By Lauren McSherry

The Woodland Acres neighborhood in Los Altos is shown in green.

As the city of Los Altos proceeds with adding two unincorporated neighborhoods within its limits, Santa Clara County is smoothing the way for all its cities to annex similar “urban pockets,” unincorporated areas surrounded by city boundaries.

The board of supervisors passed a resolution earlier this month that encourages cities to take advantage of recent state law changes permitting them to annex unincorporated neighborhoods smaller than 150 acres without an election. Previously, a 50 percent dissenting vote from residents could defeat an annexation.

The board’s resolution also supports changing county zoning to bring unincorporated properties into compliance with city zoning over time. The changes could affect residential development standards, including floor area, story limits, lot coverage and setback regulations.

Under recent state law changes, the Blue Oak Lane and Woodland Acres neighborhoods, containing 386 residents, qualify for a speedy annexation in Los Altos. The city council voted Nov. 15, the same day the board passed its resolution, to take the next step in annexing the two pockets by scheduling public hearings.

For the most part, residents in the two Los Altos neighborhoods have been supportive of annexation with only three residents voicing opposition at neighborhood meetings held last month by the city.

But not all unincorporated residents are happy with the recent move by the board of supervisors, particularly because the Nov. 15 resolution opens the way for amending county zoning.

Los Gatos resident Cindy Steele of the group Residents of Unincorporated Pockets for Freedom, Justice and Property Rights, which has members in Los Altos and Los Altos Hills, said recalling those supervisors who voted for the resolution isn’t out of the question.

“We feel they’re out of touch with reality,” she said. “It’s an option we’re looking into at this point.”

Steele said the board tried to pass the resolution in October without properly noticing those who would be affected by it. She advocated that residents in areas that fall under county zoning remain vigilant about possible changes to regulations in the future.

“This should be a wakeup call to people in the unincorporated areas that if they don’t pay attention, they’re going to lose the property rights they hold sacred.”

However, Los Altos doesn’t stand to gain financially from the annexation. The city could actually lose money if it moves forward with adding the two neighborhoods, or 143 homes in total. According to a report by James Walgren, community development director, annexing the two islands will cost the city approximately $120,000 per year.

There are three unincorporated areas in Los Altos. Only Woodland Acres and Blue Oak Lane fall under the state requirements for annexation without an election. The third is the 624-acre County Club area, too large to meet the state’s criteria. An estimated 57 residents live in the 12.5-acre Blue Oak Lane pocket between Foothill Expressway and Los Altos Avenue. Woodland Acres, near Grant Road, includes 80 acres and approximately 329 residents.

Los Altos Hills has four unincorporated neighborhoods, ranging in size from 12.8 to 32.4 acres, that could be annexed.

The board’s resolution meets the terms of a policy adopted in February by the Santa Clara County Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO), charged with overseeing annexation. LAFCO recommended that the county make development standards in urban pockets comparable to standards in surrounding cities and asked the county to remove incentives for property owners to remain unincorporated.

The state legislation streamlining annexation processes for urban pockets up to 150 acres is set to expire in 2007.