OMVNA Newsletter

March, 2001
Volume 13, Number 2

Gala Dedication of Mercy-Bush Park on March 24

OMVNA General Meeting & Historic Homes Tour to Precede Park Dedication

Affordable Housing to be Built at San Antonio Loop

Arbor Day Festivities in Pioneer Park on March 17

Tidy Sidewalks Make for More Enjoyable Walking

The Downtown Beat: Housing, New Parking

Local Family Goes Solar

Steering Committee Opposes "Big Box Retail"

History Corner: Preserving Our Historic Homes

Masthead

OMVNA Steering Committee

Gala Dedication of Mercy-Bush Park on March 24

The City of Mountain View will dedicate Mercy-Bush Park at 11 AM on Saturday, March 24. Mayor Mario Ambra will preside. All Mountain View residents are invited to attend, and based on past park dedications, as many as 250 may be there. Immediately following the dedication there will be a "community photograph" and a complimentary hot dog barbecue along with face painting for children. The food and entertainment will be provided by the Recreation Division of the City's Community Services Dept.

This event will take place rain or shine, so don't miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be part of Old Mountain View history. Prior to the dedication ceremony, OMVNA will have its Spring General Meeting and a tour of historic homes. See the next article for details.

OMVNA General Meeting & Historic Homes Tour to Precede Park Dedication

OMVNA's Spring General Meeting will occur an hour before the park dedication ceremony.

We'll meet at 10 AM in Mercy-Bush Park. After brief remarks by OMVNA Chair Jean McCloskey, we'll set out for a one-mile walk to view five of the most interesting historic homes in our neighborhood. We'll be back at the park by 11 AM.

We're arranging for some of the owners of these interesting old houses to speak about their history. We will not be going inside any of the homes. Please be at the park by 10 sharp if you want to participate.

Affordable Housing to be Built at San Antonio Loop

At its January meeting, the OMVNA Steering Committee voted to send a letter to the City Council in support of low-cost housing in general and the downtown site in particular. Despite our input the Council chose a different site (see "The Downtown Beat").

Whenever the Steering Committee sends a letter on OMVNA's behalf, we will print it in the Newsletter. Here is the text of the letter.

"The Old Mountain View Neighborhood Association (OMVNA) would like to reaffirm its longstanding support for affordable housing in our neighborhood. In particular, we want to let you know that OMVNA's Steering Committee, by unanimous vote, endorses the Franklin and Evelyn site as the best location currently available for efficiency studio apartments.

"We ask the Council to choose that site at its February 13 meeting.

"We also support the future use of the San Antonio Circle site for such housing, but consider the site in our own neighborhood to be a better location for the project currently being considered because it is closer to more jobs and has better public transit options.

"(signed) Bruce Karney on behalf of the OMVNA Steering Committee"

Arbor Day Festivities in Pioneer Park on March 17

Don't forget to be at Pioneer Park on March 17 at 11 AM for the community celebration of Arbor Day. There will be something for tree-lovers of all ages: ceremony, information, entertainment, food, souvenirs, and more.

Tidy Sidewalks Make for More Enjoyable Walking
By Allen Price

Walking is one of the real pleasures of our neighborhood. There are places to go and people to see. It contributes to both the appeal and safety of the neighborhood. There is also something we can all do to enhance this quality at this time of year -- clearing out overgrown and overhanging vegetation around our sidewalks.

Looking down a sidewalk that is clear and well-trimmed is an invitation to proceed. Low-hanging tree branches and overgrown shrubs make the sidewalk seem less friendly.

The City Code stipulates that all shrubs and bushes should be trimmed back past the edge of the walk. Overhanging trees should be trimmed to six feet above the walk to allow easy passing. One could visualize these requirements as an imaginary frame that is six feet high and exactly the width of the concrete. Nothing should be within this frame except streetlights, fire hydrants and traffic sign posts.

Spring is a great time to get out and trim the plants near your sidewalk to show that you care and to help our neighborhood look its best.

The Downtown Beat: Housing, New Parking
By Julie Lovins (964-0368 lovins@concentric.net)

A question of great interest to our neighborhood was answered on February 13, when the City Council voted unanimously to build an Efficiency Studio project for lower-income Mountain View residents on the San Antonio Loop site.

Despite strong public preference for choosing the downtown site at Franklin and Evelyn, the Council was apparently swayed by the proximity of shopping at the San Antonio site and by the probability that the site would be less amenable to other kinds of development. The downtown site appears to be coveted -- a letter from a local developer offered $5 million for the one-acre parcel.

Given the high demand for small, low-priced rental units, several Council members stated that they would pursue development of some affordable units on the downtown site as well.

In other news, the Downtown Committee is recommending a configuration for the new parking structure to be built at California and Bryant. The Parking Subcommittee, after pondering extensive background reports from consultants and City staff, agreed that ground-level retail and senior housing on two or three levels on top of the garage, are both "iffy propositions." Both these ideas were studied in detail at the request of the Subcommittee. Some underground as well as aboveground parking on this site did emerge as attractive to make full use of the property.

These observations will go to Council along with the full Committee's recommendation. There will be a Public Hearing (I would guess in April) before the Council makes a decision. If you're interested in this issue, please contact me.

