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0 NOES: None <br />ABSENT: None <br />ABSTAIN: None <br />B. History and Background of Los Altos Hills Pathways; General Policy Discussion <br />on Master Path Map Update and Direction by the City Council (No map <br />recommendations will be presented) <br />Mayor Harpootlian asked the City Attorney to outline the ground rules for public <br />comment. <br />City Attorney Steve Mattas stated that the Council did provide an opportunity for <br />public comment on items on the Council agenda at the beginning of the meeting, so <br />there has been an opportunity provided for public comment. The Council is not <br />required to allow for further public input, but if the Council wishes to have further <br />public input they may do so. <br />Ann Duwe, Chair of the Pathways Committee, presented the report by outlining <br />the basics and the history of the master path plan update. She said that pathways <br />• are a distinctive feature of the community, a legacy for the future and they are <br />legally required by Town's ordinances. Like setback requirements, height limits <br />and other regulations, the pathway system contributes to the open look of the <br />community. <br />The Town has had 60 years of experience with pathways and they have become <br />more important and more popular with residents every year. The pathway system is <br />a work in progress and are designed to complement the roads. Their use is intended <br />primarily for residents, and at the present time the Town has about 94 miles of <br />paths. It takes a long time, 60 years, to develop 94 miles of paths; things did not <br />happen overnight. Once the pathways are built, it is the Town's responsibility to <br />maintain them. <br />The chief motivation for having a pathway system was to connect neighborhoods. <br />to connect residents with nearby towns, and to create alternatives to roads in the <br />event of an emergency. The paths provide safe routes to school, they offer a means <br />of outdoor recreation, and they contribute to the rural and open character of the <br />Town. Each time the pathway system has been amended, the system has been <br />challenged, and it has been controversial every single time. But in the end, the <br />pathway system has been upheld. In the current pathway update, the Committee is <br />looking at 200 parcels within the existing boundaries of the Town. In the past, <br />decisions to recommend access over the pavement have been very sparingly <br />used. They have only been used in instances where it was a very small private road <br />3 <br />Joint City Council/Planning Commission Special Meeting <br />May 23, 2016 <br />