Senior Planner Aki Snelling and Assistant Community Development Director Amber Blizinski, and other zoning administrators,

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on Item 6.1, the redevelopment proposal for Magnussen’s Middlefield LLC.

While we applaud the modifications of the original proposal which provides “retention of additional mature redwood trees along the southern perimeter of the site to address privacy issues”, we are dismayed that the same provision was not made for the heritage trees that line the east side of the development property. (See photo below). We are advocating that these heritage trees be retained.  

Heritage trees purify our air, provide residence for our birds, connect us to our past, and give us hope for our future in an era of climate change. These heritage trees are on the edge of the property being redeveloped and they can be preserved without making major changes in the development proposal. They also provide an effective shield between the property being redeveloped and the newly constructed adjacent residential development. Removing these trees will devalue the adjacent residential properties without providing any important additional benefit for the property developer.  

Any possible justification for destroying these trees that our city prioritizes and protects must be balanced against not only their benefits to the community as we battle climate change but also that they are a legacy from past to future generations and thus irreplaceable. We are aware that the city will require replacement saplings as substitutes for destroyed mature trees, but this ignores our world’s current climate issues and the immediate need for mature trees.

Thank you for listening to our views.

Robert Cox, Louise Katz, Maureen Blando, Hala Alshahwany, Li Zhang, and Nazanin Dashtara

For the Steering Committee of Livable Mountain View

Mayor Showalter, Vice Mayor Matichak, and Members of the City Council,

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on consent calendar Item 4.1 “Amend City Council Policy K-2, Council Advisory Bodies”

Livable Mountain View believes it is imperative that the people serving on advisory commissions, boards and committees appointed by council be residents of Mountain View. Having these council and staff advisors be Mountain View residents ensures that those providing guidance have a stake in the outcome of the decisions for which they are recommending action. 

We understand that on occasion some committees have not had enough applicants to fill the vacant positions. Rather than filling them with non-Mountain View residents, we recommend reaching out to local neighborhood groups and other Mountain View service organizations to make the various commissions etc. and their purposes better known and/or reducing the number of advisory positions on committees.

If non-residents wish to inform council of their views and preferences for Mountain View, they are always welcome to write letters and speak at the council meetings.

Thank you for listening to our views on this important matter.

Robert Cox, Louise Katz, Maureen Blando, Peter Spitzer, Leslie Friedman, Jamsheed Agahi, Hala Alshahwany, Muriel Sivyer-Lee, Mike Finley, Li Zhang, Nazanin Dashtara, Natalie Solomon, Sean O’Malley, Diane Gazzano, and Lorraine Wormald

For the Steering Committee of Livable Mountain View

Mayor Showalter, Vice Mayor Matichak, and Members of the Mountain View City Council,

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on Item 6.1 “Mixed-Use Addition at 194-198 Castro Street”.

We thank members of council for reaching out to staff to include our group in the discussion before this came back for this public hearing.  Unfortunately, that did not happen. We now regret having to bring these comments to council only a few hours before the hearing itself. We believe that contacting Livable Mountain View and similar advocacy groups to get meaningful comments before the staff report is written is the best way to incorporate public input on important projects. Lack of our early inclusion has been an ongoing issue. We hope that with a new Community Development Director, we will see a new responsiveness to our concern for each inclusion.  

