January 19, 2005

City pool questions remain

Size and scope of project still yet to be determined

By Linda Taafe / Town Crier Staff Wrier

Los Altos residents may be poised for the opening of a public pool following the council's decision to add an aquatic center at Rosita Park to the city's 2005-06 Capital Improvement Projects budget last month, but the ending of this six-year pool saga is far from over. The number of pools and the project's size, timeline and even location still remain unclear.

City officials say the council's certification of the Final Environmental Impact Report last month legally enables the city to build as much as a three-pool complex as initially proposed at Rosita Park or as little as nothing at the site.

The Rosita Neighborhood Coalition, the community group that successfully sued the city last year to halt the project pending further environmental studies, maintains that by approving the FEIR, the city hasn't complied with California's Environmental Quality Act. There are unresolved traffic and noise issues identified in the report, neighbors said.

"The city is taking the position that it has (complied), and wants the court to make a ruling to that effect," said Roy Presley, a coalition spokesman. "The (coalition), obviously, disagrees."

Presley said the city is still under the jurisdiction of the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara, to comply with the quality act. Both parties are scheduled to appear back in court to determine if the city has complied with the judge's order. Last year, Judge Leslie Nichols ordered the city to conduct additional studies after determining that the proposed project "may have significant effect on the environment."

Members of the fund-raising group Swimmers Promoting Los Altos Aquatics, Safety and Health (SPLASH) teamed up with the city in 2001 to bring a community pool to Los Altos after the Los Altos School District demolished the public pool at Covington when it converted the campus back into an elementary school. SPLASH agreed to provide the funding, if the city would provide the land and construct the pool.

Swimmers say the community would best be served by at least two pools with different temperatures - a cooler one for competitive swimming and a warmer one for lessons. Rosita residents say they are not against a pool, but against a complex. The neighborhood can withstand the impact of one pool at most. Two pools, according to a city study, would increase noise to unacceptable levels. Noise appears to be the one significant and unavoidable impact that the two-pool complex would have on the neighborhood, according to the impact report. Neighbors said traffic would also increase to thresholds never before seen in a residential neighborhood in Los Altos.

Councilmembers say the community should have a pool center. They say that the pool center should be appropriate for the neighborhood as well as the community at large. They have not, however, decided what such a compromise would look like.

The approval doesn't guarantee a pool or when it should be built, said Community Development Director James Walgren. Some councilmembers have expressed support for exploring other sites. Walgren said this would require another Environmental Impact Study. Size constraints and the probability of the same unavoidable impacts identified at the Rosita site occurring elsewhere ruled out all alternative locations, according to the report that the council approved.

Another site would mean more money and even longer delays. The city had initially set a 2002 timeline for the pool opening. If the city moves forward with the Rosita site, officials say the first child won't be jumping in the water until the end of 2006, at best.

Los Altos Mayor David Casas said the pool scope has changed since the first study was conducted.

"I think the community needs to understand, this is not the center described in the EIR or the business plan," Casas said. "The council, I believe, clearly asked for something less than (originally put forth)."

Casas is in the process of forming a task force that will provide the council a framework for the scope and use of a pool center.

"I recognize that we will not be able to make everyone happy, but it is important that we give this process our best effort … for the sake of the community," he said.

He plans to recruit one or two members from the Rosita neighborhood, the fund-raising group SPLASH, Covington School, the city council and the general public. Casas and Councilman John Moss have already committed themselves to the group.

Casas said the group wouldn't be responsible for designing the complex or deciding specifics. The intent is to find a pool concept workable for the community, the city and the neighbors. The council agreed to consider a list of recommendations by Councilman King Lear that included implementing a series of traffic safety measures, such as limited hours and Class I bike paths, before moving forward with any of the conceptual plans.

The task force is tentatively scheduled to meet for six months, after the council's February budget and project priorities meeting.

In the meantime, SPLASH members have examined alternatives to the city's original three-pool project, at the council's request. The options include a single pool design and two smaller pools that fit within the same footprint of a single 9,000-square-foot pool. The two-pool design would provide more wall space for lessons as well as different water temperatures - a cooler pool for competitive swimming and a warmer one for lessons.

"There are many potential workable pool layouts that would allow the city to support lessons, recreational swimming, competitive swimming and senior water exercise," said SPLASH spokeswoman Kathy Englar. "SPLASH is a fund-raising group and we do not have any ability to dictate the configuration of the project. Both the city council and the Parks, Arts and Recreation Commission desired the two pools (in 1999), based on testimony from citizens that Covington Pool didn't provide all the programs they were looking for."

