17 Desk Item - Alpine with attachmentPREPARED 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
DESK ITEM
DATE: August 4, 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 comments received after 11:01 a.m. Monday, August 3, 2020, and
11:00 a.m. Tuesday, August 4, 2020.
In addition, this Desk Item corrects the Addendum of August 3, 2020, which incorrectly
identified the date as July 20, 2020 and Attachment 3 as Attachment 4.
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.
Attachment distributed with this Desk Item:
4.Public comments received after 11:01 a.m. Monday, August 3, 2020, and 11:00 a.m.
Tuesday, August 4, 2020
From:
To:
Subject:
Date:
Tim Dombrowski
Arn Andrews
Alpine Ave Street Modifications
Monday, August 3, 2020 9:04:15 PM
Arn:
I know you've received extensive correspondence from my neighbors here on Alpine Ave andI'm writing to communicate my full endorsement of the position and opinions they have
offered. In neighborhood solidarity,
Tim & Irene Dombrowski
ATTACHMENT 4
From:Brent Knudsen
To:Arn Andrews
Cc:Jeff Gallinat; Lisa Roberts; KATHRYN KNUDSEN
Subject:Alpine Avenue
Date:Monday, August 3, 2020 10:28:26 PM
Attachments:image001.png
Arn.
Our family lives at in Los Gatos where we have lived for 25 years. We love our
neighborhood and our neighbors. My wife and I each also have business offices in the Town of Los
Gatos with one of our daughters and her family living in Los Gatos as well. We plan to attend the
town meeting tomorrow evening and support the letters you have received from many of our
neighbors, specifically those sent by Jeff Gallinat, which was signed by many of our neighbors, and
Lisa Roberts. In short, this is an important issue for Alpine Avenue and Los Gatos which requires
additional careful consideration.
With our best regards.
Brent Knudsen
--
Brent R. Knudsen,
null
From:
To:
Subject:
Date:
Krista Gieselman
Arn Andrews
Alpine Ave, Los Gatos CA
Tuesday, August 4, 2020 9:50:02 AM
TO:
Arn Andrews ● Assistant Town Manager
110 East Main Street, Los Gatos CA 95030
Ph: 408.354.6836 ● aandrews@losgatosca.gov
www.losgatosca.gov ● https://www.facebook.com/losgatosca
FROM:
Gieselman
Dear Mayor Jensen, Vice Mayor Spector, Council Member Rob Rennie, Council Member Marico
Sayoc, and Assistant Town Manager Arn Andrews;
I concur with the dated letter (August 3, 2020) from the residents of Alpine Ave, Los Gatos CA to
“request that the matter be continued for at least 30 days to obtain necessary input”.
Sincerely,
Krista Gieselman
From:
To:
Subject:
Date:
jean ann moton
Arn Andrews
Alpine Avenue
Tuesday, August 4, 2020 10:15:45 AM
Hello I am Jean Morton. I live at and wish add my concern about restricting parking on one side of the
street.
One. I would make it more difficult to back out of my driveway with cars on either side.
Two. In order to park would require all drivers coming up from Main Street to turn around - either at the head of
Alpine or more likely in neighbor driveways.
Three. The traffic will increase on the Foster road extension to Johnson in order to be on the right side of the street
to park. As you know that extension is basically a one lane country lane. More traffic would cause liability to
nothing to say about safety.
I ask the council to delay this motion until more study can be made and more discussion with the town and fire
marshal
Yours. Jean Morton
From:
To:
Cc:
Subject:
Date:
Phil Branon
Arn Andrews
RE: Emergency Response Street Modifications
Monday, August 3, 2020 8:59:15 PM
Arn,
My wife and I live at and support the numerous letters that have been sent to you to
have the council grant a continuance on the agenda item on parking on Alpine Ave.
We respectfully ask that proper notice be granted for all parties to review the issue and to
determine the best solution moving forward.
