EDITORIAL: Town Center use in jeopardy EDITORIAL: Town Center use in jeopardy (January 26, 2005)

Portola Valley residents who may have thought use of the Town Center buildings would continue -- even after confirmation last year that the building complex straddles a dangerous earthquake fault -- are likely to have a rude awakening in the next few months.

Cancellation of insurance coverage -- and closure of the buildings -- may be just ahead for the 50-year-old complex that formerly housed town hall, and that continues to be home to the library, multi-use room, art gallery and after-school classrooms. During a Town Council meeting last week, Councilman George Comstock recommended in a memo that the buildings be closed, citing the risk to "thousands" of visitors each year.

The memo suggested that the town lease a temporary building for the library, as it has for town hall. More temporary buildings could serve as classrooms, but only the library was mentioned in Mr. Comstock's memo. He added that the town should move forward with all deliberate speed on implementing the conceptual master plan for the new Town Center.

Early last year the council approved two measures to protect visitors and alert them to earthquake hazards: protective film was installed on the large windows in the library and warnings were posted on all the Town Center buildings.

Closure would leave a huge hole in the lives of many residents who have relied on the sprawling complex, originally the site of an elementary school, to meet the myriad needs of the community.

The council appears committed to a new Town Center on a safer part of the site -- at an estimated cost of $15 million -- but no decisions have been made on project phasing, funding mechanisms, and fundraising. It will no doubt be years before a new Town Center complex is finished and ready for occupancy, leaving many groups out in the cold unless the community, the council or both explore options.

The memo on closure came up in the context of another in a series of heated topics, with discussion fueled by residents strongly opposed to the cost of replacing the Town Center, in particular because the town only has about $5 million set aside. Now the retrofit advocates, led by former mayor Bob Brown and his brother, Allan, may be out of options after an appraiser delivered an assessment of zero value for the present buildings, in effect making retrofitting a violation of the state law, given the buildings close proximity to an active earthquake fault.

That news, coupled with a report that the town's liability insurance would be cancelled if the retrofit were to proceed, appears to rule out any hope that the present complex can be kept open until a new Town Center is built. The town's insurance risk manager added that the current occupancy of the buildings is an "unacceptable risk," which may have led Mr. Comstock to write his memo.

Since its incorporation 40 years ago, Portola Valley has had few, if any, problems caused by the San Andreas fault. In its early years, the town took possession of the elementary school, with the idea that it would stay only long enough to build its own quarters. But that day never came, and life went on as usual, until geologists confirmed the existence of the trace fault.

Now it appears that present circumstances will force Portola Valley to pay for the free ride it has enjoyed during the years it occupied the buildings. The hard part -- and it will be difficult -- will be deciding how to live without these facilities for however long it will take to build a new complex. More portable space would go a long way toward easing the transition.

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