Not in my backyard

Melissa Pamer  reports a classic case of, 'Not in my backyard.'

DUARTE - In an exclusive neighborhood high in the city's foothills, Pam Gomez has a vision: She wants to open the French doors of her proposed second-story master bedroom onto a view that encompasses most of the San Gabriel Valley.

It's a vista she may never see if some of her neighbors get their way. So far, they have.

After outcry and a 60-signature petition from residents of Duarte Mesa - the 1950s- and 1960s-era development of about 100 hillside homes where Gomez lives - the City Council last week denied for a second time Gomez's plans to expand her house to two stories.

The possibility of having a better view and more room for their two young children still tempts Gomez and her husband, Garrett Gomez, one of the nation's leading jockeys.

"I'm sorry, I just can't give it up," Pam Gomez said Monday, standing in her pine-shaded driveway beneath the two-story addition of her neighbor's home up the hill.

When I was covering the affluent Bay Area town of Los Gatos, which backs up to the Santa Cruz Moutains, these types of issues came up often. I could always relate to what both sides were saying. On the one hand, as a property owner, you should have the right to build your dream home. But on the other hand, as a neighbor, you moved into your property thinking it was one way, and then all of the sudden you feel like your quality of life is threatened.

The bottom line is compromise. In this story, it sounds like there is room for both sides to give-and-take.