Central Orchard of Los Altos
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November, 2004 Central Orchard of Los Altos Leslie Lodestro, LANN Membership Chair and Dianne Edmonds, LANN Co-President There are about 120 apricot trees in what is known as the “Central Orchard” in front of City Hall. The Central Orchard also includes the trees behind City Hall between the Library and the Community Center. As many local residents know, J. Gilbert Smith originally owned the current two-acre apricot orchard, along with several other acres of land around Los Altos. Smith not only was known throughout the Valley for producing top rated apricots, but he also was a skilled carpenter. He built an original farmhouse that is now the History House Museum. When the City bought the original plot of land (roughly 8 3/4 acres) from Smith in 1954, Smith stipulated that he have a life tenancy in his home; the rest of the land would be available for city use, thus the conception of Los Altos Civic Center. For the remaining Central Orchard, Doug Riley, Los Altos’ Parks Supervisor and an arborist, is responsible for overseeing the care of the trees. The maintenance is performed by a contracted “orchardist” involves work from June to November. In June the fruit is harvested. Come July the soil is fertilized and an irrigation system are brought in to do heavy watering. In September the pruning begins. The pruning is a labor of love. Two waves of pruning take place to ensure larger apricots. In October the soil is disked which aerates the dirt and keeps it healthy. The disking also prepares the soil surrounding the trees to be planted with a bean cover crop every 2-3 years. The beans, which provide a burst of vibrant, green, ground cover in the spring, are turned into the soil as mulch, which in turn provides nitrogen for the ground. Every year, as many as 5 trees die. They are replaced with “whips” or baby apricot trees. The city mandates an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) system, which prohibits the use strong chemicals. The policies which limit the types of chemicals which can be used in this public space means that sick trees must be left to die and then replaced. The city does allow some ‘spot spraying’ around the orchard for what Doug Riley calls ‘noxioous weeds’. An example of a noxious weed is the puncture vine, which is a low-lying aggressive weed. All of this maintenance does cost money, but the city gets a good deal on the orchardist’s contract maintenance portion. The orchardists’ fee is $2500 and the fruit. In addition to the orchardist’s contractor fee, the city spends about $500 on fertilizer, $2000 - $3000 on water and about $600 per year on replacement trees. In October of 1991 the Los Altos City Council designated the Central Orchard as a Historic Landmark. The Los Altos General Plan 2002-2020 specifically addresses the Civic Center orchard and has a goal and policy to “Identify and encourage preservation of existing orchard remnants as a reminder of its agricultural heritage”. The only trees that are not protected are those back by the Police Station. A future City Council could vote to remove the landmark status. However, a public process that would act as a buffer and opportunity for residents to step forward and voice their opinions protects the orchard. For now the community and the Council feel as Doug Riley does, that the orchard represents an important part of Los Altos heritage.
Large Daycare in Los Altos Neighborhoods
Nancy Ellickson, LANN Contributor
The following is the view of the author and does not necessarily represent the opinions of the board or the membership of LANN
Do you realize that in your neighborhood, in fact right next door, a large daycare home of 12 to14 children
could open? Actually, several large daycare homes could open on your street, right now there's nothing
preventing it. Your once quiet neighborhood could become a thoroughfare for parents in a hurry to and from
work dropping-off or picking-up their children. And, all of a sudden, it's not safe for your own children to play
in the front because of the cars speeding by.
We all agree that it is critical for cities to have safe child daycare. The State of California responded to this
need with the creation of Health and Safety regulations that allow the establishment of small (6 to 8 children)
and large (12 to14 child) family care homes in residential neighborhoods.
Small daycare homes with 6 to 8 children have very little, if any, impact on a neighborhood. However, large
homes with 12 to14 children create traffic, noise, and can negatively affect the character of a residential area.
