Reader disgusted by San Jose Shark's defense of ‘killer dog'

Editor,

The story of the San Jose Shark who owns the dog that killed my friend, and neighbor's, little puppy Banjo, was an eye-opener to politics and how a powerful attorney and PR media people can turn a killer dog into a loving pooch. The owner of the American bulldog is kidding himself if he thinks that dog, Max, is “sweet” and “wouldn't hurt anyone.” REALITY CHECK: Max KILLED a puppy in a public parking lot while that puppy was on his leash!

Max kept people at bay as they tried to help Banjo and Sara (Whitlock) who got bitten also. It wasn't until Animal Control arrived that anyone could do anything to help Banjo and it was too late. Max is not a sweet dog that wouldn't hurt anyone. Max killed a puppy and took so much joy and happiness out of Sara's life. I am disgusted by the attempt of Max's owners to try and plead that he is a sweet loving dog. If I owned that dog I would never be able to trust him again.

Max should either be put down or removed from the owners who obviously could not control him and prevent such a tragedy from happening. It will happen again and next time it could be a child.

Carol Cooley

Almaden Valley

Residents against development on Almaden Road to organize neighborhood coalition

Editor,

We have lived in Almaden Valley for 18 years. We and our neighbors moved into this area to enjoy a quality of life not found in too many other areas. Generally, the city has done a good job developing and preserving the quality of life. The qualities that are integral to our particular neighborhood include housing density, open space, roads and traffic, schools, parks, and historical themes.

Over the years, we have seen proposed amendments to the General Plan, which requested densities higher than two homes per acre. The most recent was at the corner of Mockingbird Hill Lane and Almaden Road. In this case, we worked with our council representative and planning and because of special circumstances, 0.4 acres per home was accepted. Elsewhere, on the east side of Almaden Road such as Kiser Drive, higher densities were built due to the close proximity to Almaden Expressway. It was the consensus that the west side of Almaden Road would have lower densities to preserve the nature of the hillside and valleys and to mitigate congestion.

Today, we are again confronted with another proposed General Plan Amendment, GP03-10-01, which would result in the construction of homes on 7,500-square-foot lots for a total of maybe 30 homes in this six-acre development instead of the usual 14 homes. We object to this proposed change for the following reasons:

1. The density of homes is not in keeping with the character of the surrounding neighborhood, which is the reason why most of us moved here. This is an impact on the quality of life.

2. Traffic is abominable during peak commutes. We are adding over twice as many commute vehicles with this development than what was originally designed. What it the city going to do with Almaden Expressway?

3. Merging onto Almaden Road gets very dicey during certain times of the day. Now, with this change, we will be adding an additional 150 vehicles merges onto the limited roadway. What is the city going to do with Almaden Road?

4. There are already waiting lists for the neighborhood schools. Why are we creating a greater burden to the infrastructure?

5. The city has ignored Almaden Valley with respect to infrastructure. Little to nothing has been done for additional parks and recreation as well as the preservation of historical components of our community. Overhead utilities are not being placed underground as these new developments go in.

6. It is clear that by providing the developer with a Negative EIR declaration that the city does not feel that there are any issues in our community. In light of items one through five above, we do not concur with this negative declaration. What is the overall plan for this community? Someone needs to perform this study.

If you desire additional housing, why not create higher density housing near transit malls, such as Almaden Lake and change the general plan to convert some of the 70,000,000 square feet of vacant commercial buildings in the south bay back into housing? Do not afflict a great neighborhood with mistakes that were made elsewhere in the city. Do not create another “commuter's nightmare” by increasing housing densities in Almaden. Do not change the character of our neighborhood by allowing wall-to-wall buildings.

In summary, please leave the current development plan for our community alone. Please vote NO for this proposed change to the general plan, which will degrade our quality of life.

Almaden residents who are interested in forming an Almaden Neighborhood Coalition are invited to an open house this Saturday. We, the residents of the Almaden Community who are interested in keeping the General Plan of 1 house per 1/2 acre, would like you to join us to discuss and view the proposed 26-new-home development. The public is invited to an open house at Barnes Lane near Queensbridge Way on Saturday, Nov. 1, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. (coffee and refreshments will be provided).

Dan Ferris

Yvette VanDoren

Jane Lee

Susan Walher