EDITOR: I felt your editorial on the Croy fire aftermath was
pretty much on the mark for the current impasse between
non-conforming homeowners and county policies. My wife and I lost
our non-conforming, un-permitted home and utility buildings and all
our belongings in the Croy fire in spite of extensive fire
prevention facilities installed at our own expense, and last ditch
efforts to fight the fire.
EDITOR:
I felt your editorial on the Croy fire aftermath was pretty much on the mark for the current impasse between non-conforming homeowners and county policies. My wife and I lost our non-conforming, un-permitted home and utility buildings and all our belongings in the Croy fire in spite of extensive fire prevention facilities installed at our own expense, and last ditch efforts to fight the fire.
The Croy fire was the coming true of our most feared disaster. We were well aware that the brush laden hillside regions of Santa Clara County from Gilroy to Palo Alto were a tinderbox living on borrowed time, but our area was peaceful and beautiful, so we took the chance. After futile efforts to get a permit, I built our home and utility buildings to code and supervised the building of a new bridge across Uvas Creek and maintained miles of roads which became indispensable in fighting the Croy fire. The bridge cost about $50,000 and was funded by those who are now Croy fire victims and survivors.
If the county has turned a blind eye to the non-conforming or un-permitted structures, it may also have neglected possible creative solutions to the immense danger posed by the heavy fuel load of the yet-unburned regions of the hillside district. These problems are intertwined and require something better than beating the dead horse of the Croy fire region which is now a lesser fire threat.
I would hope the county would take responsible action for the impasse posed by the presence of non-conforming homes in the fire-prone hillside district and a “no-growth policy” that clearly discriminates against landowners in the area seeking site approvals or building permits.
A fair question might be: how did the thousands of hillside land parcels become subdivided and approved, recorded and placed on tax rolls, and advertised and sold by Realtors when they were unsuitable for homesites? Are the present owners of these parcels, who have invested their life savings in them, really the ones we should blame for this impasse?
This impasse leaves the community at large unable to resolve the crisis of severe and increasing fire danger in the hillside regions. The current posture of the county appears to prefer the victimization and criminalization of Croy fire victims and survivors rather than responsibly dealing with the larger, and more daunting problem. If this policy continues, landowners from Gilroy to Palo Alto might wonder if they will be next if the fates and the news turns the spotlight on them.
I love Santa Clara County. My wife and I moved here in 1957. I believe in the mission of the county and I believe the leadership and the rank and file have done an outstanding job over the years in serving and protecting us. I would rather join and serve county programs and policies than fight them. As a citizen of the county, I believe we can do better on these issues and like most of the people in the Croy fire region I know, I will go to great lengths to support that effort.
Roy Guist, Morgan Hill
