It all started as a movement by a group of frustrated parents who just wanted to find an adequate place for their children to play soccer in Los Gatos. But it has escalated into a disappointing delay in the process to approve the modified Sobrato development plan that would bring much-needed affordable housing to town.
Sobrato already has approval for 288,000 square feet of office space and 135 apartment units—34 that meet affordable housing standards. But when the developer returned to the planning commission to request a modification to 120,000 square feet of office space—translation, less density—and 295 apartments—49 with affordable housing status—they were met by a group of local parents suddenly asking for a soccer field to be included at the site.
The reality is that Sobrato has no interest in including a soccer field in its plan, and the field has no place among the planned residential and offices units. The soccer folks knew it. But the high profile meeting provided the soccer community with a platform to deliver its message that field space is badly needed.
Trouble is, the message got mixed up with the reality of Sobrato's request for modifications to its plans. And at its Nov. 18 meeting, the planning commission made things uncomfortable for the Sobrato folks, largely because of a two-page prepared statement presented by planning commission chairman, Paul Dubois.
Where the heck did that come from? It would almost seem as through Dubois was looking for a platform of his own as he read his statement to the captive audience in the council chambers.
In the conclusion of his prepared statement, Dubois said: "I don't think our gap is that great."
Well, if Los Gatos and Sobrato are so close, it wasn't so obvious in the first 1,000 words of his address that included a request for soccer fields. Dubois admonished the developers, even scolding them at times. "We want a win-win solution," he said. "But I'm not at all convinced you do."
He added, "You've got an entitlement to build 280,000 square feet of office building, and you're holding that over our heads as some kind of threat."
The way we see it—that's a promise, not a threat. The fact is that Sobrato does have a plan that's already been approved by the town. And that plan does not include soccer fields. Holding Sobrato hostage in order to get those fields is not right. We don't believe that's what the soccer community meant to do when this all started, but the end result may be that the town winds up with more density, less affordable housing and still no soccer field. That sounds more like lose-lose to us.
Does Los Gatos need soccer fields for its children? No doubt about it. Is it Sobrato's responsibility to provide those fields? No way. So when the item returns to the planning commission on Dec. 10, we urge Dubois and company to quit the grandstanding and approve the modified plan, then continue to search elsewhere—with the assistance Sobrato has already offered—to locate soccer facilities for our children.