Phil Branon
From: Arn Andrews <aandrews@losgatosca.gov>
Sent: Thursday, July 30, 2020 8:53 AM
To: Arn Andrews <aandrews@losgatosca.gov>
Subject: Emergency Response Street Modifications
Good Morning Alpine Avenue Residents,
You are receiving this email to inform you of proposed emergency response modifications for yourstreet. On June 22, 2020, the Santa Clara County Fire Department staff performed an inspection ofthe width of Alpine Avenue as it relates to ingress/egress of emergency vehicles and residents in theevent of an emergency and/or evacuation. On June 25, 2020, the Town received a recommendationfrom the Santa Clara County Fire Chief to limit street parking to one side (northerly side) of AlpineAvenue year-round. The recommendation is intended to ensure the safe and expeditious passage ofemergency responders and residents in the event of emergency and/or evacuation. The
recommendation is scheduled to be considered at the August 4th, 2020, Town Council meeting. Ifyou are not able to attend the meeting and have questions, concerns, or comments, please contactArn Andrews, Assistant Town Manager, at 408-354-6836, or email aandrews@losgatosca.gov.
Thank you
Arn Andrews ● Assistant Town Manager
110 East Main Street, Los Gatos CA 95030
Ph: 408.354.6836 ● aandrews@losgatosca.gov
From:
To:
Subject:
Date:
JANE BROGNA
Arn Andrews
Re: Emergency Response Street Modifications
Tuesday, August 4, 2020 9:03:51 AM
While we understand the need to provide a safe passage for emergency vehicles up Alpine
Ave as a neighborhood we feel there are other unintended consequences that should beconsidered as a plan is proposed to allow emergency vehicles to pass freely up Alpine.
As a group we felt that giving us more time to discuss options with the fire marshall and town
would be appropriate.
Thank you for taking our concerns into consideration before a final decision is made.
Jane and Sal Brogna
Sent from Xfinity Connect App
------ Original Message ------
From: Arn Andrews
To: Arn AndrewsSent: July 30, 2020 at 8:53 AM
Subject: Emergency Response Street Modifications
Good Morning Alpine Avenue Residents,
You are receiving this email to inform you of proposed emergency response modifications for yourstreet. On June 22, 2020, the Santa Clara County Fire Department staff performed an inspection ofthe width of Alpine Avenue as it relates to ingress/egress of emergency vehicles and residents in theevent of an emergency and/or evacuation. On June 25, 2020, the Town received a recommendationfrom the Santa Clara County Fire Chief to limit street parking to one side (northerly side) of AlpineAvenue year-round. The recommendation is intended to ensure the safe and expeditious passage ofemergency responders and residents in the event of emergency and/or evacuation. The
recommendation is scheduled to be considered at the August 4th, 2020, Town Council meeting. Ifyou are not able to attend the meeting and have questions, concerns, or comments, please contactArn Andrews, Assistant Town Manager, at 408-354-6836, or email aandrews@losgatosca.gov.
Thank you
Arn Andrews $B!| (B Assistant Town Manager
110 East Main Street, Los Gatos CA 95030
Ph: 408.354.6836 $B!| (B aandrews@losgatosca.gov
www.losgatosca.gov $B!| (B https://www.facebook.com/losgatosca
Civic Center Hillside Neighborhood Authorization for Oral Comments
Town Council Meeting – August 4, 2020
Agenda Item 17: Approve the Santa Clara County Fire District Emergency Route Recommendation for
Alpine Avenue and Remove Parking on One Side of the Street.
The Leadership Team, Jon Witty, Mike Shields and Rob Stump, from the Civic Center Hillside
Neighborhood have been authorized to offer oral comments on Agenda Item 17 on behalf of the
residents listed below.
