Sarosh Vesuna is smiling. No only will his street be repaved in the next year, but the Los Altos City Council also approved a special assessment district for his block so it will have curbs and gutters added as well.
"It will make the street cleaner and narrower than now," Vesuna said.
"It's the right thing to do. It will make our houses appreciate a bit more."
The timing is good, said Bruce Bane, director of public works. "Their street was approaching needing resurfacing anyway. It's the perfect time to add curbs."
The residents of the street, led by John Sutherland, brought a petition to the city requesting their street be resurfaced and have gutters added.
"The street has not been improved since the 60s," Sutherland said.
"There is strong neighborhood support" for the project. "Our first concern was about safety of the residents and the many small children. By visually narrowing the street, it will give a consistent appearance and cause cars to slow down," he said.
The assessment district, approved by the council at its June 8 meeting, will fund the project. A preliminary estimate is $260,000, Bane said. The city will contribute $20,000 of that, the city's cost of the repaving it was going to do anyway.
Each resident is then responsible for the remaining cost, estimated to be $10,000 to $11,000 per home. The city sells 15-year bonds and the homeowner then pays an annual amount, for 15 years, with the property tax bill.
Of the residents on this one block of Avalon Drive, 17 of 23 have signed the petition, Bane said. "There are always some residents who don't place a high priority on curbs."
But most do.
"I think it'll improve the street," said Dorothy Burkhart. "It will make the street more appealing."
But Burkhart did say that the "costs need to be evaluated."
Special assessment districts are rare in Los Altos, Bane said. "They were very common in the 1960s, several in the 1970s, and one or two in the 1980s."
They covered things like curbs and gutters but also paid for sewers and noise abatement, like the sound wall along Foothill Expressway.
As for now, "People may be upgrading their houses," Bane said, "and decide to upgrade their street," too.