17 Attachment 3 - Public Comment
PREPARED BY: Arn Andrews
Assistant Town manager
Reviewed by: Town Manager, Town Attorney, and Director of Parks and Public Works
110 E. Main Street Los Gatos, CA 95030 ● (408) 354-6832
www.losgatosca.gov
TOWN OF LOS GATOS
COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
MEETING DATE: 08/04/2020
ITEM NO: 17
ADDENDUM
DATE: July 20, 2020
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: Laurel Prevetti, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Approve the Santa Clara County Fire District Emergency Route
Recommendation for Alpine Avenue and Remove Parking on One Side of the
Street
REMARKS:
Attachment 4 contains public comment received since the issuance of the staff report on
Thursday, July 30, 2020, and before 11:00 a.m. Monday, August 3, 2020.
Attachments previously received with the Staff Report:
1. June 2, 2020 Council Meeting Verbal Communication
2. June 25, 2020 Memorandum and Recommendation from Fire Chief Bowden
Attachment distributed with this Addendum:
3. Public Comments received 11:01 a.m. Thursday, July 30, 2020 and 11:00 a.m. Monday,
August 3, 2020.
From:
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Janet Gutierrez
Arn Andrews
Alpine ave parking
Thursday, July 30, 2020 2:53:14 PM
Since the majority of the traffic on Alpine Avenue comes off Main Street , has anyone considered that having
parking on the north side goes against the natural flow of traffic and will require a lot of turning around, either in
our driveways or at the top of Alpine, to park on the north side. Doesn’t make sense to me. I agree with the idea of
parking on one side, just not the side that has been chosen.
Janet Gutierrez
ATTACHMENT 3
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Dirk Franklin
Arn Andrews
Rob Rennie; Gwen Dawkins
Re: Emergency Response Street Modifications - Alpine Ave
Saturday, August 1, 2020 11:15:31 AM
Arn,
My family is greatly disappointed with the lack of notice for this proposal.
Notice date 7/30 for a meeting on 8/4? Does this comply with town guidelines AND best practices in transparency in government?
Lucky Covid has kept most in town and available to join the council meeting. I expect a
robust Alpine Ave turnout as usual.
The Town has some responsibility in this parking problem. The Town issued many building permits on a known narrow street without ANY REQUIREMENT for a parking plan. The
parking issue is ONLY based on Construction parking. Not the residents.
Health and Safety of residents is critical, but just because there is a lack of planning and execution we DO NOT SEE THE NEED TO HAVE OUR PROPERTY RIGHTS
NEGATIVELY IMPACTED.
For the record is against this new regulation.
Dirk and Gwen Franklin
On Jul 30, 2020, at 8:53 AM, Arn Andrews <aandrews@losgatosca.gov> wrote:
Good Morning Alpine Avenue Residents,
You are receiving this email to inform you of proposed emergency responsemodifications for your street. On June 22, 2020, the Santa Clara County FireDepartment staff performed an inspection of the width of Alpine Avenue as it relates toingress/egress of emergency vehicles and residents in the event of an emergencyand/or evacuation. On June 25, 2020, the Town received a recommendation from theSanta Clara County Fire Chief to limit street parking to one side (northerly side) ofAlpine Avenue year-round. The recommendation is intended to ensure the safe andexpeditious passage of emergency responders and residents in the event of emergencyand/or evacuation. The recommendation is scheduled to be considered at the August
4th, 2020, Town Council meeting. If you are not able to attend the meeting and havequestions, concerns, or comments, please contact Arn Andrews, Assistant TownManager, at 408-354-6836, or email aandrews@losgatosca.gov.
