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An affordable housing development in Mountain View is one step closer to getting built, although it is still raising concerns that there is not enough parking for the hundreds of residents who will be living there.
CRP Affordable, an affordable housing developer, is proposing to build an eight-story, 100-unit apartment complex at 334 San Antonio Road, replacing a Valero gas station and auto-repair shop.
Two years ago, the City Council approved a market-rate condo project, submitted by a different applicant, on the same 0.62-acre site. The entitlement expired, and CRP Affordable has since purchased the property, with plans to serve households at or below 80% of the area median income.
The Environmental Planning Commission unanimously supported the project at their meeting last week, praising its affordability and large number of family apartments for low-income tenants. But the commissioners also expressed dismay that very little parking will be provided for the residents.
The San Antonio project is located within half a mile of major transit and not required to include parking, based on state law AB 2097. Capitalizing on this provision, CRP Affordable is planning to build a ground-level garage that will accommodate 16 vehicles and two motorcycles.
Shellan Rodriguez, a consultant for CRP Affordable, cited building costs as the primary reason for keeping parking to a minimum, while noting that the development is in a high-resource area and close to public transit. Low-income tenants tend to own less vehicles too, she said.
“Generally speaking, affordable housing units have less cars because folks tend to want a safe and stable place to live over having multiple cars that are costing them a substantial amount of their income,” Rodriguez said.
But several commissioners pushed back on the characterization that it would be easy for residents to rely on public transit to get around.
“I was actually shocked that you showed bus stops on San Antonio. I drive through there all the time, (and) I cannot think of ever seeing a bus stop on San Antonio,” said Commissioner Bill Cranston. “I’m all in favor of a lower (parking) ratio, but it seems almost unreasonably low,” he added.
For projects of a comparable size, the typical parking ratio is between 0.41 and 0.75, according to Mountain View Housing Director Wayne Chen.
While short on vehicle parking, CRP Affordable is putting in 100 long-term bicycle storage spaces and 14 short-term spaces. It also is planning to offer a three-year $50 transit subsidy for new residents after the building is constructed.
Commissioner José Gutiérrez asked if the developer would be willing to kick in more money for transit passes.
Rodriguez said that they planned to reevaluate the transit program each year but were working within budget constraints. “We want to do something that’s on the right track, but we couldn’t really afford what we thought would be about a $40,000 hit to the annual operating expense for the 100 units,” she said.
CPR Affordable does not plan to apply for city funding to support the construction of the development. It will rely on federal, state and private financing, according to the staff report. If built, it would be the first all-affordable housing development in Mountain View to not receive funding from the city.
Can’t build affordable housing because it needs parking spaces since no one uses public transit. Can’t build up public transit that no one uses because everyone just drives. Very sound logic.
An example of affordable housing is on San Veron Ave in Mountain View.
The city council said that the people living there would be so poor that they would not be able to afford a car.
Their parking needs have poured over into the surrounding neighborhoods.
How is this going to be different? Most family’s have 1 car if not 2.
The developer said people would rather have a safe place to live rather than “multiple cars that are costing them a substantial amount of their income.” Notice she said residents would eschew “multiple cars,” leaving one to suspect residents WILL have ONE car, just not several per unit. Any what about parking for guests? No wonder the planning commissioners were shaking their heads.
This has boon-doggle written all over it. Where do they get this “data” that low income people do not have vehicles?? I’ve been below 80% AMI my whole life, and every low income neighborhood I have lived in EVERY resident has at least two cars per household. Not Teslas or Mercedes- but serviceable older vehicles that can get you to work. We are looking at service industry, teachers and social workers at this income demographic . How many buses, light rail and Cal Trains stop at restaurants, schools and office complexes? What do you do on the weekend when all these transit services are on reduced services? Mountain View city government better step in and get the proper amount of parking set up or this will be a hella mess….