C O M M U N I T Y
Calling it quits on Halloween Al Stahler of Menlo Park puts on his last spooky spectacle By Jane Knoerle Almanac Lifestyles Editor
A
l Stahler is gearing up for his last fright night. On Halloween he expects hundreds to line up in front of his Valparaiso Avenue home ready to be scared out of their wits. This year’s theme is “Zombieland.”
Loosely based on the 2009 movie, Zombieland will have three special features, says Mr. Stahler: a Zombie Tester, a Zombie Apocalypse (landscape littered with dead Zombies), and a Zombie shooting gallery (shoot a Zombie and win a prize). The prizes are assorted Gummi candies (think Gummi brains and body parts). Mr. Stahler also promises surprise entertainment for those waiting to enter Zombieland. “We usually have about 100 in
TOWN OF PORTOLA VALLEY NOTICE OF A PUBLIC HEARING ON PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT (PUD) X7D-137 AND LOT LINE ADJUSTMENT X6D-214 BLUE OAKS SUBDIVISION LOTS 23 THOURGH 26, 3 AND 5 BUCK MEADOW DRIVE
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Planning Commission of the Town of Portola Valley will conduct a public hearing at 7:30 p.m. on November 7, 2012 on a proposal to amend the Blue Oaks PUD and an associated Lot Line Adjustment (LLA) to implement the proposed PUD amendments. The proposed amendments and LLA would remove references to below market rate housing, reduce the number of parcels in the residential area owned by the town, i.e., 3 and 5 Buck Meadow Drive (APNs: 080-240-230, -240, -250, and -260), from four (4) to two (2) and make other changes to accommodate market rate housing on the two adjusted parcels. The proposal is being processed at the direction of the town council for conformity with the provisions of the town’s State certified housing element of the Portola Valley General Plan and provisions associated with the Blue Oaks subdivision record documents. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that at the conclusion of the public hearing the planning commission will consider the proposals and may act to approve, approve with conditions or take other actions consistent with findings from project consideration and the public hearing. All reports, plans and documents associated with the project are available for review in the Portola Valley Planning Department at 765 Portola Road, Portola Valley, California. The specific reports, plans and supporting documents for the November 7, 2012 Planning Commission public hearing will be available in the Planning Department on November 2, 2012.
line and admit four at a time,” he says. Zombieland opens Al Stahler at 6 and closes at 10 p.m. This year’s scary show will be Al’s 13th and last. Next year the Stahler daughters, Kathleen and Amanda, always a big help to their dad, won’t be around. Kathleen is a student at St. Mary’s College in Moraga, and Amanda is a senior at MenloAtherton High School. Al’s wife, Christine, who “has always been a tremendous help,” is usually occupied with the houseful of guests who stay on after the display closes. Al Stahler got hooked on Halloween when he was 13. “I was too old to go trick-or-treating, so I started decorating my parents’ front porch,” he said in a 2003 article in the Almanac. For a few years after he and Christine, were married, they held a Halloween party in the basement of their home. As Kathleen and Amanda grew older, the event moved to the front yard. “The first year I put out a 6-foot spider with glowing eyes and played scary music. We got five trick-or-treaters.” Last
Dated: Signed:
October 24, 2012 Carol Borck, Town Planning Technician
26 N The Almanac N TheAlmanacOnline.com N October 31, 2012
year they had 800. Over the years, has there been a favorite display? “I think it would be Star Trek in 2009,” he says. Any disasters? “One year we constructed a maze made out of cardboard, and there was a torrential rain the night before Halloween. We had to rescue everything.” He learned to put up tarps and shelters from the rain since the show goes on “rain or shine.” At 5 p.m. on Halloween night, Mr. Stahler and crew will be frantically putting last-minutes touches on this year’s spectacle. Kathleen is driving home to take part one last time, and Amanda has enlisted a dozen high school
classmates to help out. Al’s sisters, Mary and Ann, will lend a hand as they have for many years. Looking back, Mr. Stahler says he has taken a lot of satisfaction from the enjoyment he has provided for kids and their parents. As one of his neighbors told him, “You know, I never used to get any kids on Halloween. Now this has become a neighborhood destination.” He’s also happy to see how nearby Sherman Avenue has become “Halloween Central,” with almost every house decorated. What about next year? Won’t it be strange not to be putting on a show? “Maybe I’ll bring out the spider,” he says. A
TOWN OF PORTOLA VALLEY SUMMARY OF THE FINANCIAL REPORT FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, 2012 AS FILED WITH THE CALIFORNIA STATE CONTROLLER’S OFFICE PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, pursuant to Government Code section 40804 requiring a summary of the Town’s Financial Transactions report to be published in a newspaper of general circulation. The Cities Financial Transactions Report is available for public inspection; for additional information please contact the Town Clerk Summary of Expenditures and Functional Revenues:
General Government Public Safety Transportation Community Development Culture and Leisure
Expenditures $2,158,999 875,398 972,506 735,200 1,305,953
Functional Revenues $50,982 121,117 448,872 440,253 1,532,678
Net Expenditures $2,108,017 754,281 523,634 294,947 (226,725)
Totals
$6,048,056
$2,593,902
$3,454,154
General Revenues: Taxes Licenses & Permits Fines and Forfeitures Revenue from Use of Money and Property Intergovernmental Revenue-State Other Total
$3,234,511 3,330 10,663 (10,115) 7,705 51,919 $3,298,013
Excess of General Revenue Over Expenditures Fund Balance/Working Capital as of 7/1/11 Fund Balance Working Capital as of 6/30/12 Total Appropriation Limit Appropriation Subject to Limit
($156,141) $6,832,781 $6,676,640 $3,499,954 $3,174,873
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the town staff has determined that the proposed PUD amendments and LLA project is categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Both the PUD amendments and LLA are found categorically exempt pursuant to CEQA Section 15305. All interested persons are invited to appear before the Planning Commission at the time above-mentioned. The public hearing will be conducted in the Historic School House meeting room at the town center, 765 Portola Road. If someone challenges the proposed action in court, he or she may be limited to raising only those issues raised at the public meetings conducted on the proposal or in written correspondence delivered to the town at or prior to the public meetings.
Al Stahler
This 6-foot spider with glowing eyes, complete with a soundtrack, has been part of Al Stahler’s Halloween displays from the beginning.
This summary report is published pursuant to California State Government Code § 40804. A copy of the full report is on file at Town Hall, 765 Portola Road, Portola Valley, California. Sharon Hanlon Clerk of the Town of Portola Valley Dated: October 23, 2012