In August, the City of Los Altos enforced a Municipal Code which restricts the placement of large (12-14
child) childcare homes to lots of one acre or more. Thirteen existing large daycare owners were up in arms,
afraid that they would have to comply and reduce their size to 6 to 8 children which, as several operators
quoted in the Mercury News stated, "would not be cost-effective" for them. (Typically, family daycare homes
in residential areas earn a minimum of $1,000 per month per child.) Under pressure from the State and local
daycare owners, our City Council is now amending sections of the Muni Code which restrict large childcare
facilities in residential areas. City Staff is currently developing Conditional Use provisions that will put new
guidelines into place.
According to the State's Health and Safety Codes, the City does have the authority to
impose restrictions on large daycare operations within their jurisdiction. Specifically
section 1597.46 permits a city, county, etc. to create a "non-discretionary permit to
use a lot zoned for a single-family dwelling to any large family day care home that
complies with local ordinances prescribing reasonable standards, restrictions, and
requirements concerning spacing and concentration, traffic control, parking, and noise
control relating to such homes (emphasis added)."
On November 4th, the Los Altos City Council and City Staff will begin public hearings to let Los Altos
residents' voice their views on large childcare homes in residential neighborhoods. Changes in these guidelines
affect every Los Altos neighborhood particularly if the Code changes do not specifically establish spacing,
concentration, and parking restrictions on the large (12 to 14 child) facilities.
The Planning Commission hearing will be held: November 4th @ 7:30pm in the Los Altos City Council
Chambers. The City Council plans to discuss this issue at their regular meeting on December 14, 2004 at
7:00pm in the Council Chambers.
For additional information, contact: Nancy Ellickson, 650-940-1808 or Adele Hennig, 650-968-4147The Dangerous School Crossings of Foothill
Expressway
Bill Crook, LANN Traffic Chair
There is a significant safety hazard impacting Los Altos school children who must cross Foothill Expressway
on their journey to and from school every day. It is the free right hand turn lanes that pedestrians must cross
in order to reach the pedestrian controls located in the pork chop islands.
A Blach student was hit in the free right hand turn lane at the northwest corner of Foothill Expressway
and Springer Road while returning from school on August 23.
A Covington student was hit in the free right hand turn lane at the northwest corner of Foothill
Expressway and El Monte Avenue while returning from school on September 16.
The free right hand turn lane at the northwest corner of Foothill Expressway and Grant Road has had
a number of close calls according to the crossing guard who works this intersection.
The significance of these three northwest corners is that motorist are accelerating to prepare for a merge onto
Foothill Expressway, generally looking left at traffic and not looking for pedestrians on the right. The
crosswalk from Rancho Center at the northwest corner of Foothill and Springer has extremely poor visibility
(due to a brink wall located on County right-of-way), compounding the problem for pedestrians.
The current changes being implemented by County Roads at Foothill Expressway and El Monte will likely
increase the danger to both pedestrians and bicyclists. Motorist making the transition from eastbound Foothill
to southbound El Monte no longer have to slow down to merge into El Monte traffic. Motorist now have their
own lane on El Monte. This change impacts:
Pedestrians exiting the Lincoln Avenue pathway connector at the southwest corner of the intersection
have to cross this free right hand turn lane before reaching the pedestrian controls.
Bicyclists heading south on El Monte towards Foothill College now must cross a dedicated lane of
southbound El Monte traffic before reaching the continuation of the bike lane.
What is being done about the situations described above?
Council, at its 9/28 meeting, funded a 2nd crossing guard for the Foothill / El Monte intersection through
December 17. This interium measure will allow construction activity to be completed and the long term need
re-evaluated.
Council, at its 10/12 meeting, approved a $25,270 expendature to upgrade the El Monte / Covington Road
signal controller to help alievate back-ups on Covington. Council was willing to see the current Foothill / El
Monte project through to it’s completion in order to see how the intersection functions once construction
activity is gone.
More importantly, Council agreed to take ownership of the problem of improving the safety of pedestrians in
the Foothill free right hand turn lanes. Council pressed staff to come back with alternatives to address the
inherient problems of the free right and turn lanes on Foothill, either in conjuction with or independent of
County (as of 10/12, County had not responded to an August letter from Council on the safety concerns).New Applications for Housing
Kathy Putman, LANN Housing Chair
There’s a bit more activity this month...
