Almaden Valley Community Association News

The next AVCA meeting will be held on Monday, Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. at the Almaden Branch Library, located at 6455 Camden Ave. The speaker will be Hank Rullhausen, owner of the Chevron station at Almaden Expressway and Redmond Avenue. The issue is the replacement of the service bays with a food sales facility, which will include the sale of alcohol. The question is how is the community affected?

Opinion

Rezoning: threat to property values or inevitable sign of progress?

By Ray Strong

AVCA Secretary

The Almaden Valley Community Association has hosted numerous discussions about proposed zoning changes, notably the recent proposals for a sports complex on McKean Road and for an increase in allowed density on a small parcel just off Almaden Road. These discussions are often emotional and adversarial. On one side is the organization with a need or the developer with a plan; on the other side is an ad hoc organization of surprised and dismayed neighbors. In the middle are representatives of various city and county agencies who try to explain the processes involved. Following are some observations of the way things work currently, along with suggestions for change.

Notifications of proposed zoning changes are sent only to the nearest neighbors, a small fraction of those who consider themselves affected. This policy exacerbates the feeling of surprise and powerlessness of those who find out by word of mouth. This policy needs change so that more of those who will consider themselves affected are notified of any change that could be considered a surprise.

Environmental impact reports address important physical considerations like the effect on the water table, and important infrastructure considerations like the adequacy of roads to sustain projected increased traffic. They do not cover projected changes in property values. A zoning change that reduces property values may not be the same as an eminent domain property seizure; but it feels like it. The effect of zoning change on property values should be considered and taken as seriously as any other impact.

The zoning change process is fraught with the appearance of conflict of interest. Those making the ultimate decisions are holders of political office who need to raise significant funds for re-election campaigns. When zoning changes can affect hundreds of millions of dollars in property values, political contributions of hundreds of thousands of dollars with hopes of influencing zoning outcomes are to be expected. The political forces may balance out, if the planning decisions are general and part of a predictable process; but not when they are made without a clearly stated general policy.

We have an adopted plan for development of the Almaden Valley, with known triggers for predictable change. Anyone buying a home in the Almaden Valley can find out about this general plan and assess its affect on the value of the property. Zoning changes that result from well-publicized demographic triggers can hardly be regarded as surprises. Deviations to the plan are surprising and threatening.

Recognizing that change and increased density are inevitable, we can still ask that it be guided by clearly stated plans and principles rather than managed haphazardly, one parcel at a time. We know that the South Almaden Valley will eventually be opened to increasingly dense development. We don't know how the individual decisions will be made, either before or after the triggers. It would help both property owners and developers to have the plan spelled out in sufficient detail so that we could reliably predict whether proposed changes conformed. Deciding these issues on a case-by-case basis is not satisfactory.

On behalf of both the residents of the Almaden Valley and the organizations that want to serve or develop here, I request the following changes of the politicians and staff people who make zoning change decisions. Tell us in a clear and unequivocal way the principles that will be used to make these decisions. Give us a document that can be used to predict outcomes. Stand by that document or make changing it a general political issue because it affects all of us. Our economy is based on private property rights. Let us know with great clarity what those property rights are and what they are not.