#Last Name First Name Address
Bakke Karl Foster Road
Bakke Shelley Foster Road
Bartlett Steve Foster Road
Bartlett Mary Foster Road
Boyle Amber Foster Road
Boyle Dan Foster Road
Brady John Foster Road
Brady Judy Foster Road
Guyart Christelle Foster Road
Callaud Christophe Foster Road
6 Coker Scott Foster Road
Cotton Bill Foster Road
Cotton Kathy Foster Road
DiNapoli Phil Foster Road
DiNapoli Jennifer Foster Road
Fitzhenry Jack Dishman Drive
Fitzhenry Pam Dishman Drive
Freeburger Patrick Foster Road
Sweet Sue Foster Road
Garneau Tara Foster Road
Darveau-Garneau Nicolas Foster Road
Hansen Eric Foster Road
Hansen Alice Foster Road
13 Hsing Michael Foster Road
Jatou Ross Foster Road
Nessan Susan Foster Road
15 Long Richard Foster Road
16 Mitchell Sandra Foster Road
Morton Dave Foster Road
Morton Claudia Foster Road
Pastrone Paul Dishman Drive
Pastrone Lauri Dishman Drive
19 Reynolds Brendan Foster Road
Shields Mike Foster Road
Shields Karen Foster Road
Stump Robert Foster Road
Stump Nancy Foster Road
Ackerson Peter Foster Road
Ackerson Alana Foster Road
Sund Steve Foster Road
Sund Cynthia Foster Road
Weinstein Jeff Tourney Road
Weinstein Susan Tourney Road
Wendt Melanie Foster Road
Wendt Tom Foster Road
Weiner Ronald Foster Road
Stanley Deborah Foster Road
Witty Jon Foster Road
Noel Amy Foster Road
28 Zeidler Brendon Tourney Loop
3
24
5
9
7
12
17
18
27
26
20
2
1
4
21
22
25
10
11
23
14
8
Written Authorizations from Civic Center Hillside Neighbors
Alpine Avenue – Town Council Meeting
August 4, 2020
1
August 3, 2020
1. Please feel free to speak on my behalf to convince whomsoever you need, in order to restrict
parking on Alpine Avenue so that vital emergency services can reach residents and property
on Foster Rd 24/7/365!
Thank you, Tom Thorpe.
2. Hello Rob and team,
On this particular issue, I am in full support and you can certainly speak on our behalf.
Thanks, Ross Jatou and Susan Nessan
3. Please accept this email as authorization to speak on my behalf.
Keep up the good work.
Brendan Reynolds
4. Thanks for attending to this critical fire safety issue. Please be assured that Kathy and I fully
support your efforts to increase our safe egress during a wildfire and open up clear access to
our hillside neighborhood for fire crews and equipment. Parking only on the north side of
Alpine Avenue will provide an increased level of safety and thus dramatically lower the level
of wildlife risk to our hillside.
Thanks again for your efforts on our behalf.
Bill & Kathy Cotton
5. Yes, we are grateful if you speak on our behalf at the meeting!!
Jack and Pam Fitzhenry
6. Yes, we support the effort. Same with Johnson Avenue but at least it has 2 ways in for access
I suppose.
Steven and Cynthia Sund
7. Hi! Please feel free to reference the Morton’s. Thanks & best of luck!
Dave and Claudia Morton
Written Authorizations from Civic Center Hillside Neighbors
Alpine Avenue – Town Council Meeting
August 4, 2020
2
8. You have my authorization to speak on my behalf on this matter on Alpine Avenue
Scott Coker
9. Jennifer and I give you authority to speak our behalf at the town meeting August 4, 2020.
Phil and Jennifer DiNapoli
10. You have our permission to represent us.
Thanks – Peter and Alana Ackerson
11. Nick and I strongly support you speaking on our behalf on this important safety issue. Thank
you for your continued work and leadership. We are very grateful.
Kind regards,
Tara Garneau and Nick Darveau
12. This email serves to authorize Rob Stump to speak on my behalf at the Civic Center Hillside
Neighborhood meeting on August 4.
Thank you – Brendon Zeidler
13. You Have my permission to speak on our behalf in favor of this recommendation. Parking on
both sides of the street creates an unusually dangerous hazard given the number of houses
that exist beyond Alpine and Foster.
