Los Altos Hills Special City Council Meeting Minutes Page 1 Saturday, January 11, 2025
Town of Los Altos Hills
City Council Special Meeting Minutes
Saturday, January 11, 2025
Council Chambers, 26379 Fremont Road, Los Altos Hills, California 8216 E. Orange Blossom Ln., Scottsdale, AZ 85250
Present: Mayor Kavita Tankha, Vice Mayor Rajiv Bhateja, Council Member Stanley Mok.
Council Member Linda Swan, and Council Member George Tyson
Absent: None
Staff: City Manager Peter Pirnejad, City Attorney Steve Mattas, City Clerk Arika Birdsong-Miller, Deputy City Manager Cody Einfalt
1. CALL TO ORDER (4:00 P.M.)
Vice Mayor Bhateja called the meeting to order at 4:03 P.M.
2. ROLL CALL
Vice Mayor Rajiv Bhateja, Council Member Stanley Mok. Council Member Linda Swan, and Council Member George Tyson were present.
Council Member Swan participated remotely from 8216 E. Orange Blossom Ln., Scottsdale, AZ 85250.
Mayor Tankha arrived at 4:14 P.M.
3. PUBLIC COMMENT (Public Comment is Limited to Items which are the Subject of the Special Meeting)
1. Eric Bredo, a resident of Los Altos Hills, noted that the state criteria for the Housing Element emphasized that the housing the Town approved be distributed and not concentrated. He was worried about that point with the development. He spoke about Cabrini-Green in Southside Chicago, where the city attempted to concentrate their lowincome housing, and noted that it was not a successful project.
2. Evelyn Kusnezon, a resident of Los Altos Hills, noted she has been a resident of the Town for over 50 years. She spoke about her concerns regarding the recent events around Los Angeles and could visualize that on a windy day in the Town. She wondered how successful an evacuation would be around her home in an emergency, when normal traffic backed up regularly.
3. John O’Connell, a resident of Los Altos Hills, spoke about the content of an email he received from Evelyn Kusnezon, and noted that she lives 1000 feet from the Twin Oaks property. He specifically shared a story she shared regarding her experience with a fire in 1985, which surrounded her home. John noted that his and her concerns were that any fire in an area chosen to develop housing at 20 dwelling units per acre would be risking all of Los Altos Hills between I-280 and Foothill. He noted that embers were a well-known cause for the spread of fire, citing current events in the Los Angeles area. He felt that 92 units would already be dense in that area, but if the specification of 20-30 dwelling units per acre were Los Altos Hills Special City Council Meeting Minutes Page 2 Saturday, January 11, 2025
left in the Housing Element, then the residents of Los Altos Hills would be in jeopardy. He hoped the specification of 20-30 dwelling units per acre would be removed.
4. Rohit Advani, a resident of Los Altos Hills, shared when he learned of the Town obtaining certification of the Housing Element, that he learned the site known as Twin Oaks was intended to accommodate 92 of the 489 housing units that the Town was required to build by state law. He noted that his and his neighbors properties shared an adjacency to the highest and steepest portion of the Twin Oaks’ property. He stated he trusted that the development of the Twin Oaks property would only be for 92 units. He also stated that he was not notified of an additional portion of the land adjacent to his property was added to the Twin Oaks development plans. He shared his expectation that the Housing Element should be amended as a priority and cited the recent tragedy of the Los Angeles area.
4. ADJOURN TO CLOSED SESSION TO DISCUSS THE FOLLOWING:
A. Conference with Legal Counsel – Anticipated Litigation (Pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9(d)(2)
Significant Exposure to Litigation – One case
B. Conference with Legal Counsel – Existing Litigation
(Pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9(d)(1))
Sea Landing Limited Partnership v. Town of Los Altos Hills, Case No. 22CV400255
5. ADJOURN CLOSED SESSION
Mayor Tankha adjourned to Closed Session at 4:23 P.M.
6. REPORT OUT OF CLOSED SESSION
There was no reportable action from the Closed Session.
7. ADJOURN
The meeting was adjourned at 8:20 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
Arika Birdsong-Miller