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E-Mail Bulletin #10 - 7 October 2002
- Initiative Status
- Council-Sponsored Initiative
- Fundraising
- Coffees
- Endorsements
Initiative Status:
The LAH Open Space Initiative is in the hands of the Town's Attorney. A couple of minor map changes may extend the time that the Town's Attorney has to comment and to write the official Title & Summary. Now that the Council has its own initiative, a special election is likely to be held in spring of 2003. If, however, the two candidates (Breene & Dean) who have pledged to adopt our initiative are elected to the Council, a new negotiation might be possible to spare the expense of a special election which would otherwise cost the Town approximately $50,000.
Council-Sponsored Initiative:
By now you have probably read in the local press the story of what happened at the October 3rd Council meeting. (A short summary of the actual meeting can be found on the Home Page of our website): www.lahopenspace.comVoting 3-0, Councilmembers Fenwick, Casey, and Cheng directed the Town's attorney to proceed with their own initiative. We wish we could believe that the Council's action was taken with the best interests of the residents at heart. But these are the facts:
Never once did they let on what they were planning, let alone offer to cooperate so that a single unified initiative could be placed before the voters. Even when we pleaded for them to work with us at the Council meeting, we were brushed off with a brusque "We're moving ahead with our own initiative."
Our attorney had prepared a 6-page letter pointing out some significant deficiencies in their measure. (For our Attorney's letter click on www.lahopenspace.com/AttorneyLetter.html ) One of these was dealt with -- providing language for future easements -- at the meeting when it was pointed out by a spokesman for our Open Space Committee.
However, there are other very serious concerns with the Council- sponsored initiative:
(1) The Council's mechanism for putting forth their initiative is "by ordinance," a method that has been found invalid by the California Supreme Court and which therefore opens their initiative up to a legal challenge.
The LAH Open Space Initiative, by contrast, amends the General Plan by readopting the General Plan designations where they do reflect existing conditions and amending those designations where they don't.
Examples: Edith Park, Juan Prado Mesa Preserve, Rhus Ridge Properties are currently all designated "residential." Under the Council's initiative these designations are "locked in."
Inappropriate General Plan designations such as these cited above control the future use of the property.
This means that the Town could still "develop" our open space where the designations like these above exist. Say, for example, the Town were to decide to build a conference center on Juan Prado Mesa Preserve, or, responding to the State mandate for affordable housing, develop the property at the corner of Fremont and Edith! This would not be the first time in our Town's history that the Town acted as developer (i.e. Matadero Creek subdivision).
In the case of Westwind Barn, currently designated as "Private Recreation," the Town could proceed to replace it with a private facility.
So, the biggest difference between our two initiatives is this:
The Town's initiative allows development on open space lands now designated "residential." Ours does not. Our initiative recognizes the inadequacy of the General Plan and amends the General Plan to reflect what the actual uses are. Our initiative guarantees permanent open space/public recreation protection to these properties, unless the residents were to vote to change them. Under our initiative:
Juan Prado Mesa Preserve is Open Space.
Rhus Ridge Properties are Open Space.
Murietta Ridge is Open Space.
Byrne Preserve is Open Space.
Central Drive is Open Space.
O'Keefe Property is Open Space.
Westwind Barn is Public Recreation.
Little League Fields is Public Recreation.
Edith Park is Public Recreation.
Under the Council's initiative three significant open space areas (Juan Prado Mesa Preserve, Rhus Ridge Properties, Murietta Ridge) are not locked in as permanent open space. Under the Council's initiative two significant public recreation properties (Westwind Barn and Edith Park) are mis-designated.
The Council-sponsored initiative doesn't add a single acre more of useable open space or public recreation land. Yet, you'll hear that the Council's Initiative goes further than ours in protecting 11 more acres. We're protecting 157 out of 168 acres. These 11 additional acres include the Town Hall, Heritage House and fewer than a dozen very small parcels almost all of which are undevelopable!
Fundraising:
We really hate to ask for more money, particularly as so many have already contributed so magnificently. But ....You probably have guessed that we've now run up considerably higher costs with our attorney than we expected. The Attorney's Letter in response to the Council's initiative and other related research all have had an impact.
Some checks have already come in as a result of the latest appeal and Thursday night's meeting. Thank you so much. However, we're now looking at a cost closer to $30,000 than $20,000. So every donation will help! Click on "How You Can Help" on our website.
Coffees
Our open space coffees are going well. We still have at least a dozen scheduled in October. If you would like to host a coffee or just attend one, contact Doris Welsh by phone at 941-9813 or by e-mail at kharis6@cs.com.
Endorsements:
Our list is growing daily. If you would like to be added to our list, please e-mail Nancy couperus@mindspring.com. Even if you donated to our open space effort, we are not listing you automatically until you've contacted us. So please, add your name to our growing list!
E-mail distribution list:
If you have friends or neighbors in Los Altos Hills who would like to be placed on this e-mail information list, please have them contact either Nancy Couperus at couperus@mindspring.com or Val Metcalfe at metcalfes@worldnet.att.net