Local Family Goes Solar
By Julie Lovins

"Free energy delivered daily" is making a big dent in the PG&E bill of one Old Mountain View household.

Sunlight striking the south-facing rooftop photovoltaic panels on Philippe Habib and Heidi Cartan's View St. home provides about 300 kilowatt hours of electricity each month. That's enough to power everything on the property except an electric-powered Ford truck.

Current state programs to encourage photovoltaic systems rebated about half of the installation cost to Philippe and Heidi. Philippe looked hard for the best price, and recommends a look at the web site www.solaronsale.com. He also did a lot of the installation himself, with the help of friends, which further improved the cost-benefit ratio.
If you're curious about the technical details, here's an overview.

An inverter unit mediates between the solar-generated electricity and "the grid", sending any excess electricity in the opposite of the usual direction -- back to the grid from the house. The rooftop mini-power-plant thus is selling electricity for the general supply, obtaining credits toward the home's electric bill, which is based on actual usage just like everyone else's. Any difference is evened out annually. If Philippe and Heidi use more juice than they generate, they pay PG&E. If they generate more than they use, PG&E gets to keep any "excess" credit. Some photovoltaic experts expect this to change soon, so that residential solar systems may actually be able to sell their excess power to PG&E and get a check, not a bill, from the utility.

The most obvious advantage of this buy-and-sell system is that no storage batteries are required on the premises: the home can use electricity on its own schedule.

So what happens when there's an outage on "the grid"? In all cases, the inverter shuts down the system, to avoid endangering repairmen. A more expensive inverter would allow use of whatever electricity the roof was generating. A still fancier setup would include storage batteries, making the house completely independent electrically. As it is, the lights go out with everyone else's. Additional information can be found on www.homepower.com

Steering Committee Opposes "Big Box Retail"

The Steering Committee sent the following e-mail to the City Council.

"Old Mountain View is our home and we are very proud of it. A primary gateway to Old Mountain View for many of our friends, families and visitors is Highway 85 and El Camino Real. 'Big Box' retail development at that site, such as a Home Depot, is not in line with our goals, the local neighborhood's desires and those of the city's. It would be visually unattractive and create more traffic problems with large trucks operating in an already-congested area. A more appropriate structure and type of operation is needed. Another business alternative should be pursued; one with a good visual appearance and a positive impact on the local residents.

"Our understanding is that you currently oppose any "Big Box" retail at this site. We ask you to continue to oppose such development, and to find an alternative that supports the charm and pride of Mountain View. Please contact us if we can provide any assistance.

"Thank You, Jean McCloskey, OMVNA Chairperson, on behalf of the Steering Committee"

History Corner: Preserving Our Historic Homes
By Nick Perry

In Old Mountain View we are lucky to be surrounded by hundreds of historic homes, visible reminders of our community's rich heritage. These historic homes come in all shapes and sizes, representing almost every era of Mountain View's architectural evolution. Two exceptional examples of historic architecture in the neighborhood are the Burns Home and the Mancini Home.

The Burns Home at 1114 Villa Street is a large Victorian, complete with a two story corner bay window and turret. The house was probably the grandest home in all of Mountain View when it was built in 1897 for Judge Benjamin Burns and his wife. Over the last 104 years, the house has been modernized and was divided up into apartments in the 1920s. However, the house still stands as an example of the neighborhood's most historic styles of architecture.

On the other side of the spectrum is the Mancini House at 334 Church Street. The Mancini house was built in 1950 as the dream home of Ugo Mancini, an Italian immigrant who is remembered for his car dealership on El Camino Real. Mancini designed the house with many unique features including Italian murals, a shrine to the Virgin Mary, a 200 year old Italian marble fireplace, and rooftop pigeon coops. When the house was completed Mancini allowed residents to tour it for 50 cents, which was a donation that went to the Boy Scouts of America, and to Italy where he built a shelter for children who had been abandoned or had lost their parents.

Although quite young compared to other neighborhood homes, the Mancini House offers a glimpse of what Mountain View residents thought was futuristic over half a century ago.

These two homes are examples of the many historic structures in Mountain View. But one by one we are losing these treasures because there is no protection for historical buildings or local landmarks in Mountain View. Our city is one of four in Santa Clara County that does not have any set procedures to protect or preserve historic buildings. Of those four (the others are Monte Sereno, Los Altos Hills, and Cupertino) Mountain View is the only one with a large historic neighborhood and downtown area.

Think of it this way, our Heritage Tree Ordinance protects large and historic trees, and puts proposals for their removal through a special process. Not every Heritage Tree is saved, but at least there is a formal procedure that requires an analysis of their importance to the community, determining whether they are worth being saved. If we give our trees this special treatment, then why not the homes and buildings that represent our heritage?

Plans to celebrate Mountain View's Centennial are quickly beginning to take shape. The Centennial will be a time to look back at our city's diverse history and the places that represent that history today. More then any other neighborhood in the city, Old Mountain View will be a focal point of this celebration. Perhaps now is the time to look at ways to celebrate this neighborhood's heritage by encouraging the identification and protection of its historic homes.