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Published on 06/22/1998 All articles from this issue

News Briefs

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Building moratorium meetings continue

Following the two community meetings held in June for members of the unincorporated areas of Los Altos and Los Altos Hills regarding the building moratorium for small lots, two more meetings are planned.

The next step will be a workshop for the supervisors and county planning commissioners, at 11 a.m. Thursday, in the seventh-floor conference room in the county building, 70 W. Hedding St., San Jose.

This is not a public hearing, said Cathy Ming-Hyde, a senior policy aide to Supervisor Joe Simitian. But it is a chance for people to "listen in" as the planning commission and staff talk about the concept.

A third community meeting is scheduled for 7-9 p.m. July 8 in the Creekside Room of Los Altos United Methodist Church, 655 Magdalena Ave., in Los Altos.

At this meeting members of the county planning department will talk about what the county has in place in other areas regarding design guidelines for small lots.

"It will show the tradeoffs, for instance," Ming-Hyde said, "of bigger setbacks. That often means two-story houses.

"When people say what they want, it could create another problem. This meeting will help people visualize what certain restrictions might look like in their neighborhood."

Council OK's 2-lot subdivision

At its June 23 meeting, the Los Altos City Council OK'd a subdivision in the 100 block of North Springer Road that created two 78-foot-wide lots. The city requirement is 80 feet.

There are several lots on North Springer and one on Springer Terrace that are "narrow, less than 80 feet of width," said assistant planner David Kornfield, in a June 18 staff report.

Each of these new lots will be 16,500-square-feet and about 212 feet deep, according to the staff report.

"In anticipation of subdivision approval, the applicant started a preliminary design process to develop both properties with new two-story homes," Kornfield said.

Currently there is one house on the lot that will be demolished.

At the May 21 planning commission meeting, one resident expressed concern about allowing an exception for "a narrow lot, which would potentially result in a narrow, tall house," according to the staff report.

Currently the city's share of the property tax for the parcel is "about $840 ... Developing both lots with new homes could raise ... the combined potential property tax revenue to the city to about $3,000," according to the staff report.

Johnson mayor for third time

Bob Johnson was unanimously elected mayor of Los Altos Hills by fellow council members on June 17. He is the town's first three-time mayor.

Elayne Dauber was elected mayor pro tem on a 3-1 vote. Outgoing mayor Toni Casey cast the dissenting vote.

Los Altos Hills budget approved

The Los Altos Hills Town Council approved the proposed operating budget for fiscal year 1998-99 at its June 17 meeting.

The budget projects revenue of $4 million, a .6 percent increase over the fiscal year 1997/98 adjusted budget. The budget narrative said revenues were adjusted upward by $300,000 at mid-year, "largely due to the high level of development activity being experienced by the town, but generally reflective of the excellent economic growth being experienced in the Bay Area."

City Manager Jeff Peterson said the budget's revenue projections reflect a decrease in projected building activity, however. In the past, permits and charges for development-related services comprised about 27 percent of general fund revenues, according to the budget narrative. They now total 22.8 percent of revenue. A simultaneous increase in property tax revenues, now projected to comprise 26 percent of the income, will take up the slack. The budget shows 1998/99 property tax assessments to be 10.7 percent higher than last year for Los Altos Hills.

The budget anticipates no rate increase for either sewer or garbage collection services. "Solid waste revenues and expenditures are both expected to increase with the addition of collection services to the fund's activities," said the narrative. "Sewer fund revenues will rise slightly with a small number of new customers.

"This is the first time we've only needed one study session (held in May) to finalize a budget," Johnson said, complimenting the staff for its work.

-Town Crier Staff Report