive maintenance in the last decade to prevent such situations in the first place.