November 28, 2003

OPINION

Almaden Valley Community Association president explains stand on Almaden Road development

My position with regard to the opposition to rezoning of acreage on Almaden Road

By Bob Boydston
AVCA President

On Monday, Nov. 10 at the AVCA Board Meeting, a measure that opposed the rezoning of the 6-plus-acre parcel off Almaden Road [between Grimley and Barnes roads] was put to a vote. I voted against the measure and I wish to give my reason.

It is understandable that the people living in the neighborhood do not wish to see it change. My wife, son and I moved to the Almaden Valley in 1965. We had a house built on Elwood Road grouped with four other houses at the southern end of the Almaden Country Club property. The only pavement on Elwood was in front of our houses. Elwood Road ended at the fifth house. To the east, Elwood was a gravel road with large acre properties with rustic houses and fenced meadows with horses running freely. There was almost no traffic on Elwood. It was quiet and it was wonderful. I would have liked to have kept it that way. Now, where the horses roamed, there are houses on five-to-the-acre lots and Elwood Road has its share of traffic. I had to be realistic. Almaden Valley is very nice place to live. There are about 15,000 homes here now. The ranches were out of step with an increasing population, change had to take place and the property had to be rezoned.

Vice-Mayor Pat Dando has pointed out that the City’s General Plan is often adjusted based on changing conditions on the ground. As pointed out in a column last month by AVCA’s secretary, Ray Strong, rezoning may be more acceptable if triggers were identified and known ahead of time. Those triggers could be the population numbers in the valley, the market price of undeveloped property, or the percent of undeveloped property remaining. Then when people bought property they would be aware of the possibility of zoning changes. At this time the triggers, if they exist, are unknown.

The developer has made concessions. The original request was for eight dwelling units per acre. The plan is now for an average of 4.4 DU/acre. The present density is 2 DU/acre.

I voted against the motion, which would ban rezoning of this property, because I did not want to mandate to the City Planing Department that, in spite of changing conditions of demand for housing, no changes of zoning could be made. I am content to allow the developer, the neighbors and the Planning Department to come to an equilibrium solution.

There is concern about the traffic on Almaden Road as it passes the property, but we have no official statistics about it. There are, however, statistics about the Almaden Expressway. As pointed out by AVCA recently, we think there is a flaw in the method for evaluating the impact on traffic by a new development. The level of service at the Camden/Almaden intersection is going to LOS F, referred to as “grid lock,” counting the already approved developments. LOS D is considered the minimum by traffic engineers. How did we get down to LOS F through the approval process? According to the EIR for the AYA McKean Road soccer field, a project is rejected if the LOS drops below “D,” or the additional wait at an intersection exceeds 4 seconds. Once the existing level falls below LOS D, there is no penalty for dropping further and if a group of new developments is looked at individually instead of collectively, then each can fall within the four second limit. The salient fact is that the Camden/Almaden intersection is going to “F.” We hope that the Planning Department measures the accumulated effects on traffic as it considers development.

The next AVCA meeting will be held on Monday, Dec. 8 at 7 p.m. at the Almaden Branch Library, 6455 Camden Ave., www.avca-sj.org