Thank you for doing this…Ron Weiner and Deborah Stanley
14. Pertaining to your email below, we support representatives of the Civic Center Hillside
Neighbors presentation to LG Town Council on August 4.
John and Judy Brady
August 2, 2020
15. Thanks for taking leadership on the Alpine issue. All 3 of us here support making one side of
Alpine no-parking, and we authorize you to speak on our behalf at the town council meeting.
Jeff and Sue Weinstein
Written Authorizations from Civic Center Hillside Neighbors
Alpine Avenue – Town Council Meeting
August 4, 2020
3
16. We are grateful that you are taking the time to represent our neighborhood and our concerns
about vehicle movement to and from the Civic Center Hillside area should there be an
emergency. On many occasions we have driven down Foster to Alpine Avenue and felt
horror at the difficulty we often experience in getting down the street due to so many (often
large, construction-related) vehicles parked on both sides of the road.
Please know that you have our full authorization to speak on our behalf and that we are in
synch with your concerns as you address the Town of Los Gatos. We feel that the only way
for us to be able to safely exit the neighborhood – and to have safety vehicles such as fire
trucks and ambulances reach us – is to allow parking on only one side of Alpine Avenue.
Thank you for your representation – Laurie and Paul Pastrone
17. To: Los Gatos Town Council and/or any other government agency
Rob Stump has unlimited authority to speak for us on fire or any other safety issues. This has
no time limit.
Eric A. Hansen MD
Alice H Hansen
18. Thanks for your help on improving the situation on Alpine Avenue. We agree 100% with
your assessment that allowing parking on two sides is a significant danger to Foster Road.
Please feel free to convey to the Town Council that we agree with you.
Best,
Sue Sweet & Patrick Freeburger
19. We fully support your initiative. Feel free to talk on our behalf
Thanks for all you are doing for our community
Christelle & Christophe Callaud-Guyart
20. Thanks much for continuing to fight for this important topic. You have our full authority to
speak on our behalf.
Let us know if there is anything else, we can do.
Tom & Melanie Wendt
Written Authorizations from Civic Center Hillside Neighbors
Alpine Avenue – Town Council Meeting
August 4, 2020
4
21. I authorize the CCHN Leadership Team to speak on my behalf on being in favor of requiring
Alpine parking to be one sided only.
Not only in case of emergency but almost every day I take my kids to school is it a total
mess.
Dan and Amber Boyle
22. You have permission to speak on our behalf.
Thank you,
Shelley and Karl Bakke
August 4, 2020
23. To Town of Los Gatos Council,
Please let it be known, the Civic Center Hillside Neighborhood, (Rob Stump, Jon Witty, and
Mike Shields) are representing me, (Richard Long) concerning street parking on Alpine
Avenue. I have lived at 17810 Foster Road for 28 years, and have personally experienced
“blocked” traffic many, many times. I can’t imagine how a fire truck could respond to a fire
up the hillside.
Regards,
Richard Long
24. Sandra Mitchell provided authorization by phone on August 4, 9:00 AM. She does not use
email.
25. Hi Rob, you have my support and you can speak for me. Thank you for doing this. Very
much appreciated
Michael Hsing.
From:
To:
Cc:
Subject:
Date:
Attachments:
Tessa Keating
Arn Andrews
Jeff Gallinat;
Alpine Avenue Parking
Monday, August 3, 2020 10:18:51 PM
Alpine Parking Note - Aug 2 - v3.docx
Dear Mr Andrews
This email is to express our support for the letter submitted to the Los Gatos Town Council byour neighbor Jeff Gallinat, (attached.) We support his request for a delay in the process that
has been proposed in order to more fully understand the issue and the solutions.
We respectfully request that the residents of our street are given adequate time to work withthe Town and the Los Gatos Fire Department to come to a workable solution that does not
create unintended consequences for our community.
We will be attending the Town Council meeting tomorrow night and have asked Mr Gallinatto represent our views.
Kind regards
Tessa Keating and Stephen Rothrock
--
Tessa Keating
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