1. 04-V-24 and 04-SC-52 -- R. Morrison, AIA, ASID/S. and A. Danford -- 1992 Deodora Drive:
Consideration of design review for a 187-square foot, second story addition and a variance to allow the
extension of a nonconforming 10-foot side yard setback, where 17.5 feet is required by code. Project
Planner: Kornfield
2. 04-SC-55 -- J. Baron/ M. and K. Costa -- 1061 Via Del Pozo: Consideration of design review of a two-
story addition. Project Planner: Connolly
3. 04-SC-56 -- M. Amini/ T. and C. Chen -- 899 Highlands Circle: Consideration of design review of a
two-story addition. Project Planner: Banks
4. 04-SC-57 -- M. Lefebvre and N. Planthara -- 412 Covington Road: Consideration of design review of a
new two-story home. Project Planner: Kornfield
5. 04-SC-58 -- T. and K. Quaglia -- 1436 Aura Way: Consideration of design review of a two-story
addition.
6. 04-SC--59 -- I. and Z. Dukanovic --1270 Altamead Drive: Consideration of design review of a new
two-story home.
7. 04-SC-54 -- R. Kohler/ G. Tchelepi and B. Blanchar -- 1815 Fallen Leaf Lane: Consideration of
design review for a second story addition to an existing single-story home. Project Planner: Kornfield.
City & Police Department at Contract Impasse –Again
Contributed by John Mattes with information from Bob Perdriau & Sgt. John Hughmanick, LAPD.
The following is the view of the author and does not necessarily represent the opinions of the board or the membership of LANN
After four-odd years of observing the relationship between the City of Los Altos and its Police Department,
it is logical to suspect that there is an on-going, constant undercurrent of friction between the two that
peaks every year or so around contract negotiation time. Contract negotiations are always contentious
between the parties and are at an impasse again this year. The City Council insists on high secrecy
regarding these negotiations so solid information is hard to get. While there are two sides to every story, in
this case, the public is not privy to any real information from either side. There are a very small number of
people determining the future of public safety in the city. They are doing this mostly behind closed doors.
Is it possible, given the impasse that the city will soon return to the understaffed and demoralized Police
Department of 2000? Definitely. Even before the contract negotiations began, several in the departmentfelt there were a “micromanagement” and a “second-class” attitude toward the department by the city –
particularly by the City Manager. Because of the closed door negotiating sessions, there are a number of
rumors. Rumors are rumors, but currently the most believable is some kind of consolidation, most likely
with the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office.
The potential issues in such an event extend far beyond contract negotiations and could impact many
aspects of life in Los Altos. For example, extended response times and other negative impacts to public
safety are probable. Traffic calming, code enforcement, the ability to successfully and safely conduct
community events such as the Parade of Lights, the Arts Festival and so on could be jeopardized if a
consolidation were to occur. Proactive enforcement would also likely suffer under a consolidation, which is
equally unfortunate given the recent “wins” of proactive law enforcement, among those wins are: officers
arrested armed people in possession of drugs before a serious situation developed; an Internet predator was
detected before his victim was struck; police training to citizens on several important issues including
disaster response methods.
Last year the city simply imposed a contract. One thing that is known about this year’s negotiation is that
the city turned down a proposal suggested by a State Mediator that was acceptable to the police. The time
is now for a public dialog on the issue of public safety. The City Council needs to open broad
communication channels and ask for citizen participation in deciding the future of public safety in Los
Altos.
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Lann Board Members
Co-President Mike Abrams Traffic Chair Bill Crook
Co-President Dianne Edmonds Schools Chair David Luskin
Vice President Ken Lorell Contributor Karen Greguras
Treasurer David Jaques Webmaster Jerry Wright
Secretary Kathy Wright Advisors Tom Anderson
Editor Vickie Clements Lou Becker
Housing Chair Kathy Putman David Casas
Membership Chair Leslie Lodestro Kate DisneyYou can also read