Covington Pool yielded 100 percent cost recovery. The city could supplement some of the new center's programs. Los Altos funds 35 percent of the cost of most city-operated recreational activities. The funding would enable the pool to remain economically healthy without operating as many hours for additional revenues, meaning noise and traffic reductions.

"I believe we can find commonality," Casas said.

A look back

July 1999:

Under a lease agreement, Los Altos city officials agree to trade a portion of the city's municipal center property off Fremont Road for a nearly equal portion of Los Altos School District land - approximately 26,500 square feet - at Covington minipark at the end of Rosita Avenue. The school district needed a place to relocate its maintenance operations when the Covington campus reopened as an elementary school in 2002, and the city needed a place for a new pool since the district planned to remove the existing one at Covington, which opened in 1947.

November 2000:

The Los Altos City Council gives architects Spencer Associates the go-ahead to begin conceptual drawings for a community pool complex. The non-profit group Swimmers Promoting Los Altos Aquatics, Safety and Health pledges to fund the complex's design and construction, estimated to be $3 million. The group anticipates the pool opening in summer 2002.

May 2001:

The council decides to move forward with a three-pool swimming complex that would be 12,000 square feet smaller than the proposal recommended by city staff and 15,000 square feet larger than the former pool area at Covington School after neighbors express concerns over possible traffic, noise and lighting impacts that the center could generate.

July 2001:

About 300 neighbors, calling themselves the Rosita Neighborhood Pool Coalition, sign a petition urging the council to table the pool study until after the effects of Covington School's reopening are known. The council moves forward with the project, hiring consulting firm EIP Associates to conduct an environmental review of the site as required under California law.

March 2002:

The council, in a 3-2 vote, accepts a mitigated negative declaration based on EIP's environmental review. The approval means the city may move forward on the project without further studies under the California Environmental Quality Act.

April 2002:

The Rosita coalition files a lawsuit against Los Altos to force the city to prepare a more intensive environmental study. The suit alleges that the city did not follow the proper process when conducting an Initial Environmental Study of the pool site. The complex's potential impact on traffic, noise and the neighborhood's character are key concerns, members said.

September 2002:

Size constraints and neighborhood protests aren't enough to stop the council from plunging forward with a conceptual design for the Rosita pool complex. The council approves plans to place a wading pool, a 20-yard-by-25-yard recreational pool, a 25-meter-by-25-yard competition pool and an adjacent minipark at the end of Rosita Avenue. The council scraps a concession stand included in the design.

January 2003:

The Rosita coalition initiates court proceedings against the city Jan. 9 after they failed to reach a settlement regarding the size of the complex during out-of-court negotiations. The first hearing is scheduled Feb. 20 in San Jose Superior Court.

February 2003:

A Superior Court judge orders Los Altos to put plans for a community pool center on hold until the city completes more detailed environmental studies.

"The proposed project, as revised, may have a significant effect on the environment, and for that reason the mitigated negative declaration must be set aside," Judge Leslie Nichols said.

June 2003:

Los Altos withdraws an appeal and agrees to conduct more studies after the judge slaps a $750 penalty on the city for missing a continuance filing deadline and orders the city to pay the Rosita coalition $50,000 for recovery of attorney fees and $1,143 for other related court costs.

July 2003:

The city pays the $68,365 for the court-ordered environmental studies despite an agreement with SPLASH that would have had the non-profit group pay the costs.

"The neighborhood wanted to have this EIR happen … That's fine, we're not whining. We're moving forward. The fact is if all of this is coming from the taxpayers, it's totally appropriate they should pay. This is a city pool," Councilman King Lear said.

April 2004:

The city opens a 45-day public review period of the court-mandated Draft Environmental Impact Report by consultant group David J. Powers & Associates. The study is intended to give insight on whether the city should reject a pool at the site, modify plans or move forward with the proposed three-pool complex.

Noise appears to be the one significant and unavoidable impact. Yet, the report concludes that there are no alternative locations in Los Altos suitable for the complex.

December 2004:

The council unanimously adds an aquatic center slated for Rosita Park to the city's 2005-06 Capital Improvement Projects budget. Whether the project will include one or two pools at the site remains undecided.

January 2005:

The council forms a task force to study the project's scope with members of the Rosita coalition and SPLASH.

The city and the coalition prepare to go back to court to determine if the city complied with the judge's order.

aafe/ Town Crier Staff Writer