How will you preserve our 'Rural Character'?

By Gary C. Waldeck

Los Altos Hills has just released the Fast Track Guide for New Residences

So there is no single "rural character" that defines our town; we are blessed with an open, roomy ambience that includes a diversity of definitions for "rural".

And it is precisely this intangible character and its associated 'Quality of Life' that makes people want to live here. However, as residents seek to build new homes or remodel older ones, we need to be very careful that the 'rural' nature of our town does not become degraded. As property values have increased, there is a tendency for new developments to want to squeeze in the maximum of everything that is permitted - to the benefit of the developer but possibly to the detriment of the character of the surrounding neighborhood that created the higher property value in the first place.

We must be alert to these kinds of changes and to mitigate them by ensuring compliance with the Town's General Plan and the Fast Track Guide for New Residences. I support these measures and will seek to preserve our valued rural environment.