November, 1999 editor: Larry Ames

Please attend our next general membership meeting. The featured subject for this meeting will be a presentation on the "Status and Future of San Jose's Parks." Mr. Fred Begun, Chair of the San Jose Parks and Recreation Commission and Ms. Suzanne Wolf, Project Manager for park planning, will describe an ambitious new effort for the park system.

In addition, come and find out about what issues the board has been working on since the May general membership meeting. The board is also interested in hearing your personal views about these issues or about other matters of interest to you.

The meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, November 17, 1999, 7 PM - 9 PM at the Methodist Church (Minnesota & Newport). As always we will have a period with refreshments at the end of the meeting to informally discuss issues among members. We look forward to hearing your views at the general membership meeting. See you there.

ADOPTING DESIGN REVIEW GUIDELINES WILL PROTECT YOUR PROPERTY RIGHTS AND PRESERVE NEIGHBORHOOD CHARACTER

We need your help to ensure that everyone's property rights are protected through the adoption of a strong Design Review Ordinance for San Jose. At the end of this article are several ways that you can help.

WGNA members are 100% in favor of upgrading, remodeling, adding on, and renovating Willow Glen homes. However, at WGNA's May 1999 general membership meeting, 90% of the 150 members and friends in attendance gave resounding support for the idea of developing a "neighborhood characteristics" list for use by builders and home owners when building in Willow Glen.

Based on meeting questionnaires and comments, WGNA members felt strongly that the construction of oversized homes violated their property rights. WGNA members felt that oversized homes took away their right to have outward views of tree lines from their yards and homes, to receive sunlight into their homes and yards, to plant the landscaping of their choice and to privacy in their yards and homes. WGNA members also felt that oversized homes on small lots destroyed the character and charm of Willow Glen.

Over the last several months yours truly and other WGNA board members have attended a series of City of San Jose Planning Department and Planning Commission meetings concerning single family design review. At these meetings we have strongly testified on your behalf, in support of the adoption of design review guidelines that would achieve the protection you requested for Willow Glen.

The Planning Department has responded to the community by developing a specific and reasonable design review ordinance and guidelines. The proposal will accommodate the needs of growing families who need more room, while still preserving neighborhood character. The new rules are fair and objective and will not pit one neighbor against another, as they will be impartially and objectively applied by City staff.

Under the proposal, residents will still be able to remodel their homes and new housing in San Jose will still be built. However, the threat to your property rights by an over-sized, bulky house on a small lot will very likely be a thing of the past. You can receive a detailed description of the proposal by calling the Planning Department at 408 / 277-8556 or by connecting to their website: http://www.ci.san-jose.ca.us/planning/sjplan (you can click on the link from our web site: www.wgna.net).

However, to ensure that the design review ordinance is passed by the City Council and is not watered down by the efforts of special interests, we need your support to communicate to our elected officials.

You can help by taking the following actions from home to express your support for a STRONG DESIGN REVIEW ORDINANCE TO PROTECT NEIGHBORHOOD CHARACTER:

1) Call Mayor Ron Gonzales at 408 / 277-4237 and express your support.

2) Call District 6 Council member, Frank Fiscalini at 408 / 277-5166 and express your support.

3) Call the Planning Department at 408 / 277-8556 and express your support.

4) Send a brief letter expressing your support to Mayor Ron Gonzales, 801 North First Street, San Jose, CA 95110 or fax it to 408 / 277-3868. Write on top of your letter in bold letters "Copy City Council".

5) Give public testimony at the City Council meeting (801 N. First Street, at Mission), presently scheduled for Tuesday, December 7, 7:00 PM (check our website, or call 294-WGNA for updates).

Unlike special interest organizations, WGNA is not in a position to make large money contributions to political campaigns. All our actions are by volunteers who receive no profit from their efforts. However, we do have the strength of our extensive membership. We ask that you take a little bit of your time to do these five things. If possible, please make the three calls and send the letter before November 25, Thanksgiving Day and attend the meeting on December 7.

Your phone calls do not have to be long. Just identify yourself and express your support for a STRONG DESIGN REVIEW ORDINANCE TO PROTECT NEIGHBORHOOD CHARACTER. Our political process only works when you make it interactive by letting your elected officials know what you think. Together we can help preserve and enhance Willow Glen and other parts of San Jose through the adoption of a strong design review ordinance.

Thank you,

It's interesting to see how closely the efforts of the Willow Glen Neighborhood Association match the interests and concerns of our members.

WGNA spends the most effort on zoning issues, be it the 24-hour policy as applied to Neighborhood Business Districts, the Single Family Design Review Ordinance and "the Invasion of the Monster Houses", or housing density and the question of just how many condos will fit in a single residential lot. And, as shown in "WGNA By The Numbers" (see below), zoning is the #1 concern of our members.

