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Mountain View’s Environmental Planning Commission gave the green light last week to a project that aims to add 38 rowhomes to the city’s Stierlin Estates neighborhood.
With a 5-0 vote, the commission supported the proposed development on the west side of San Leandro Avenue, which lies just south of U.S. Highway 101 and west of State Route 85. The site currently includes an industrial building and two single-family homes, according to a city staff report.
As part of the vote, the planning commission recommended that the City Council update its planning and zoning rules to allow for the construction of multi-family housing on the site. Commissioners José Gutiérrez and Hank Dempsey were absent from the Feb. 18 meeting.
“I think this is a great project,” commissioner Paul Donahue said. “It meets housing needs.”
The applicant, City Ventures, wants to build four three-story rowhouse buildings at 922, 944 and 950 San Leandro Ave. All 38 units would have three bedrooms, ranging in size from 1,351 to 1,727 square feet. The buildings would feature a bungalow-inspired design, and every home would have a private balcony, two-car garage and small front yard area, City Venture’s Kian Malek told the planning commission.
The homes would be marketed toward first-time homebuyers, small families and families looking to downsize, Malek said. He described the 1.69-acre project as a “a great opportunity for more ownership-housing in the city of Mountain View.”
The project would include 10 affordable units, which would be sold at below market rate to less wealthy families. Three of these homes would be set aside for low-income households, defined as those earning up to 80% of the area median income, another five would be for moderate-income households, up to 120% AMI, and two would be for above-moderate income households, up to 150% AMI.
“We’re really proud to be including 25% affordable [units] in this project because we know how important it is to the city to have different income levels of ownership-housing,” Malek said.
While every unit will have three bedrooms, the 10 affordable ones will be about 100 to 400 square feet smaller than their market-rate counterparts, the staff report said.
All 31 trees on the site would be removed, including five that are considered heritage trees. City Venture is proposing to replace them with 94 new trees, including five “heritage replacement trees,” according to the city staff report. When these trees are fully mature, 22.8% of the site is expected to be covered by tree canopy, triple the 7.6% current canopy coverage.
Planning commissioners praise rowhouse project
Since starting the planning process in 2021, the developer has solicited feedback from local community members, met with design review consultants from the city and updated plans to align with feedback from both groups, Malek said.
The commissioners present at Wednesday’s meeting were overall supportive of the proposed 38-unit development, which would sit adjacent to a planned city park for the Stierlin neighborhood.
The developer would be required to pay about $860,000 in what’s known as a “park land dedication in-lieu fee,” according to the staff report. This money is meant to offset the increased cost of providing parks and recreational facilities for the additional residents who are expected to move into the new homes.
Commissioner William Cranston questioned whether the money from this park land fee could be set aside for the development of the neighboring park. Community Development Director Christian Murdock responded that the commission could not make this a requirement but could suggest it to the City Council.
“This is an area that doesn’t have a lot of parks,” Cranston said. “I like the project, but I’d like if there was a way … to get that park next door funded through this. That would be great.”
Commissioner Shwetha Subramanian lauded City Ventures for getting the community involved in the planning process and shared similar sentiments to Cranston regarding the park fees. Donahue was happy with the plans and said he expected the Parks and Recreation Commission to recommend the fees be used for the adjacent park.
The project is tentatively scheduled to be reviewed by the City Council at a March 24 meeting.
This is a great project! More homeowners! I hope all the homes get air filters.