Campbell, California Since 1999
City Beat
(Photographs by Jacqueline Ramseyer) San Tomas neighbors make waves when they think city is ignoring them Association Founder: Susanne Waher founded the San Tomas Neighborhood Association back in 1986, when she and her family moved to Campbell. Spotlight on Campbell Neighborhoods (By Sheila Sanchez) Castle Corner - so called by neighbors who objected when the homes were built - sticks out like a sore thumb at the corner of Hacienda Avenue and San Tomas Aquino Road. Everyone jokes that Rapunzel, the character from the children's fairy tale, lives there. Four pastel-colored homes resembling mini castles are clustered around a small corner lot that was sold to a developer in the late 1980s. The homes, finished in 1990, complied with the city's building code at the time. But their construction infuriated nearby residents who united and forced city planners to adopt specific guidelines for future development in Campbell's San Tomas neighborhood - the only area in the city with representation by a neighborhood association. Bordered to the north by San Tomas Aquino Road, to the south by Winchester Boulevard, to the east by Pollard Road and to the west by San Tomas Expressway, the neighborhood comprises more than 3,500 homes. Its boundary follows San Tomas Creek on Campbell's lower southwest corner. The neighborhood's boundaries were drawn by city planners. The area was an unincorporated part of Santa Clara County with its own identity. When it was annexed by Campbell, the neighborhood kept its unique character and was known by the city as the San Tomas neighborhood. "We have fought hard to keep the area's character," says Susanne Waher, president of the San Tomas Neighborhood Association (STNA), established in 1985 to work with city officials to preserve the neighborhood's special character. "We wanted to keep the area's rural feeling and the large lots and keep the houses in proportion and the friendly atmosphere," Waher says. Waher, who works for the nonprofit Child Advocates, moved into a two-bedroom, one-bathroom house on Estrellita Way in 1986. She has since remodeled the home, which now has two stories. "I love the people here; they're spunky. I like the rural neighborhood. It's a super location," she says. 
Carefree: Stephen Lemezis, 2 1/2, spends a warm evening playing in water and sand at Jack Fischer Park in the San Tomas neighborhood. Of all the neighborhoods in Campbell, Waher says, the San Tomas neighborhood has a clear and distinctive voice. "We're very well-known and very well-respected by city officials. They know we care and that we're involved. We've earned our right to be at the table." She says the association exists because it's important for people who care about their neighborhood to be involved. The association's motto is "Taking care of the neighborhood by taking part." Waher says, "We feel strongly about that. Nobody gets a free ride. If you care about things that are important, then you need to be involved." In 1993, Waher helped Campbell write the original San Tomas neighborhood policy, which is an extension of the city's General Plan; it contains specific standards and policies that apply only to the San Tomas neighborhood. The policy encouraged city officials to put some teeth behind land-use policies for the area. Only five guidelines existed at the time. Now the plan has several specific guidelines and goals about mapping, home sizes, lot sizes, streets, zoning codes and more. Waher says that the area is the only one in Campbell with such strict guidelines and may be the only one with such a policy in the entire county. During the last 16 years, the STNA has held meetings and published a newsletter. During the last two years it has established strong ties to the United Neighborhoods of Santa Clara County, a nonprofit group that provides classes and support to neighborhood associations. Meetings are scheduled four times a year, with additional special meetings taking place when the community has a need for them. For example, if the crime rate were to unexpectedly rise, the group might call a special meeting and have someone from the police department come and talk about Neighborhood Watch. The neighborhood has been divided into 12 smaller areas - Budd, Old Orchard, Hacienda Apartments, Capri, Hazel, Bucknam, W. Parr, Elam, Hacienda Shopping Center, Fischer Park, Silacci and Rolling Hills - represented by area captains who are members of the association's board of directors and who serve as liaisons between the board, block captains and residents of their area. The neighborhood, as large as it is, varies from one corner to the next. There are areas with 6,000-square-foot lots and some with 16,000-square-foot lots. The area's landmarks include Jack Fischer Park, the demolished Rolling Hills Shopping Center, and its four schools - Capri Elementary School and Rolling Hills Middle School, Hazelwood Elementary School and Forest Hills Elementary School. At the corner of Hacienda Avenue and San Tomas Aquino Road sits McGoon's Grog Shop, the only store left standing after the Rolling Hills Shopping Center was razed. Although some say the shop, standing isolated in the huge, empty lot, reminds them of the setting of an old Western movie, the real concern of neighbors is that what's proposed for the site is a development of 30 homes. Some residents feel deep resentment toward the city. Many are upset about the battle they lost when the city designated Jack Fischer Park as a "passive" park, which means that not more than 20 people can gather at the park at any time. "Unfortunately, we're not allowed to have a neighborhood event at our own park," Waher explains. "It's an unfortunate thing." Campbell planner Darcy Smith says the city, however, considers the park an active neighborhood park. "It's not just a small, green area with benches. It has playgrounds, picnic facilities and a landscaped area." Some of the neighborhood's areas are very developed, with sidewalks, curbs and gutters. Some are more rural, like Estrellita Way, the street on which Waher's home is located. At the intersection of Miller and Abbott avenues, newer homes pave the way to the entrance of Jack Fischer Park. The homes were built at the site of the former San Tomas School. The Campbell Union School District sold the property when a bond measure failed. The neighborhood regrets losing the "active park," but at least was instrumental in preserving four acres for Jack Fischer Park. Paul Marshall, a 63-year-old retired machinist, moved into the San Tomas neighborhood in 1998 because he liked the area. Immediately he started making improvements to the one-story home, located at 1411 Burrows Road. He remembers that the neighborhood's character was rural and that Burrows Road was "an old country road" without sidewalks, curbs or gutters. 