Thank you
From:
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Henry Richards
Arn Andrews
ALPINE AVE emergency access
Saturday, August 1, 2020 4:19:43 PMDear Arn Andrews,I am writing to you in response to your request for comments in re. the “EmergencyResponse Modifications” proposed for Alpine Avenue.First of all, let me say that I wholeheartedly support adequate access for emergencyvehicles through our street and I believe that was one of the concerns raised when streetparking was restricted as it is now. In fact, the restriction was extremely effective inkeeping Alpine Avenue clear so long as the regulations were enforced. Recentconstruction along the street has created unsatisfactory “congestion” however thecurrent parking restrictions have not been stringently enforced and has allowed theproblem to persist.I would like the council to consider the following:1. Order the enforcement of current regulations to mitigate the congested parkingsituation for now.2. Defer or table any current decisions until feedback, comment and input forthose of us who are directly impacted by your decisions can be solicited.3. Timely notification to the residents of Alpine Avenue is essential to this process.Thank you for your attention to this matter.Sincerely yours,Henry Richards
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Attachments:
Jeff Gallinat
Arn Andrews
Alpine Avenue Parking Change - Town Council item for Tuesday, August 4th
Sunday, August 2, 2020 8:58:17 PM
Alpine Parking Note - Aug 2 - v3.docx
Arn,
I am attaching a letter here that several residents on our street (15 total) have helped to authorand agreed to regarding the request to implement one-way restricted parking on Alpine
Avenue.
I would appreciate it very much if you would ensure this is forwarded to the Councilmembers, per process, ahead of the Zoom call/discussion on this issue on Tuesday, where
many of us will be attending.
Would appreciate return acknowledgement of this note, and should you want to clarify/discussanything, please feel free to give me a call.
Thanks very much,
Jeff Gallinat
August 2, 2020
To: Arn Andrews and the Los Gatos Town Council
Re: Alpine Ave Parking Changes to be discussed in August 4, 2020 Town Council Meeting
We are respectfully submitting this input ahead of the council discussion on this issue.
Our request is for a 30-day delay/continuance of the implementation of the proposed changes
to allow representatives of the Town, the Santa Clara County Fire Department, and the Alpine
Avenue Community to fully communicate and work together to build a solution that best
addresses the needs of both Los Gatos and our Alpine Avenue residents.
As you may remember, we’ve had a number of previous discussions over the past couple of
years (and subsequent positive changes) to address the unique challenges of our street, and
would like to repeat that proven process on this issue as well. We want the right solution for
the ‘common good’ here – both us and the residents of Los Gatos. There are several reasons
for our request:
1. Unfortunately, we didn’t get an acceptable amount of time to understand and create an
informed (and possibly collective) response to this notification. We are an engaged set
of neighbors, and many of us are surprised (and some frustrated) with the short notice
here, given similar issues we’ve had in the past, and our desire to really be involved in
any solution. Specifically, we’ve had less than 5 days since any formal notification, even
the Town had the fire department recommendation for more than 5 weeks. We do
understand there may be urgency to this request, but given our inability to completely
discuss the recommendation, jointly assess its impact, and understand other possible
solutions, we want a reasonable amount of time to properly engage here with the
relevant parties.
2. Our fellow citizens who recently raised this issue with the town (who are not residents
of our street) undoubtedly could have seen congestion on Alpine. We all have, from
time to time. Recently, thought, this has been largely due to a series of construction
projects by our fellow residents, some of which were major and were done in areas with
limited parking and access to the properties involved. Most Alpine residents let this
temporary inconvenience pass, in support of our neighbors. However, if there actually
was a concern within the Town about larger issues, the Town certainly had the ability
and the obligation to address this within the current policy. So, this is an exceptional
and temporary situation, and one we agree needs to be addressed going forward,
probably by both the town and our residents, but through planning, permitting, and
enforcement. If we actually abide by the current policies here, we believe the present
parking solution will work, and represents a limited risk to the community as a whole.
3. Although we all understand and appreciate the Town’s responsibility to manage risk and
ensure public safety, the proposed solution could present other potential risks that need
to be considered and fully assessed in a new traffic assessment. Today’s parking
practices using both sides of the street in a “light and controlled” manner (when we are
not in the “exceptional mode” we’ve been in recently). The present restrictions actually
give the residents the permitted parking they need, limit overall congestion, balance the
‘load’ of each side of the street, also serve as an additional deterrent to speeding (which
is the KEY issue, highlighted in the previous HS parking situation). We believe the
proposed single-side parking solution would create a ‘clear lane’ for emergency traffic,
but would also burden half of the residents and restrict their traffic views, and would
also contribute to further speeding, which are also risks to our community and the
public (and might be far more frequent ones). Alpine is unique in construction, and is
often used by many town residents for many different purposes (walking, biking, etc.),
and that needs to be considered as well. We believe additional study and discussion on
this is proposal is warranted to understand and balance these risks. We need to find a
solution that is truly holistic and balanced, and truly safe on a daily/ongoing basis.
