For the past two years, I have been attending planning
commission meetings regarding a new development off Santa Ana Road,
which will have a dangerous impact to families living in our well
established neighborhood.
For over two decades, Jonquil Lane has been a dead end street.
When Jonquil was constructed, it was made too narrow to handle
through traffic and built without sidewalks. Families raising their
children on Jonquil never had to worry about speeding traffic on
their dead end street.
For the past two years, I have been attending planning commission meetings regarding a new development off Santa Ana Road, which will have a dangerous impact to families living in our well established neighborhood.
For over two decades, Jonquil Lane has been a dead end street. When Jonquil was constructed, it was made too narrow to handle through traffic and built without sidewalks. Families raising their children on Jonquil never had to worry about speeding traffic on their dead end street.
Now, because of new construction, residents of Jonquil will no longer enjoy a sense of safety. Their narrow, sidewalk-less street will become a through street.
When the majority of residents first learned that Jonquil was to become a through street, they voiced their concerns to the county planning commission.
Joined by many of their Daffodil Drive neighbors, like myself, our primary concern became the children of Jonquil Lane. Interested residents held meetings, expressing various concerns, adding ideas in an almost overwhelming support in working towards keeping Jonquil closed.
Initially, we felt hope that those representing our local government were listening to our concerns. Various ideas were proposed. Some were immediately rejected while others were talked about. Yet after months of talking, all proposals were rejected. Jonquil Lane was designated to become a through street, regardless of the dangers to families.
In a personal telephone conversation with one commissioner, I asked him why he wasn’t more concerned about the problem. He replied, “I don’t live there, it really doesn’t affect me.”
In spite of this setback, residents of both streets once again rallied behind the idea that even well-intentioned people can make mistakes. Perhaps we needed to present a stronger argument to the county Board of Supervisors who can overrule the planning commission’s recommendation.
Once again, concerned people, including myself, spent hours meeting, writing speeches, checking facts, even videotaping the street with various vehicle and pedestrian scenarios showing how narrow the street really is.
Innocently, like lambs to slaughter, we came before the county Board of Supervisors. How naive we were to think that local politics was anything more than a popularity contest. It truly is not what you know, or how realistic your concerns are, in the end it’s who you know.
Unfortunately, none of us opposed to the opening of Jonquil were buddies with the Board of Supervisors. We were just a group of citizens, concerned enough to raise $575 to appeal the case; concerned enough to lose sleep over this issue; concerned enough to take time off work to attend a daytime meeting; (was the time set to make it inconvenient to average citizens?) concerned enough to jump through hoops to provide the TV and VCR they said they could not provide us with and just plain dumb enough to think that minds of the Board were open when we entered the meeting.
Within minutes, it was obvious that our voices were being viewed like the drone of an annoying mosquito.
Supervisor Kesler interrupted our main speaker, a discourtesy mimicked by Supervisor Cruz minutes later. Supervisor Kesler, in the tone worthy of a mother talking to a not-very-bright child, condescendingly chided our speaker for not seeing things differently. She then went on to compare her own residential area to the safety concerns of Jonquil.
When we finally finished our presentation, much to the obvious delight of the Board, there was no discussion among the members about our concerns. Not one of the Board members let us know that we were appreciated as concerned citizens. Not one of the Board wanted to discuss the issues meticulously presented to them.
Within moments, upholding the planning commission recommendation was approved.
For me, losing is not the only issue that concerns me. Though my own children are grown, I care enough about my neighbors to worry as their young children grow up on an unsafe street.
One of my biggest concerns is the lack of listening by our elected officials, the disrespect given to concerned citizens (who lack political pull) and the obvious fact that long before we entered the meeting, minds were already made up to reject our proposal. That is the biggest travesty.
Our government cannot work if the elected officials are busy playing favorites with the people they know on a personal or professional basis, instead of being open minded to a variety of viewpoints.
Roger Brown, Hollister
