Posted by pilgrim ave resident, a resident of another community, on Feb 25, 2010 at 6:15 pm

Correction: Actually, most of the "opponents" were from Pilgrim Avenue, not the Montessori preschool from across the street. And the residents were the ones who came up with the $1,000 for the appeal.

Also, the house is not 11,000 sq ft... The LOT is around that size. The house that the Wescott's wanted to build a 39-student preschool in is around 1,000 sq. ft. You forgot to mention that they wanted to tear out 2 heritage trees and build 7 foot fences around the property.

Now, this would be okay if it was not right on El Monte!!! With 6 parking spaces for 39 students, the parents would either have to park on Pilgrim avenue OR at the preschool across the street. Everyone who lives around here knows how busy El Monte is and how dangerous it is to cross the street.. even in the middle of the day. Now imagine parents crossing El Monte - in a hurry - with kids running next to them. Not exactly safe if you ask me!

I hope that the Wescotts' find a new and safer place to open up a preschool, and I'm sure that they will.

Posted by fred meyer, a resident of the Blossom Valley neighborhood, on Feb 26, 2010 at 9:45 am

there are no 11,000 square foot homes anywhere near this part of town! that's about 10-times bigger than the actual house.

also, the school across the street is set back from the busy el monte commute corridor by about 150 feet and has 70+ parking spaces.

Posted by Taxpayer, a resident of the Waverly Park neighborhood, on Feb 26, 2010 at 2:41 pm

Here here, I applaud the City Council for doing the right thing in this issue. We used to attend a pre-school in Sunnyvale with a parking problem as well where the city of Sunnyvale required staggered drop off and pick up times as well. As parents, we had to sign the agreement to acknowledge the city's requirement, but in reality, no one did.

I am glad that the council memebers can see that this does not work and it's dangerous. My question is to Peter Gilli who approved the use to begin with. Didn't you see this as an issue? Not to mention, 39 kids in an 1100 sq ft house? Isn't this unhealthy for children?

Posted by Puzzled, a resident of the Jackson Park neighborhood, on Feb 26, 2010 at 4:28 pm

"The city already has more preschools than it needs." If this is true, then why are most new moms that I know on 6-month waitlists for pre-schools?

Posted by OldMom, a resident of the Cuesta Park neighborhood, on Feb 26, 2010 at 5:09 pm

Puzzled - there is a difference between infant care vs. preschools. There are not too many infant care centers in Mountain View. However, I know of 8 preschools and 1 infant care center within a 5 mile radius.

Posted by Martin Omander, a resident of the Rex Manor neighborhood, on Feb 27, 2010 at 5:51 pm

About the comment "the city already has more preschools than it needs". I hope the City Council doesn't try to second-guess the supply and demand of every type of business in Mountain View. Let the business owners do that; they are running the commercial risk.

I don't know anything about the property in question and it may be that it's not suitable for a pre-school. If so, I hope this weighed heavier than any supply and demand considerations.