1. Livable Mountain View continually advocates for ground-floor public-serving retail and restaurant uses within and in close proximity to the Downtown Precise Plan Historic Retail District H. Currently, the project area is being used as patio seating for the Agave restaurant, a public serving use. In the staff report, the first-floor use of the new building is described on page 9 as “a ground-floor retail use” but no further description is given. We would like the first-floor area to remain a public serving use, whether retail or restaurant. Is there any thought yet on what use is intended? The area might be successful as a cocktail waiting area for the Agave restaurant. Livable Mountain View is familiar with our previous unfortunate experience with the Bryant Park Plaza project at 900 Villa Street. The developer promised ground-floor retail at this location, but then did not follow through with his promise. The area is now an unused office lounge area with a patrol guard. Not exactly a vibrant, public-serving use. We don’t want it to happen again at this location.
2. Livable Mountain also consistently supports application of the Downtown Precise Plan guidelines on all new projects in that Precise Plan area. Page 5 of that Precise Plan states: “The historic retail district of Castro Street will continue to provide a continuous frontage of retail and restaurant uses at the ground level. New buildings will be sensitive to the historic storefront scale and architecture on this street. Side and rear entrances to retail and restaurant spaces will be both attractive and clean, as much a part of the image that merchants present to the community as the front of the buildings.” The window sizes proposed appear to create a break in the style between the old and new building and do not present the same image as the front of the building does. So, it appears to us the spirit of the guidelines has been ignored. We advocate for further refinements to the project to make it more closely conform to the Downtown Precise Plan Guidelines.
3. Livable Mountain advocates for the preservation of heritage trees and an increase in tree canopy. We appreciate that the one Chinese pistache that will be removed will be replaced by a 24-inch box tree. We note that there is a gap in the tree frontage along Villa Street between Castro Street and the project site and recommend that another tree be planted there to increase the tree canopy and make it consistent.
4. In the light of AB2097, Livable Mountain View looks for clarity in how parking will be provided for the customers and employees who will use this new building. We understand that AB2097 disallows the requirement to build parking on site for this project, due to the project’s proximity to transit. However, on page 11 of the staff report we read  “applicant must still provide the minimum number of electric vehicle (EV) and accessible spaces that would have otherwise applied to the development, which is a total of 11 spaces (pursuant to Government Code Section 65863.2).” Will the funds for these 11 spaces be put toward new parking spaces that are EV-capable and/or accessible, or is the intent that existing spaces be retrofitted for this capability? In the latter case, we note there would be a loss of spaces for the general public. 

Thanks for listening to our concerns.

Robert Cox, Louise Katz, Hala Alshahwany, Maureen Blando, Muriel Sivyer-Lee, Nazanin Dashtara, Leslie Friedman, and Sean O’Malley

For the Steering Committee of Livable Mountain View

The Steering Committee of Livable Mountain View is pleased to announce our endorsed candidates in the 2022 Mountain View City Council Election.

Our first choice is newcomer Li Zhang. Li Zhang stands out among the other candidates because she advocates for maintaining quality of life for Mountain View residents while our city grows. This means providing for the infrastructure our city needs including new parks. Beyond that , Li supports Livable Mountain View’s position that the retail in village centers must not simply be replaced with new housing, it must be retained so that as our city grows our residents have places where they can buy groceries, get local services, and socialize with one another without having to drive to other cities. By retaining local goods and services, we help support our ecology and combat climate change.  Li’s website is https://www.liformountainview.org/.

Furthermore, Li has been clear in her opposition to the current proposal to rezone all R3 (multifamily residential) areas in our city in one single action next year. While Li supports fulfilling our obligation to zone for the 11,135 new units which Sacramento requires of Mountain View over the next eight years, she questions that we should go beyond this amount at this time. Li supports looking for new precise plan areas in our city if there is a need to rezone for more housing. Mountain View’s requirement from Sacramento is the highest in the Bay Area. Li understands that building housing for the Bay Area is a regional obligation. Read her long form answers here: PDF.

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We have also chosen to endorse incumbents Alison Hicks and Ellen Kamei. Alison has been a consistent advocate for the preservation of our city’s historic core. As the city updates its Downtown Precise Plan, we will be looking for Alison’s continued support in making our downtown a vibrant and engaging place. Read her long form answers here: PDF.

Alison’s website is https://www.alisonhicks4mv.com/.

Ellen respects our city’s general and precise plans and takes them seriously when evaluating development decisions. The city faces some important development choices in the near future, and we will be looking for Ellen’s support in supporting project proposals that enhance our city and respectfully transition to the surrounding neighborhoods. Ellen’s website is https://www.ellenkamei.com/.

On the other hand, Alison and Ellen have been less forthcoming than Li on how they will vote on other key issues that will come up in the next council session, particularly the R3 upzoning proposal. We urge the voters to stay engaged with them on this and other issues. Read the long form answers here: PDF.