We've also been involved in traffic and parking (e.g., Iris Ct. at the Willow Glen Elementary School, and the Willow at Camino Ramon stop sign of a year ago), and tree plantings (the Meridian Avenue median, and the Los Gatos Creek restoration before that): both are major interests of our members. This year, our Fall General Meeting is about Parks because more of our members are interested in Parks and Recreation than in, say, Emergency Preparedness. (Plus, the City Parks & Rec. Dept. has a new study on which they'd like to get public comment, and WGNA co-hosted an Emergency Preparedness meeting with the Stone Church not too long ago.) However, not to slight the hundreds of WGNA members concerned about safety, we include an article on Earthquake Preparedness.

Enjoy the newsletter!

p.s.: on a personal note: check out the art exhibit at the Willow Glen Coffee Roasting Co., Nov. 1 thru Nov. 30.

Every so often it's interesting to see who we are, and what we're interested in.

By the current tally, WGNA has 646 paid memberships and 20 non-voting complimentary memberships (churches, elected officials and city staff, newspapers, etc.). There are 199 individual memberships, 443 households, and 4 associate members: this works out to nearly 1100 people. About 140 members are past due (are you one of them? Check the due-date on the mailing label), and more are due this month. Some people move: we're about to drop a dozen folks we've lost touch with. (If you move, please let us know whether or not to continue sending the newsletters.) Nearly 60 of the members are new, having joined since June: we got to meet some of these new members at the Founders' Day Festival, others found us through our web site (www.wgna.net), and others were referred to us by friends and neighbors.

Now, on to the more interesting stuff:

Members have checked boxes on the membership forms to express their interests, and to receive the occasional additional specialized mailings. Several hundred members have checked one or more boxes, giving good statistics of our members' interests. The major interest, checked by 245 members, is zoning: that is good, because it is what occupies most of the Association's attention. Traffic and parking, parks and recreation, tree-plantings, and graffiti abatement all come in at about 200 each, followed closely behind by bike paths/lanes/routes. Airport noise, public art, and schools form the next tier, and emergency preparedness comes in last (but still is of interest to at least 125 members).

Nearly a hundred members have volunteered to help with something (newsletters, clean ups, special events, etc.). When the appropriate situation arises, we go down the list, soliciting the volunteers until we have enough for the task at hand (e.g., three each time to help fold newsletters, a dozen to man the WGNA booth at Founder's Day, etc.). Your assistance is greatly appreciated!

180 members have given us an email address. As database manager, I use the email to send a confirmation message, when the dues have been received. (If you haven't received any email from WGNA, it's probably because I have a typo in the database (any letter, digit, or hyphen out of place will invalidate an email address), so please drop me a note at admin@wgna.net, with the subject "email address", and I'll update the records.) We also will use the email to remind members about the WGNA General Meetings, and to send out membership renewal reminders.

WGNA has a web site (at www.wgna.net), which is getting roughly 300 "hits" a month now. It is a valuable community resource, providing a way of keeping in touch between these "quarterly" newsletters, and it also is a convenient portal to other community resources (bus schedules, bike route and hiking maps, voter registration, zip codes, email to elected officials, past newsletters, other associations, etc., etc.: check it out!). Newly added to the website is a "bulletin board", containing an archive of "the best of the eList".

WGNA's eList now has nearly 150 registered users, and is an excellent forum for sharing concerns ("what's up at that vacant lot?") and for seeking community references ("anyone out there know a good roofer?"). Often, several members will reply, giving recommendations or other leads, which is great if you're in the market at that time. But if you need a roofer some months later, it has been difficult to go back through the old posts. So now, you can check out the bulletin board for recent posts, and then ask the eList community only if you don't find the needed information.

Note: the Board recently reaffirmed that the eList is only for inquiries, postings about noncommercial events (benefit cake sales, yard sales, etc.), discussions about neighborhood hazards, and other good community information. (If in doubt about the appropriateness, drop a note first to admin@wgna.net.) You can still send your opinions to the Board via phone, snail-mail (WGNA, P. O. Box 7706, San Jose, CA 95150), or by private email addressed to president@wgna.net. Also, someone recently set up an informal "chat room" on the web (thanks!) at willowglen@listbot.com for other discussions, sharing of opinions, etc.: check it out.

And one last WGNA number: 408/294-WGNA. We still know how to use the telephone. Leave us a message, and a volunteer will return your call. Keep in touch!

