Ferguson rezoning approved Ferguson rezoning approved (August 19, 2005)

In 6-1 vote, council rejects staff recommendation, pleas from neighbors

By Jon Wiener

A controversial rowhouse project will proceed according to schedule on vacant industrial land along Ferguson Drive, after the City Council voted 6-1 to approve a developer's plans for the site.

The vote, which reversed the planning commission's recommendation and struck a nerve with many in the audience, authorized construction of 106 rowhouses that could sell for an estimated $750,000 apiece. Dozens of Whisman Station residents turned out in force to ask the council to put off the decision on the site until it had designed a master plan for the entire South Whisman area.

One of those neighbors, Jim Briggs, co-founded a group organized in opposition to the project. He accused city planning staff of providing him with misinformation and advocating for the developer. As with all major private projects, the developers pay for city staff time spent working on the project.

"The process, if you'll forgive the euphemism, sucks." Briggs told the council.

It is a common refrain during debates on housing projects, and one that was echoed Tuesday night by residents of the Monta Loma neighborhood, who have voiced opposition to a similar but larger proposal by Toll Brothers on the western border of town.

"It just seems that there is a pattern," said Chuck Shih, a Monta Loma resident who previously had expressed frustration with the council's support for developers.

Council member Matt Pear vehemently defended the city's process, as did Amir Massih, a representative of Pulpe Homes, developer of the Ferguson project.

"We are a multi-billion dollar company that's out to provide good homes to people, and I think we've done that here," Massih said.

Pear also appeared to speak for the majority of the council in questioning whether a master plan for the area would result in enough change to the development to be worth the delay, which could be a year or more.

The main objections to the site revolved around issues of density. At 106 units on slightly less than six acres, the new project is not significantly denser than Whisman Station taken as a whole. But the earlier development, which also required a zoning change, consists of a mix of single-family townhouses and connected row houses.

In response, developer Pulte Homes agreed to change some setbacks and will block access between the new development and Whisman Station. Pulte will also pay $1.4 million in park fees that the city can spend on acquiring or developing park space in the area, and another $2 million to the city's affordable-housing fund.

Mayor Matt Neely, who lived in Whisman Station until recently, said he believed residents would eventually be able to get along with their new neighbors.

Discussion on the item lasted more than two and a half hours. The audience broke into applause several times, including when council member Laura Macias -- the lone dissenting vote -- opened council deliberation by arguing that the city does not need to add density. She added that the city should pay less heed to "classist" studies that say otherwise.

But Macias again appeared to find herself alone on this issue. "I really think that we should listen to the residents here," she said. "It's time for us to take a step back and say we want to grow smartly."

Mike Kasperzak, the longest-tenured member currently serving on the council, responded to complaints that Mountain View elected officials were worrying too much about commuters from outside the city and not enough about the people who lived here.

"We need housing units so that children who are born in Mountain View have a chance to live in or near the community they grew up in," said Kasperzak.

E-mail Jon Wiener at jwiener@mv-voice.com

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