Los Altos Hills council rejects plans to develop city corridor for now
LOS ALTOS HILLS — A plan to develop the town’s city corridor so as to add extra workplace and neighborhood area has come to halt, persevering with a politically charged debate that was on the heart of the 2020 council election.
Throughout a latest metropolis council assembly, the Los Altos Hills Metropolis Council in a slender 3-2 voted rejected a plan for a brand new growth at its getting old city corridor on Fremont Highway and unanimously agreed to revamp its present area and buy new furnishings for employees.
A majority of council members mentioned they weren’t able to spend the practically $3 million essential to develop city corridor. In 2018, the had requested the unique architect for the prevailing city corridor to develop an idea to develop the town’s footprint on the location at Fremont Highway.
The plan would have included the elimination of the Parks and Recreation constructing to assemble an hooked up multi-purpose room for leisure makes use of together with restrooms, new workplaces for Parks and Recreation employees and a brand new lunchroom and duplicate room.
Preservationists turned enthusiastic when the potential elimination of the Heritage Home to the north of metropolis corridor was thought of to create a city inexperienced area, permitting the 1909 wooden bungalow to be repurposed and even renovated sooner or later. The bungalow is regarded as among the many oldest buildings in Los Altos, and was moved to its present location in Los Altos Hills in 1985.
It’s at the moment used as a space for storing, and preservationists are hoping it may be returned to its former glory as a traditionally important construction.
The plan additionally included the enclosing of the coated patio space on the rear of the council chambers to create a 480 square-foot assembly area, reconfiguring present workplace area to accommodate 4 further workstations new assembly rooms, and extra driveway entry onto Fremont Highway.
Mayor George Tyson and councilmember Lisa Schmidt supported the growth plan, however Vice Mayor Linda Swan and council members Kavita Tankha and Stanley Mok voted towards it. Mok and Swan had been robust advocates for extra resident oversight in town corridor development and opposed the proposed growth throughout their campaigns.
The concept of increasing metropolis corridor began in 2018, when council members requested metropolis employees to start planning for an growth. Because the state seeks to press elite communities like Los Altos Hills to construct extra housing to alleviate the exacerbating inexpensive housing disaster, the town council is keenly conscious of the necessity for extra staffing and dealing area to course of the potential permits which will come sooner or later.
In a 3 to 1 vote in a September 2018 assembly, the town council agreed to maneuver ahead with the location improvement and assessment course of. That could be a sharp reversal from this month’s resolution to scrap these plans after 4 years.
Councilmember Kavita Tankha mentioned the council this month additionally handed a movement to determine a steering committee that can have a look at the growth.
“We established a steering committee to look into the wants of our residents, taking a look at projections for as we speak and 10 years out,” Tankha mentioned.
Increasing city corridor turned a key difficulty throughout the 2020 election when seven candidates ran for 3 open seats. Not like the previous metropolis council, new members aren’t as eager to go together with learning a city corridor growth.
Mayor Tyson, who helps the growth, mentioned in an interview that there have been latest employees will increase at city corridor which have made the dearth of area apparent. Tyson agreed that housing laws arrange by the state to foment housing development in communities like Los Altos Hills have created a better want for employees and consultants. Ten years from now “I’m fairly darn certain we’re going to want that area,” Tyson mentioned.
Tyson additionally added that the aim is to create a extra enticing place to work.
“Individuals are sharing cubicles, and we actually have a cubicle in a convention room with out correct assets,” Tyson mentioned. “But it surely’s greater than the staffing, it’s actually about including neighborhood area and a spot to collect. We see different communities which have areas like that, and we’re not attempting to recreate them however I really feel that there’s a necessity for more room.”