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Volume 14, Number 3
Sidewalk Replacement Problems? March 5, 2002 Election Results History Corner: Mountain View Post Office OMVNA Goals for 2002 At the General Meeting on Jan. 26, OMVNA residents participated in a goal-setting exercise, the first of its kind in several years for OMVNA. Of the six focus areas we identified, two emerged as clear priorities. The number one goal was "neighborhood character preservation," and "downtown development" was number two. These two headings don't adequately describe the tenor of the discussion, so let me expand a bit. The character of a neighborhood is a hard thing to define. We think of our neighborhood as "charming" or "friendly" or "walkable", but what aspects make it so? The OMVNA Steering Committee spent a great deal of time in the last two years wrestling with this, even convening a focus group to provide input on specific proposals that we could have taken to the City Council. The focus group felt OMV's charm was very important to them, and were strongly in support of taking action to preserve it, but could simply not agree on any specific steps or planning guidelines to accomplish this. Frankly, I don't think we'll be able to move forward on this without fresh ideas from new people who have a passion for this topic. Please call or e-mail me if you'd like to be involved (chair@omvna.org or 964-3567). Send e-mail to chair@omvna.org or write me at 833 Bush St., MV 94041. Sidewalk Replacement Problems? Have you recently had your side-walks replaced? We just finished having our sidewalks replaced as part of the City's maintenance plan. During the process, the workers accidentally broke our sprinkler system, as well as some of the walkways we had. Good News Bad News. They fixed the obvious, but things still didn't work. We had dirt in the lines, a line broken in the middle of the yard (due to the pulling of the shovel), buried sprinklers, and more broken stepping stones after the repair. The sprinklers now spray everywhere but the parking strip. Gotta laugh! We had to be fairly persistent, and not everything is done, but it will be. Even though this work has been completed in your neighborhood, you can contact Mountain View inspector Tom Piffero (903-6329) and get him to respond to problems. Do this as soon as possible. Check out your sprinklers and do a careful inspection of the completed work, especially around the periphery of your property. It may save you problems later on. MVPA (Mountain View Preservation Alliance) continues to move forward in a very positive fashion with regards to historic preservation in Mountain View. At the March 26 Mountain View City Council meeting, Nick Perry gave public testimony on behalf of MVPA. In addition, Alison Hicks and Jean McCloskey presented information on two handouts on the economic benefits of historic preservation (and architectural standards for non-historic buildings) at a joint planning meeting held April 2 for the Downtown Committee and EPC (Environmental Planning Commission). While the list is incomplete, we still think it is a positive start. For a more complete list, please visit our website (URL at the end of this article). MVPA also needs your participation! PLEASE PLAN TO ATTEND THE APRIL 23 CITY COUNCIL MEETING. We will need to have a strong MVPA presence. We expect there will be opposition to the council adopting an interim ordinance and we've got to do our best to show community support for such an action. We will provide an update on April 23 closer to the date. The next MVPA meeting: Saturday, April 13, 4:30 p.m. 575 Oak Street (our meetings are open to anyone who is interested) Contact Jean McCloskey via email at: jeanmccloskey@hotmail.com. March 5, 2002 Election Results The March 5 primary brought out voters to overwhelmingly defeat Measure N by a sizable margin. Measure N would have allowed the big box Home Depot to be developed at the old Emporium site on El Camino and Sylvan. No on N captured nearly double the amount of votes that Yes did: 8847 and 4828. In addition, two neighborhood residents and current Mountain View City Council members, Sally Lieber and Rosemary Stasek and Santa Clara City Council member, Rod Diridon, ran in the Democratic Primary for the 22nd California Assembly District. Lieber captured 44 percent of the vote, with a total of 11,446 votes; Diridon, a current second-term Santa Clara Council member and the son of a former Santa Clara County supervisor, came in second, receiving 9,304 votes, for about 36 percent. Stasek finished with just over 20 percent of the vote, with a total of 5,262 votes. In November, Lieber will face Stan Kawczynski, a Sunnyvale businessman and former two-term Sunnyvale City Council member and former Sunnyvale mayor, who was the uncontested Republican primary winner. The Downtown Beat As I've mentioned in previous issues of the OMVNA newsletter, the Downtown Committee, which advises the City Council, has started discussion of the second phase of its revision of the Downtown Precise Plan. The results will go to the EPC (Environmental Planning Commission) and the City Council, with accompanying public hearings. In addition, the Downtown Committee is comprised of two subcommittees, one which deals with parking and the other which deals with economic and ambiance issues. In the January, 2002, OMVNA meeting, OMVNA residents were asked to rank concerns and issues which they thought directly affected the neighborhood. The resulting top concerns were historic preservation of our town and neighborhood, and secondly the development of downtown Mountain View. Residents of Old Mountain View expressed concerns with the lack of a nice market/deli/grocery store, a pharmacy, and additional, non-restaurant retail. The Downtown Committee Economic Development Subcommittee is studying those very issues. Improvement in the downtown appearance is another focus of interest. Consultants have advised the city staff about improving signage, storefronts, and giving Mountain View a little more shine. One example of an improvement can be viewed at the new restaurant, TAGA Japanese Cuisine, at 743 Dana Street across from the Dana Street Roasting Company. Through a small grant from the city, the new owners have added a slate floor entry way and an artistic mural storefront. What Would YOU Like to See? If you have a great story, favorite shop, restaurant, gardening tips, pet care tips, or anything else you would like to share with neighbors email editor@omvna.org or call 969-8464. History Corner: Mountain View Post Office (Reprinted from October, 1999) Mountain View's first post office opened January 18, 1854, in Jacob Mountain View Post Office was traditionally an important hub in this area. The post office has served the residents of Cupertino, Sunnyvale, Mayfield (now part of Palo Alto), and Los Altos. In 1905, Mountain View and Palo Alto had the only second-class post offices between San Francisco and San Jose. Mountain View's postal receipts grew to an extent that by 1921, the postal clerk, a Miss Frances Neuroth, had to buckle on a Postal Service regulation Smith and Wesson revolver, complete with belt and holster, to deliver bank deposits. In 1937, our post office was third largest in the county. The downtown post office has frequently moved to keep up with the growth of this region. Early locations of the post office include the first floor of the Olympic Building (presently the small park at Castro and Evelyn) in 1891, and the Rogers and Rogers Building at 158 Castro Street from 1903 to 1927. The post office moved from 102 Castro Street (now Hunan Gourmet restaurant) to 736 Dana Street (Alberto's nightclub) in 1949. The current post office building opened in 1960. [A new post office building has opened at the same location since this article was written. --Webmaster]
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Last updated: 6/02/02