Mayor Steve Glickman wants to discuss park use, and he's inviting anyone in the community with an opinion on the subject to the Jan. 20 Los Gatos Town Council meeting to talk about it.
Town policy prohibits the use of public parks for organized games. But with the recent public outcry from the soccer community regarding the lack of proper facilities for youth teams, coupled with the town's long need for a skatepark, Glickman wants to consider a possible change to that policy.
The idea of a soccer facility for youth has been the topic of conversation for years in Los Gatos, but it was only recently that the issue surfaced in earnest. The soccer community turned out in force at a planning commission meeting late last year to urge the Sobrato Development Company to make such a facility part of its new proposal for the 12.3acre parcel on Winchester Boulevard.
Sobrato wasn't interested, but the meeting provided the soccer folks with a platform to get their message out.
Glickman got the message. So park use will be up for discussion on Jan. 20. And those who do—or don't—want soccer players or skateboarders using local parks for their activity are encouraged to be part of the Tuesday discussion.
Sobrato returns
Interestingly, the town will consider Sobrato's revised plan on the same agenda. The company already has approval for 288,000 square feet of office space and 135 apartment units but is requesting a modification to 120,000 square feet of office space and 295 apartments.
The numbers look good, but the apartment units do not—at least, that's one of the reasons the planning commission gave for denying the request. The commission also believes that the company is offering little in the way of community benefit, which the town requires of all planned developments. When Sobrato originally proposed the project, a research and development facility made more sense than it does in today's economy. What's more, the development's proximity to the planned light rail line constituted a big community benefit.
Now, though, it's unlikely the light rail line to Los Gatos will be undertaken any time in the foreseeable future.
We have never believed that the Sobrato site is appropriate for soccer fields, but when John Shenk said his company is willing to help the community build soccer fields elsewhere in town, it opened the door to the possibility that this "help" might be considered a community benefit. For the town to take the offer seriously, Sobrato will need to make a commitment and spell out the specifics.
If Sobrato can convince the council that its revised planned development will bring substantial community benefit, the council should approve the project—but with the provision that the company return to the planning commission for fine-tuning.