Country Feel: Properties that resemble swatches of farmland exist in the San Tomas neighborhood in Campbell. In 1999, however, Campbell officials notified him and others living on Burrows Road that the streets were going to be renovated and that Burrows Road would be refinished and repaved. The neighbors were invited to attend several meetings with city planners. They were disillusioned when Burrows Road was declared a "minor collector" road and traffic studies found that approximately 6,500 cars traveled it daily. Some of the old Burrows Road traffic has now been diverted to Winchester Boulevard. In the spring of 2000, the road was repaved. "We spoke to different people on the street, and none of them liked the idea," Marshall recalls. "It became apparent pretty quickly that the city was determined to go ahead and put in the sidewalks, curbs and gutters regardless. It was in their master plan ahead of time. We found we were wasting our time going to these meetings because the input from the people on the street was not really taken into account." The Campbell City Council voted 3-2 in favor of sidewalks, curbs and gutters. Former Campbell City Council member Bob Dougherty and Campbell City Councilman Matthew Dean voted against the move. Campbell Mayor Jeanette Watson, Campbell Vice Mayor Dan Furtado and Campbell City Councilwoman Jane Kennedy voted in favor. Marshall's section of the San Tomas neighborhood borders Los Gatos. Pollard Avenue borders Los Gatos. The neighborhood is mostly made up of middle-class working families, but its character is changing. Many homes on Burrows Road, for example, were built in the early 1930s, 1940s and 1950s and are being bought and bulldozed by newcomers building two-story homes of 3,000 or 3,500 square feet on quarter-acre lots. Marshall's home was built in 1953. "There's been steady improvement in the area, and that's been positive," he said. "People seem to take more pride in their places and fixing them up." Marshall knows his neighbors. He says that he used to attend the association's meetings regularly but has stopped. He hosted a garage sale at his property to raise funds for the association. Part of the San Tomas neighborhood used to be property of Santa Clara County and began to be annexed by the city beginning in 1956, with the last annexation occurring in 1979. People enjoyed the rural area of the neighborhood. "We're stuck with it now, but a lot of people would have preferred that it wasn't this way. We liked it better when the area belonged to the county because now we have sidewalks that we didn't want." They also resent the constant vigilance by city officials, who they complain are "snooping around looking in people's windows," looking for violations to the building code. According to the policy, a two-story home can be equal to 45 percent of the lot area, and a single-story home can be equal to 35 percent of the lot area. The residents along Burrows no longer speak with one voice, however, because the majority didn't want the changes that have been implemented. Now Marshall has a lien on the property, which requires him to pay for the sidewalk, curb and gutter. If he wants to add more than 50 percent to the house, he must pay the city for the cost of putting in the sidewalk, curb and gutter. 
New Look: Large new homes, some favoring a modified castle style, such as these on the corner of Hacienda Avenue and San Tomas Aquino Road, have caused eyebrows to be raised among those neighbors who prefer the area's more rural look. The change also moved the street's center line six feet toward Marshall's home, taking a big chunk of the property's front, cutting it from 30 to 25 feet from the center line of the road to the edge of the property. The change has now narrowed the street significantly and eliminated 30-year-old cypress trees valued at approximately $5,000, Marshall says. Ana Lopez, who lives at 625 Craig Ave., moved from Santa Clara into the neighborhood in November of 1999. "I love the area," says the mother of two. "There aren't a lot of children, but my neighbor has three daughters." Lopez' 6-year-old daughter attends Hazelwood Elementary School, and her 12-year-old son attends Rolling Hills Middle School. She enjoys relaxing at Jack Fischer Park and continues to attend church in Santa Clara. Pat McCullough, an area captain for the STNA, has lived in the neighborhood for more than 50 years. The 77-year-old retired Campbell Middle School librarian bought a one-story home at 771 Old Orchard Road. The subdivision in which her half-acre lot is located was built by Walker Vaugh, a well-known Campbell builder, right after World War II. She raised her two children there. This section of the San Tomas neighborhood doesn't have any sidewalks, and the neighbors are happy about it. Along Winchester Boulevard, running parallel to the Southern Pacific Railroad, a variety of industrial buildings and commercial properties have replaced orchards that once lined the street. There are also a number of auto-repair shops, storage companies and a small shopping center. This section of Winchester Boulevard is part of the San Tomas neighborhood boundary until it reaches Parr Avenue. The contrast between the Los Gatos and the Campbell border is obvious. The Campbell side does not have sidewalks and the Los Gatos side does. Community Hospital of Los Gatos is just across the Campbell border in Los Gatos. Although residents of the San Tomas area speak glowingly of their neighborhood, not everyone who lives there thinks of the area quite so favorably. Two young people who happened to be in McGoon's Grog Shop on a recent day say their memories of growing up in the neighborhood include gangs and drugs. Tara Campbell, 18, who grew up on Stienway Avenue, says that while growing up she battled with drugs, alcoholism and apathy toward school. "Some of the kids were pretty bad," she says, adding that she couldn't attend area schools due to her behavior problems. "It was all right growing up, but there were a lot of gangs over here," says 22-year-old Terry Spence. He says the gangs were from Campbell. Spence attended Westmont and Prospect high schools. "There were a lot of drugs," he says. At the time, there were many young people in the neighborhood in which his parents rented a home. "It's come down a lot now, but when I was growing up there were a lot of drugs," Spence says. "There were a lot of kids, but now they're gone." |
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