Item 2 - Desk Item with Attachment
PREPARED BY: JENNIFER ARMER, AICP
Senior Planner
110 E. Main Street Los Gatos, CA 95030 ● 408-354-6832
www.losgatosca.gov
MEETING DATE: 04/01/2021
ITEM: 2
DESK ITEM
TOWN OF LOS GATOS
GENERAL PLAN UPDATE ADVISORY COMMITTEE
REPORT
REPORT
DATE: March 31, 2021
TO: General Plan Update Advisory Committee
FROM: Joel Paulson, Community Development Director
SUBJECT: Review and Discussion of the Initial Draft of the General Plan Introduction.
REMARKS:
Attachment 4 contains public comment received after the completion of the Addendum Report.
A copy of this public comment letter is also included with the Desk Item for Item 1 on this
agenda, as it includes comments on both items.
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachments previously received with the April 1, 2021 Staff Report:
1. Initial Draft General Plan Introduction
2. Public Comment
Attachment received with this Addendum Report:
3. Committee Member Comments
Attachment received with this Desk Item:
4. Public Comment
This Page
Intentionally
Left Blank
April 1, 2021
Los Gatos General Plan Advisory Commission
110 E Main St.
Los Gatos, CA 95030
Re: Public Comment Item #1 and #2
Dear Chairperson Hanssen and Members of the General Plan Advisory Committee:
My name is Giulianna Pendleton and I am a life-long resident of Los Gatos. I am highly
interested in the General Plan update process and committed to helping make our town a more
environmentally friendly, sustainable, and ecologically sound place. I read the materials for the ,
April 1st GPAC meeting item #1, Review and Discussion of the Revised Initial Draft Racial,
Social, and Environmental Justice Element, and have some suggestions.
Under policy RSEJ-3.2, “Negative Impacts from Potential Hazards”, reading “Reduce negative
impacts associated with environmental hazards, including, but not limited to, industrial
operations and roadway-generated air and noise pollution, through the enforcement of
additional project specific mitigations for all development” there is room to reference reducing
town lighting, include policy for town infrastructure, and reduce light pollution. I recommend it
instead read:
Reduce negative impacts associated with environmental hazards, including, but not limited to,
industrial operations, town infrastructure, and roadway-generated air, light, and noise pollution,
through the enforcement of additional project specific mitigations for all development.
Moreover, under policy RSEJ-4.3 “Access to Community Assets”, reading “Determine and
address any gaps between neighborhoods, commercial service areas, recreation facilities,
education, medical services, and other community assets in the Town to provide equitable
access to these assets and facilitate physical activity in everyday life,” I believe there is room to
include more equitable access to parks and green space as well as increasing mental health,
not just physical activity. I recommend it read:
Determine and address any gaps between neighborhoods, commercial service areas,
recreation facilities, parks and natural space, education, medical services, and other community
assets in the Town to provide equitable access to these assets and facilitate physical activity
and mental and emotional health in everyday life.
Finally, under the goal RSEJ-4 “Ensure all residents have access to healthy foods, schools,
parks/recreation areas/open spaces, medical services, and other amenities”, I would like to
propose an additional policy to promote increased and equitable distribution of tree canopy,
parks, and green space. I propose it read:
RSEJ-4.6 Equitable Access and Distribution of Tree Canopy
Ensure equitable distribution of tree canopy, green space, and parks to increase quality of life
and promote mental and emotional health. Develop a study to measure tree canopy distribution
throughout the Town and encourage the use of native plants when increasing green space.
ATTACHMENT 4
Ensuring flourishing native natural spaces, decreasing pollutants (including light pollution) for all
populations, and increasing the tree canopy and amount of available green space in our Town
will help increase qualities of life, make our town more resilient against climate change, and
improve the health of our surrounding biotic communities.
Additionally, I have some suggestions for agenda item #2, Review and Discussion of Initial Draft
General Plan Introduction. As a life-long resident of Los Gatos, I am deeply committed to not
just ensuring the health of our town, but including within that, the health and flourishing of our
biotic communities. We need to commit to the protection and enhancement of our natural lands
if we are to ensure the health of our region in the coming decades. While the concept of
sustainability references the conservation of our natural environment for present and future
generations, I think we can go even farther to protect and enhance our natural spaces within the
General Plan’s Guiding Principles. Specifically, I think the protection and enhancement of our
natural environment should be a separate guiding principle from sustainability. Sustainability is a
technology driven solution to using as much of a resource as we can without taking away from
present and future generations, usually with an anthropocentric focus. However, if we have a
separate guiding principle for the protection and enhancement of our natural environment, we
would be committing to the conservation and improved health of our surrounding biotic
community. We would be acknowledging that, as humans, we are not the only species
occupying this town’s space and we would be respecting the right of nature to habitat, live, and
thrive for present and future generations.
Likewise, while there is a guiding principle for protecting natural resources, “Protect the natural
resources and scenic assets that define Los Gatos, including open space preserves,
recreational trails, surrounding hillsides, and natural waterways,” I do not think this adequately
centers the rights of nature. In referencing our natural spaces as resources, we would be
implying that these natural environments exist for the benefit of the human community, when in
fact we should be preserving, conserving, and enhancing these spaces because of their
inherent right to exist. While a by-product of protecting these spaces will be increased qualities
of life for our Town’s community, we need to shift how we see our natural environment from
resources to our biotic community.
After reading the Introduction, and specifically the Guiding Principles, I have some suggestions.
I propose moving the guiding principle “Protect Natural Resources” to above the sustainability
principle and changing it to read:
Protect Natural Resources Environment
Protect and enhance the natural resources environment and scenic assets biotic communities
that define Los Gatos, including but not limited to open space preserves, recreational trails,
surrounding hillsides, and natural waterways.
I believe it is crucial for our town to protect and enhance our local natural spaces, not just for our
own present and future generations, but for the biotic communities’ as well. Thank you for your
time and consideration while reading this comment.
Sincerely,
Giulianna Pendleton