Special to the Town Crier
The Los Altos Hills Town Council addressed the often thorny issue of which town streets are private and which are public.
Council action at the Nov. 4 meeting included approving a staff recommendation for the acceptance of Summit Wood Road and Tepa Way as public streets.
According to Planning Director Curtis Williams, the road question is complicated by the various transfer instruments and standards that have existed during the town's existence, and by lack of records. Summit Wood Road and Tepa Way are a case in point.
According to City Manager Jeff Peterson's report, "staff concluded (following investigation) that the right of way of Summit Wood Road had been dedicated by three separate instruments dating back as far as 1954, yet no record had been found showing that any of the right of way had been accepted by the town."
One Summit Wood Road resident located a 1973 Town Crier article that indicated that Summit Wood had previously been accepted as a public street, but the staff was unable to find any evidence of this acceptance.
The council postponed action on an ordinance to amend the town's municipal code regarding private roads reflecting the change in status of Summit Wood Road and Tepa Way. It requested Peterson to review the status of other private roads to determine their appropriate status.
Peterson reported to the council that the town's Web project "should be up and running by late November."
Mayor Bob Johnson and Councilman Bill Siegel have worked as a council subcommittee to expand the capabilities of the town's Web page found at www.losaltosonline.com.
"The council wanted to have staff more involved and to be able to update the Web site quickly," Peterson said, "but they wanted the front page of the Web to stay on losaltosonline."
The town is negotiating with a firm to provide a fast hyperline connection between www.losaltosonline.com and the Los Altos Hills Web server, provide a domain identity and e-mail access for all town staff.
The e-mail would allow residents to contact individual staff members directly, Peterson said.
The new system would also allow bulletin board access for matters of town business.
The Nov. 4 meeting was adjourned in memory of Kyle MacDonald, a 24-year old Los Altos Hills resident who was killed in a car crash Oct. 23.