We're in earthquake country. The major active faults are up in the hills on either side of us, so it's unlikely that the earth will open directly underneath us, but they can still affect us. You can't protect against all possibilities, but you can improve your odds, and also try to make life more comfortable in the aftermath. In response to some requests, here's a listing of various things that I've read over the years, heard, or just made up:

• Check that your house has a good foundation. If it has a "cripple wall" (a short wall between the foundation and the floor), be sure it is properly braced (e.g., with plywood shear walls). The California Earthquake Authority has a program for homeowners to get a free safety check (if their home was built before 1979; is wood-framed; has a crawl space; is not a mobile home, manufactured home or made of unreinforced masonry; and is in Santa Clara County). For more information about the program, call toll-free (877) SAFER-55.
• Have your water heater strapped to the wall with metal straps. This prevents it from tipping over, which might break the gas line. Also, if the water mains break, you can shut off the inlet lines and have 30 gallons of good drinking water in there. (If you have a solar water heater, you can have 110 gallons!)
• When you go grocery shopping, buy extra canned goods. You're going to want them eventually anyway, so why not store an extra dozen cans of soup and beans? The earthquake may not hurt your house, but it might still mess up the freeways and rail lines, so stores may be depleted for a couple days. (Be sure to rotate your stock, so it doesn't get too old...) Also, don't forget candles, flashlight batteries, and a non-electric can-opener.
• Use latches or catches in the cupboard doors: it's inconvenient to have to pick up the fallen canned goods afterwards, and messy if plates or glass jars break. Also, hang pictures and art ceramics, rather than resting them on ledges.
• Know where your gas, water, and electrical shutoffs are, and keep a tool handy to shut them off. You might want to store the tool out by the valves, in case you can't open the garage just then. Get to know your neighbors, and tell them where the valves and tools are: you might be at work or away on vacation when it happens...
• If you smell gas, or are unsure, turn off the gas. If your neighbors aren't home, look out for them, too. It is an inconvenience to have to relight all the pilot lights, and it may be discouraging to come home from work to a cold house, but it's a lot better than the alternative!
• Bolt your tall furniture to the walls. It's messy if a bookcase tips over, and painful if it lands on you. A hasp bolted to a wall stud and the top of the item holds it in place, and still lets you move it when cleaning the floor.
• Keep a spare bicycle at work. If there is a major earthquake, throw the bike in the car trunk: if you come to an impassible jam, you can continue on bike. (I forgot my bike during the '89 quake, and ended up walking 8 miles! I also found out that the buses don't run after a quake!) Also, a bike is great for running lunchtime errands, and is a great way to get some exercise and fresh air.
• If you reroof your house, avoid wood shakes. The water mains may break during a big earthquake, and you'd hate for your house to burn down because a spark landed on the roof. (I use roof shingles to light my barbecue: no lighter fluid, one match; works great!)
• Keep landscaping away from the fire hydrants. They may not be the most beautiful of lawn ornaments, but they do have their use.
• Prominently display your house number: you don't want the fire department to have to wait for flames to pour from the windows before they can find your house!

To prepare for another "earth-shattering" event, check out 1-888-USA 4 Y2K, to reach the President's Council on Y2K preparations.

More details will soon be posted on our website (www.wgna.net).

At the September 8 WGNA meeting, I updated your Board on the status of the County's efforts to revitalize our County Fairgrounds. Please refer to my website at www.BlancaAlvarado.org for more complete information. The cornerstone of our overall revitalization efforts is the development of an indoor 8,300 seat Performing Arts Theater.

For the past year, the County has been negotiating with Universal Concerts (now a subsidiary of "the House of Blues") on the terms and conditions of a Ground Lease for the development and operation of a theater. These negotiations are coming to a conclusion, and the Board of Supervisors is expected to consider the proposed deal in February, 2000.

The theater is planned to be used for stage productions and concerts. It will be located near the Monterey Road side of the Fairgrounds property on approximately 10 acres with about 34 acres used for parking.

Before the Board considers the proposed deal for the theater, the County will have completed an environmental review process for the project. The County has retained EIP Associates, environmental consultants, to conduct this process.

The Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) is expected to be released in late November for public comment. Following a 45-day public review period-during which time there will be a public meeting to present the project-the consultants will amend the DEIR to create the final EIR for Board of Supervisors to review and certify.

At this time, it does not appear that any major issues will be identified in the DEIR, although there will be considerable discussion about traffic planning and mitigation efforts.

Residents adjacent to Willow Glen Elementary School approached WGNA about parking problems near the school. Parents of some kindergartners stop or park in "No Parking" areas on the narrow Iris Court when picking up their kids, making a narrow street even narrower and causing blind spots. In response, WGNA facilitated a meeting with WG Elementary Principal Anita Sunseri, Michelle McGurk (Chief-of-Staff to Councilmember Fiscalini), Carol Myers of the S.J.U.S.D. Board; John Gibbs (vice-president of WGNA), and kindergarten teachers. The group brainstormed ideas to help mitigate the safety concerns. It was agreed that parents would be reminded of the parking requirements, traffic enforcement would be stepped up during the problem times, and Councilmember Fiscalini's office would work with the City to evaluate better signage in the area. It was agreed that the group would meet again to evaluate the success of the measures and evaluate further options. WGNA would like to thank the participants of the meeting for their willingness to help address this potential safety hazard.