4. Finally, there has been no discussion or disclosure on any possible alternatives to
provide emergency access to other homes that we are aware of. We don’t know what
the alternatives are here, or if they even exist. What we DO know is that a lot of large
heavy equipment already transits through our narrow street daily, and that they have
done so for decades, largely to the benefit of those on Foster and other streets. We
want to understand, explore, and assess any other alternatives for emergency access
that might be available to address this concern.
To conclude, there is no debate that we want Alpine to remain safe, and there is also no debate
from any of us on the need for appropriate access for public safety vehicles to all town
residents. We believe if the present regulations are actually adhered to and enforced, the
solution we have already created together will work to balance all interests, and we would
prefer the Town take this path first. If the Town genuinely feels there is a need to make a
change here, we want the opportunity to formally exercise our rights to engage in that
conversation and jointly participate in whatever solution is really the best one available.
My wife and I will be at the meeting (as will several of our neighbors who have agreed to be
included in this letter, noted below). Please do take this letter under advisement, and please
ensure the Council members see it before our item comes up for discussion on Tuesday.
Jeff and Julie Gallinat John Thomsen
Tom and Ann Atkinson Phil and Melanie Branon
Steve and Linda Rice Lou and Cheryl Ryan
Ernie and Nancy Boitano ( Dirk Franklin and Gwen Dawkins
From:
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Attachments:
Lisa Roberts
mjensen@losgatosc.gov; BSpector; Rob Rennie; Marico Sayoc; Arn Andrews
Agenda Item 17, August 4, 2020 Town Council Meeting: Alpine Avenue
Monday, August 3, 2020 9:31:52 AM
Letter Town Council re Parking Proposal 8 3 2020.pdf
Dear Mayor Jensen, Vice Mayor Spector, Council Member Rob Rennie, Council Member Marico
Sayoc, and Assistant Town Manager Arn Andrews:
Attached is a letter from my husband Peter Rehon and me regarding the above-referenced agenda
item. We would appreciate your careful consideration of this letter, along with other letters and
emails sent in this matter by other Alpine Avenue residents.
Thank you very much,
Lisa Roberts
_________________________
Lisa C. Roberts
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Bruce D Mitchell
Arn Andrews
Re: Alpine Avenue Emergency Response Street Modifications
Saturday, August 1, 2020 1:31:43 PM
Mr. Andrews:
A few questions for Town staff, and as appropriate, elected/appointed personnel:
-There must be alternatives to the changes proposed by the Santa Clara County Fire Chief.
What are the alternatives?
-Alpine Avenue residents were notified by email and by a flyer on July 31st, just four businessdays before the Town Council meeting on which this item is on the Town Council agenda.
The Town received the the Fire Chief’s report on or about June 25. This is over a monthbefore the Alpine Avenue residents were notified of the Fire Chief’s report or that the Fire
Chief’s report is on the Council’sAugust 4th meeting agenda.
Why such an unnecessarily short notice to the residents of Alpine Avenue, the people most
impacted by the contents of the report?
-The Santa Clara County Fire Chief’s report is on the agenda as “approve” at the August 4thTown Council meeting. Why “approve” when “review” or “consider” would be a more
appropriate for a public hearing.
Connie and I, and the majority of our Alpine Avenue neighbors have many concerns including but not limited to:
-Increased speed. on Alpine Avenue. The closing of parking on the south side of Alpine
Avenue will effectively add a lane which will increase the already excessive speed that many(Foster Road) drivers travel on Alpine Avenue. As evidenced by the speed bumps, installed at
the request of Alpine Avenue residents, excessive speed is a problem.
-To better maintain safe speeds on Alpine Avenue the posted speed limit should be 20 milesper hour (similar to College Avenue) with routine enforcement of the posted speed limit.
-Parking on Alpine Avenue will be reduced by 50%. This will negatively impact Alpine
residents ability to entertain, have house guests, and similar activities.
-The inevitable “U” turns.
Please feel free to contact Bruce at .
Bruce and Connie Mitchell
From:
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JANE BROGNA
Arn Andrews
Support of one-side street parking
Thursday, July 30, 2020 6:34:23 PM
We are fully in support of one-side street parking on Alpine Ave. We own the property at both
and .
Jane and Sal Brogna
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