City council members got an early look at the capital improvement plan Tuesday evening. The plan calls for spending $15 million-plus annually over the next five years for, among other things, further expansion of Stevens Creek Trail, construction of new parks and playing fields, and major renovations at the police and fire stations.
Public works director Cathy Lazarus presented the five-year plan to the council. The first year of the plan focuses heavily on infrastructure maintenance, much of which has been deferred in recent years to stretch tight budgets.
Council members did not propose many significant amendments to the 240-page plan, and few in the public offered comments.
Aaron Grossman, executive director of Friends of Steven Creek Trail, lauded the city’s efforts to tunnel the trail under El Camino Real and extend it to Dale Street.
“We are thrilled with all the progress you’ve been making,” he said. Grossman and two members of the city’s bicycle and pedestrian committee also spoke in support of a bicycle and pedestrian bridge over Highway 101 along Permanente Creek.
Council member Matt Pear, pointing to a $775,000 increase in the cost of the project (which was funded last year), said that the city was already doing enough in the name of bicycle and pedestrian friendliness. But other council members disagreed, saying it was too difficult to cross 101 on that side of town.
Matt Neely’s suggestion to explore a $47,000 skate park for Shoreline Park found friendly ears, and Lazarus said the staff would include it in the next draft of the plan. Council member Laura Macias emphasized the importance of finding a temporary plan to alleviate safety concerns at the intersection of Rengstorff Avenue and Central Expressway.
In addition to the new projects proposed in the plan, the city also has $53 million set aside to complete the construction of projects it approved in previous years, such as the recycled water project in North Bayshore and the child care center in Rengstorff Park.
Preservation fight not history yet
Still facing opposition from the property owners on Mountain View’s historic register, the city council narrowly supported moving forward with a survey of the city’s historic resources.The survey could cost up to $200,000, money property owners said would be better spent fortifying the incentives the city currently offers to owners who agree to preserve the historic character of their buildings. The criticism came from the minority of property owners who have stayed in the city’s historic preservation program since it became voluntary, as well as from those who have opted out.
But council member Laura Macias and others said it was time to “do what we should have done at the very beginning” of the historic preservation debate.
The idea for the survey arose in the fall of 2004, on the heels of a city ordinance that blocked owners of historic buildings from doing any renovations for two years — a directive that drew the owners’ universal ire. To replace that ordinance, but still protect historic structures, the council devised a program of voluntary incentives. But all sides agreed the city did not have a good understanding of which properties had historic value.
Tuesday, Vice Mayor Greg Perry said he was worried that moving forward with a survey risked restarting the debate over whether the ordinance should be voluntary or mandatory.
“I think there’s a sense that if only we had the right list, we could have got a mandatory ordinance,” said Perry. “It puts us back at square one and sets us up to fight again.”
Properties determined to be eligible for the city’s program will also be subject to stricter reviews under the California Environmental Quality Act, even if the owner chooses not to be placed on the register.
Council members Matt Pear and Tom Means expressed misgivings about the survey. In addition to Macias, Mayor Nick Galiotto and council members Mike Kasperzak and Matt Neely supported the idea.
E-mail Jon Wiener at jwiener@mv-voice.com
