Is the charrette an open process? Is the charrette an open process? (May 19, 2004)

By Virginia Bacon

On April 28 the Portola Valley Town Council decided to relocate the town's administrative staff to safer modular facilities.

The decision was based on several factors, including land rupture possibilities and deferred maintenance at the current Town Hall, the lack of ADA compliant facilities, the need for storage and conference space and insurance uncertainties. By providing modular office space, the town has now satisfied all of the urgent needs for the construction of a new Town Hall.

For many of us who served on the Town Center Citizens Advisory Committee (TCCAC) last summer, this is a great relief. Our consensus was that we needed to focus on what we called a "Community Plaza." Now the charrette and planning process need not be constrained by the items pre-checked or an incomplete list of vaguely summarized activities on the questionnaire sent to all town residents last week.

Instead we can spend the time to evolve a broadly based plan for what is important to all of us, namely our values as a community. This is what Bill Lane, and Wallace Stegner before him, calls our "sense of place."

This vision needs to involve much more than a master plan and buildings. Last summer Nancy Vian may have said this best when she responded to a TCCAC questionnaire: "Our Town Center" is a place where paths intersect as residents of all ages come together in work and play."

What is key now is how we bring people together, not how we put in our "two cents" about what is important to us individually. This means families with children need to try and think about what it's like to be a family without children or spouses and vice versa.

Athletic/fitness based activities need to available for all ages Cultural activities, such as art, music and drama, are just as vital to our sense of place as picnic tables and playgrounds. Reading, conversation, games, emergency planning and sharing hobbies are also parts of what connects us to the crossroads of our community.

I also think it's important to look a the larger picture of what I believe our Town Center is: To me it really encompasses all lands that the town owns, not just the 11 acres on which the planning seems to be focused. Our sense of place needs to present throughout.

I urge my fellow residents to "think out of the box." Let's get our minds out of the classroom and into the theater of new options and opportunities. The Town Council needs to hear from you. Don't let the charrette be a "fait accompli" for a plan that doesn't make sense or be smoke and mirrors for obsolete or pre-conceived ideas.

Virginia Bacon lives on Golden Oak Drive in Portola Valley>

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