March 13, 2008

Neighbors, city question possible development on McKean Road

By Carol Rosen
Editor

There’s a 10-acre plot of land on McKean Road creating quite a stir in the area.

The land, at the junction of McKean and Harry Roads is owned by Tony Alves and Rodney and Marci Lake, according to the Santa Clara County Assessor’s Office, but in talks with Alves, it appears he owns the parcel, which faces Kaiser Drive on its west side. However, he told the Times that a meadow behind the creekside length belongs to the threesome.

No wonder Tony Alves wants to build a dream house on the land. With only the fire station next door, the land appears quite rural leading toward meadows with Mt. Umunum in the background.

Neighbors on Kaiser Drive, many of whom have lived in the area since the early 1980s, were initially told the land belonged to the Santa Clara Valley Water District so they would not have to worry about anyone building on the land. In addition, Alimitos Creek runs lengthwise through the parcel. California law states it is illegal to build 50 feet on either side of such riparian corridors.

Three years ago, in August of 2005, the property was sold to the Lakes and Alves and is valued at $1,530,000, according to the Assessor’s Office.

And it appears that that is when the trouble started for both the neighbors and Alves. According to the neighbors, Alves has been putting plastic around the creek and grading the land, which they say, and the city concurs, is illegal.

Alves told the Times that he is doing nothing illegal and that the neighbors are making his life “miserable.”

“This is my land, it’s private and as long as I’m not breaking any laws I can do what I want,” he said. Right now he says he’s using the land for bike riding and other activities. He says he’s not grading, but clearing away weeds. In addition, he’s building a retaining wall on the side next to Kaiser Drive.

“He has no plans to develop anything on the property except his dream house. No one would want to develop houses right now in this downturn. This is private property and there should be no issue as long as he is following the law,” said Anthony Pagkas, Alves’ attorney.

“He’s a bit frustrated,” added Pagkas, “he hasn’t done anything wrong and a handful of people are trying to cause problems. Each agency that has been out has found no violations and then they go away. Why are these people putting their noses in his business,” he asked the Times.

However, the neighbors complain that Alves was told months ago he cannot grade the land without a permit. “He says he is taking out brush, but he’s doing it under the radar,” said Dorothy Burke, a homeowner that lives nearby.

She said that a group of neighbors got together and contacted District 10 Council member Nancy Pyle’s office. “We did a walk through [without entering the property],” Burke said, “we’re trying to get someone to act on it. We have videos and still photos of him driving the dirt around.

“We realize that people can do what they want on their own property, but they aren’t allowed to break city code,” she added.

The neighbors, who used to look out on a scenic vista, now see buildings and traffic and lights on the road across from the land. The area used to be quiet and scenic, Burke said, and now she notes there is noise and a lack of serenity. “The area used to be full of wild life. There used to be a lot of quail, there are hardly any quail anymore,” Burke said.

“If the city approves what he is doing, then he isn’t breaking the law, and we will have to live with that verdict. But if he is going against the city’s codes…once they permit him to grade that riparian corridor may disappear.”

Last week the city’s Public Works Department sent a letter to Alves asking him for permission to walk the land so that they can see exactly what is going on. Some neighbors insist that code enforcement employees who came out to see what was going on were refused entry to the land.

The letter, dated March 7 asked the property owners to respond in writing to the letter by March 19. According to a city hall source, if the owners do not respond it could result in a code enforcement action.

The letter asked that the property owners grant the city the right to enter the property for an on-site assessment. It also asked the owners to suspend further grading or dirt movement as well as further construction of the cinder block retaining wall on the western side of the property.

In addition, the letter said the grading and the retaining wall may violate city law citing two municipal codes; 17.04.310, which prevents grading without a permit and 24.02.100 ,which requires a building permit for building a retaining wall four feet or higher.

In the letter, the staff expressed concern “due to the sensitive nature of Alimitos Creek because of detrimental affects to the creek of flood control and capacity and/or riparian habitat.”