The Loma Prietan
November 2002
Letters To The Editor
Hatt Rickey's
Dear Editor:
Regarding the Hyatt Rickey's endorsement, the October 2002 issue of the LP stated: "Undoubtedly there will be some Club members who are unhappy with the Chapter's decision to support this project."
Truer words were never spoken. I fail to see the complete logic behind the endorsement of what you term an "urban" high-density residential development at the site of the Palo Alto Hyatt Rickey's hotel. While your message is that it will prevent "sprawl" by building dwelling units near jobs, I see that allowing more high density housing and allowing more local residents will create more local jobs which will create the need for more housing and so on ad infinitum... And Palo Alto is now suburban, not urban. The arguments for converting Rickey's, and the logical extension of these arguments, will lead to this area becoming an urban region.
You cannot look at a static job situation and say that building more housing will solve anything. You have to look down the road 50 to 100 years to see what this area might become--if we let it.
Its ultimate fate following your reasoning is that the Bay Area will become much like what Manhattan is today. No green space (exempting Central Park) with most of the working population taking mass transit in from other regions.
Building more local housing, or encouraging more job growth by doing
so, will only lead to an intense local congestion that will impact the quality of all our lives. I sympathize with housing affordability, and I agree that sprawl is
bad. But these issues cannot be solved
by a policy or endorsement that will lead toward an urbanization of this region.
Matthew O'Brien, Milpitas
Response from Irvin Dawid of the
Sustainable Land Use Committee:
Matthew, thank you for responding to the Club's Hyatt endorsement.
Obviously we disagree on the nature of higher-density housing. Funny that you should mention Manhattan--many infill opponents often do so. In fact, they use the term "Manhattanize" to conjure up images of skyscrapers replacing residential neighborhoods. The Hyatt property happens to be the same size as the World Trade Center, and yet the developers propose only four-story buildings. Have no fear--the Peninsula will not turn into Manhattan! It will remain as suburban as it is currently. Height limits and floor-area-restrictions (volume) are already in place.
The Hyatt developers seek to develop their property within the zoning rules and Palo Alto's general plan designation for this area. We support doing so. The problem with so many developments is that they are NOT developed to the density that zoning allows. Often it is the reaction of neighbors that cause this down-zoning, which in turn, contributes to our housing shortage, and to sprawling developments built on the fringe to make up for that housing.
Thank you for contributing to the dialog on this important subject. The Sustainable Land Use Committee hopes to continue such discussions. Please continue to write us your views. I urge other Club members to do likewise.
No Quitters
Dear Editor:
I confronted the issue of quitting the Sierra Club recently after being confronted by angry Chapter Members. They were going to quit the Club because of some particular decision the Chapter had made, and I was going to quit because I dislike angry people second guessing the many hours of debate we've had on the subject. I've certainly been angry about Club decisions myself, such as the Club's second endorsement of Bill Clinton and its failure to speak up against military action based on our "Environmental Security" policy.
Two questions that come out of these considerations are: "How does the Club make these decisions?" and "What is the best way for me to track these issues?"
The long answer is that there are many meetings and "listservs" devoted to formation of policy in the Club. This process happens at local, state, and national levels. We also have elected Club leadership at all those levels. Governing the activities of all these groups are bylaws, standing rules, and guidelines a-plenty.
The short answer is, if you have a particular area of interest, or if you want to know why the Club did a certain thing, call someone in a leadership position and ask them (in a nonabusive way, of course).
If the person you speak with doesn't know, ask them if they can recommend someone. Once you get the "why" answer, ask the person their own opinion. If they don't agree with you, call other leaders until you find someone who does (chances are, you aren't alone).
So if you feel strongly enough, please contact one of the volunteer leaders in the Chapter and find out the best way to get involved.
Bill Michel
Galen Rowell
Dear Editor:
The deaths of Galen Rowell and his
wife Barbara are an enormous loss to the world, and I'm not going to take up space repeating the sadness we all share. However, I recently found a reminder of the part that our Chapter played in encouraging Galen's work over 20 years ago.
The Oct. 1981 issue of Scree, the newsletter of the Peak Climbing Section, reminded us in big letters: "Don't Forget! Galen Rowell at Spangenberg, Thurs. Nov 5th, $4." Yes, for just $4 we were privileged to share an evening of Galen's recent trips, sponsored by the Loma Prieta Chapter. In Oct. 1980 he showed slides of "The Wild Karakoram" and in Nov. 1981 his show featured Tibet and the North Col of Everest. One image from these shows has stayed with me over the years: a jagged mountain ridge, a full moon rising behind the ridge and an ibex silhouetted against the glowing orb of the moon. There will be no more of Galen's pictures. But I hope that in future decades we'll be able to point to others who've made a difference on this earth and say "we in the Sierra Club encouraged them."
Chris MacIntosh, Menlo Park