September 11, 2022
Re: Item 7.1 – Alta Housing NOFA Proposal of 1020 Terra Bella Avenue Dear Mayor Ramirez and Members of the City Council:
The LWV is in support of increasing the stock of affordable housing to decrease the number of residents at risk of becoming homeless.
We have been consistently in favor of 1020 Terra Bella as it goes through City processes. As such, we concur with the NOFA Review Committee and Staff recommendations for this project.
Those recommendations will accelerate its path to completion. We also applaud the work of Alta Housing in being able to leverage significant external funding. (Please send any questions about this email to Kevin Ma at [email protected]) Sincerely,
Karin Bricker, President of the LWV of Los Altos-Mountain View cc:
Deanna
Talavera Edgar Maravilla Wayne Chen Aarti Shrivastava Kimbra McCarthy
1 From:
Sent: Monday, September 12, 2022 2:22 PM
To: City Council
Cc: BPAC Communication
Subject: 8/13/22 agenda item 7.1 (Alta housing)
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To: Mountain View City Counc
il
From: Joel Dean, ., MV
Subject: Alta Housing
The last time this subject came before the Council, there was some discussion of the adequacy of sidewalks at the project site and the rest of Terra Bella Avenue. The plan set (Acrobat Reader page 50) indicates th at the sidewalk will be set back 5 feet from the curb and be "city standard" 7 feet wide. This is wide enough for two‐way single‐file foot travel, but no more. It is nowhere nearly enough to handle mixed bicycle and pedestrian traffic. The plans encourage bike usage, many residents of Alta Housing will be without cars, Terra Bella has no bike lanes, and it is often parked solid with oversized vehicles. Thus there will inevitably be a lot of cycling on the sidewalk, possibly leading to conflicts between bicyclists and pedestrians. Something better than "city standard" is needed here.
The plans show trees plante
d in the setback in close proximity to the driveway, where they would potentially obstruct drivers exiting the site and drivers on Terra Bella from seeing each other. This is especially concerning due to the high volume of truck traffic. We may love trees, but th ey don't belong where they are a hazard.
As for aesthetics, there is a vast stretch of dark‐gray wall in the heart of the project. This facade looks like it should be ornamented with chain link and razor wire. Terra Bella is dreary enough as it is. A more cheerful color scheme woul d help make it less so instead of more so. Alta residents would probably be happier if their home were not depressingly ugly.
Thank you for your attention.