February 25, 2005

LETTERS2theEDITOR

Over-development of 7,000 dwellings will create congestion nightmare!

Editor,
I want to make all the Evergreen residents aware that a nightmarish number of housing units, both single and super high-density, three to four-story, monster-plex style units are being considered in just four areas of our community:

- The Campus Light Industrial Site - land from Aborn to the “Dade Bhering Complex” just above Yerba Buena

- The Pleasant Hills Golf Course at Tully and White Roads

- The property behind Evergreen Square at Evergreen Valley College

- The Arcadia site at Quimby and Capitol Expressway. 

The estimated number is 7,000 dwellings! If 7,000 dwellings are added to our area, make no mistake—this will be a congestion nightmare and one day you may not even be able to get out of your own driveway!

Our Evergreen area has only three main access roads:

- Tully Road

- Capitol Expressway to Aborn Road

- Yerba Buena Road

Evergreen is pinned up against the Mt. Hamilton hills and cannot be accessed from all directions like a community in Campbell or downtown San Jose for example. Consider that’s just three roads accessing Evergreen from ONE direction.

There’s another problem. Accessing our community, at this point in time, takes 20 minutes to get to or from 101. The area at Capitol nearest us is slated to have light rail put in and even more traffic lanes removed. That’s correct – removed! The commute time will increase just from that alone.

Don’t forget about the renovated Eastridge Mall currently being built.

Initially the Campus Light Industrial site was earmarked to be developed because the city said the area’s infrastructure could not support added traffic for even a single dwelling development. Consider this was BEFORE developers Shapell and Pinn Brothers had finished the approximate 500 units built since then.

I have attended some of the EVP planning meetings and communicated with others who have volunteered their time on the EVP board and some are getting the impression that perhaps the Task Force was expected to be a paper tiger.

They wonder that no one expected to have a group of people intelligent enough to challenge the numbers they were given to work with and suggest low impact alternatives.

Now we have Dave Cortese, our councilman, running for mayor who must answer to our community and will be looking for your votes for mayor. Mr. Cortese may be a bit too close to the developers who want in on these sites and the money involved for our best interest.

While it may “appear” to be good politics to lay claim for nurturing development and assume it will reap a positive political bounty, it may conversely become political suicide to align himself with such a bad idea of overdevelopment in an area with only three access roads from one direction.

I’ve shown some of the logistical problems we face—today. If the above units materialize, it will get worse. Much, much, worse!

I urge all of you who sit waiting in traffic to exit off of 101 at Tully or Capitol and wonder how we can stop this madness to write, e-mail and call Councilman Dave Cortese. Also look into the other mayoral candidates and see where they stand on this issue.

Michael Scott
Evergreen Hills resident
Secretary, Classics Carriage II HOA

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