On October 25, the monthly meeting of the Willow Glen Chapter of AARP was held at the Willows Senior Center. Recently I received my official AARP card, reminding me that I turn 50 at the end of the year (thanks, AARP). Because I wanted to be informed (and because I now have an AARP card), I decided to visit.

Each month the program includes information and fun. I was greeted with smiling faces and the directions to the refreshment table. Fancy cupcakes and Halloween cookies were the treat of the day. Soon everyone settled down to listen to an update from Sacramento concerning legislation affecting seniors. Bills backed by AARP concerning health care improvements by HMO's were passed by the legislature and signed by the governor. Nursing Home Reform was vetoed by the governor and disappointment was expressed. To conclude the meeting, a raffle was held and I went home with a Halloween container filled with candy! The meeting began at 1:30 PM and was over by 2:45 PM., with friends staying and chatting for about 15 minutes. The group was cordial and inclusive and my introduction into AARP was made easy by their kindness.

The next meeting will be held on November 22, at 1:30 PM. Those wishing to find out more information should call President Ann Scales at 559-8173.

AARP also has an Information Center at 840 Willow Street, Suite 300, open daily from 9:00 AM until 1:00 PM. The center is a great source of information for any topic that affects seniors. Give AARP a call at 278-1855. I am told that they are looking for volunteers and this would be a nice way to get involved in our community.

The Willows Seniors Center at 2175 Lincoln Avenue has a calendar filled with classes and activities, including a Holiday Boutique on Monday, November 15 from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM and a Fine Art Exhibit on December 2 from 10:30 AM - 3:30 PM, featuring the work of artists participating in Willows Art Club and Watercolor Class. Stop by for a brochure or call 448-6400. Office hours are Mon.-Fri. 8:30-4:30 PM and Saturdays: 12:00-4:00 PM.

For the dedication of the Los Gatos Creek Trail extension up to Meridian Avenue last summer, WGNA donated a water fountain "to the friends and residents of San Jose". The City didn't manage to get the fountain we ordered, so they temporarily installed a "loaner". Now the real fountain is in place, providing water for both man and beast.

A couple notes:

• Our creek project was a habitat restoration project, fauna as well as flora. Please keep your dogs on a leash so that they will not disturb the lizards and squirrels.
• Please use the free pooper-scoopers and trashcan provided.

Thanks, and enjoy the trail!

PG&E is legally obligated to keep trees out of the power lines, to avoid power outages and to maintain your safety. They have begun to employ a new pruning method, called V-cutting, in various areas (including some of Willow Glen). This technique removes only those branches that conflict with power lines, rather than flat-topping (stub pruning) the whole tree. This way, vigorous regrowth (suckers) is minimized, and the frequency of pruning is reduced.

Tips for pruning trees

If you are pruning trees in your landscape:

• Train trees when they are young.
• Do not stub (or "head") tree branches: it causes weakly-attached suckers.
• Never cut out the top of trees that have a central leader (e.g., birch, liquidamber, and most pines).
• Make pruning cuts just outside the "branch collar" to optimize wound closure.
• Remove competing limbs, spacing branches at least 8" apart. Select branches with wide angle-of-attachment: narrow crotch angles can easily split.
• Keep the side branches from outgrowing the central leader.

• Plant the tree a little higher than the surrounding level (see drawing) in a hole with roughened sides, and refill the hole with native soil.
• Do NOT stake the tree unless it can not stand up by itself. Always remove nursery stakes. If you must stake, use two stakes, one on each side, and attach as low as possible. Remove when it can stand on its own, usually within a year.
• Newly planted trees require regular watering: build a basin around the trunk, and water weekly during the first summer. For years 2 and 3, build a larger basin, but fill it only every 3rd or 4th week.

For your most frost-tender plants, plan to cover them at the first sign of frost (check the weather reports).

• Place four stakes in the ground around the plant, somewhat taller than the plant.
• Attach clear plastic (at least 4-mil thick) to the stakes. Keep a space about 6-10" high open at ground level for ventilation.
• For the most sensitive plants, Christmas lights can be strung under the plastic (don't let it touch-it can melt!). Leave the lights on at night, until the sun comes up.

Fall is a great time to plant many container-grown plants because the cool moist conditions reduce stress while the plant roots are establishing themselves.

Any bare soil areas would benefit from the application of an organic compost in the fall, to enrich and protect the soil. Pathways and bare areas under trees where pets and people walk are ideally covered with wood chips that are often free from tree-trimming companies. A thick layer of this bulky mulch minimizes soil compaction, reduces mud, and encourages earthworms that naturally aerate and improve the soil.

If your membership has expired or is about to expire (check the date on the mailing label), please renew. Otherwise, please pass this along to a friend and neighbor. Thanks! (link to membership form)

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