Do we really want to sell off this property?

At tonight’s council meeting (3-15-16), the council may consent to declare the Ditto Lane and Winchester/Lark properties as surplus.  If considered surplus, the property can be sold off, thus gaining revenue for the city for the short term.

At issue for me is that Ditto was last proposed as a development of a ~32 unit apartment complex.  The traffic at College and Main is already unbearable several times a day.  What is a word for “even more unbearable”?  If sold off, what will go in there?  College Avenue related people may want to pay attention to this.

The property at Lark/Winchester (where the Goodwill van is always parked), if sold off would intensify the already horrific traffic on Lark.  Netflix has only completed 1/2 of the development; the North 40 is coming; over a million square feet on Dell are coming and two large buildings are going to be built on Samaritan drive,  Do you care about intensification?  Can we (the town) keep the property and put  something there besides that which does not intensify but rather solves the problems caused by intensification?

If you want to know more, you can review the information here:  Staff_Report on Surplus Property Sale

3 Responses

  1. Suzanne Rivers

    I am concerned about all the development happening in our town and that it will forever change the feel which made this area so appealing to me 20 years ago. I find the increased traffic on our roadways, and the increased number on non residence using our streets (overflow freeway traffic, Netflix, new medical complexes) has caused more aggressive and less courteous drivers. Our roads are not meant to handle this traffic. The quality of life on our town is changing as a result.

    • MLRistow

      Suzanne, you bring up the frustrations that so many share. Unfortunately, a good part of the traffic through Los Gatos is independent of the developments in Town. The entire population of the Bay Area is growing and will continue to for the next couple of decades, and that will affect Los Gatos. To that end, we need to look to traffic calming, keeping through traffic on the freeways, pushing for public transit or shuttles, and encouraging and enabling more walking and biking. Your concern is valid. I hope you have ideas to share for improvements.

  2. Melanie Kemp

    Please…there’s too much congestion as there is. Ditto Lane is a major intersection between Winchester and Los Gatos Blvd. Let’s not congest this anymore.

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