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We have chosen not to endorse Lucas Ramirez, as he is the council’s leading advocate for R3 upzoning. Lucas has also stated that after a brief pilot program, the residents must bear the full cost of residential parking permits if and when they are needed. With the legislature passing Assembly Bill 2097, which ends Mountain View’s ability to require parking in new residential developments in our city, parking permits may be in higher demand. We at Livable Mountain do not believe that the residents should bear the full cost of parking permits which may be required due to policies imposed upon them. Having said this, we do look forward to working with Lucas on issues of common concern, including providing wider and more understandable outreach to the community when new developments are proposed. Lucas’s website is https://www.ramirezforcouncil.com/. Read his long form answers here: PDF.

We are also not endorsing Justin Cohen, who declined to participate in our endorsement process.

For those interested in more information on the candidate’s positions, we have included the candidates’ questionnaires. You may also refer to the diagram below where we have rated candidates’ responses on a scale from Least Livable (Red) to Most Livable (Dark Green).

For now.. the developers may be back! (watch this space for updates..)

Livable Mountain View is pleased to announce the eligibility of Mountain View’s Weilheimer House (939 Villa, currently Chez TJ) and the Air Base Laundry (954 Villa, currently Tied House) for the National Register of Historic Places and the California Register of Historic Resources. 

These historical buildings link Mountain View’s history from the Gold Rush to today’s Silicon Valley.  

How did this come about?  The State Historical Resources Commission (SHRC), a nine-member state board which identifies, registers and preserves California’s cultural heritage, reviewed our nominations which included written documentation of the historical and architectural significance of these two buildings. The owners (who opposed historical designation) presented their chosen documents. A public hearing was held in Sacramento on February 2, 2019. Both sides were allotted time for oral and visual presentations.  Public discussion and deliberation followed.

What does this mean?  As stated in the attached qualifying letters, historic status does not restrict the owner from normal use of the property but any project that would cause “substantial adverse changes in the significance of a registered property may require compliances with local ordinances or the California Environmental Quality Act.”

Why these buildings?  Weilheimer House was built in 1894 by Julius Weilheimer, son of Seligman Weilheimer, a German-Jewish immigrant who, with his brother, settled in the hamlet of Mountain View in 1853.  The town was located at the stage coach stop near Grant Road and El Camino. The Seligman’s general store was followed by many other family businesses including a hotel, livery, and additional general stores.

In 1865 the “new” Mountain View was laid out along the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks. Known as “Villa Lands” this is the Mountain View we know today. It included Castro, Hope, Villa, Dana, Franklin and Oak Streets. Julius Weilheimer, born in Mountain View in 1860, eventually ran many of the family businesses which by then were located on and around Castro Street. He served as trustee, mayor (holding city council meetings in Weilheimer House), vice-president of the local bank (now Red Rock Coffee) and led the effort to rebuild the downtown after much of it was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake. The Weilheimer’s Farmers’ Store built in 1874 (now the site of Oren’s Hummus)  is believed to be the oldest building in Mountain View and possibly the Peninsula.  (See more on the history of Castro Street here.)

Weilheimer House is also significant as it is an excellent, well preserved example of the Queen Anne style of architecture. This includes a street façade and many original windows which retain their historic integrity. Reused as a restaurant since 1982, the interior has many original features and materials.

Although Julius Weilheimer moved in 1910, the historic significance of his house did not end because the next occupants, Arthur Free and his family, moved in. Arthur Free, a Stanford graduate, was the only Congressional Representative from Mountain View. He served five terms representing Santa Clara County.

What is significant about Arthur Free and Weilheimer House? In the midst of the Great Depression cities across the state competed to be the site of a new airfield to house the massive dirigibles being developed to protect the west coast. Through the efforts of Free and local leaders, Santa Clara County was awarded the airbase in 1930.  Congressman Free introduced the “Free Bill” to establish the base and authorize $5 million for construction of what we now know as Moffett Field/Ames Research. President Hoover (who had attended Stanford and knew the area) signed the Free Bill on Feb. 20, 1931 giving control of the site to the Navy who named it after Admiral William Moffett. Thirty Spanish Revival style buildings, a power plant and a laundry were recorded as being built in 1931-1932.

As dirigibles became obsolete, the base was transferred to the Army in 1935 where it became a training facility for the Army Air Corps (U.S. Air Force).  In 1939 Congress allotted $10 million for aeronautical research (Ames Research).  Pilot training continued at Moffett during World War II. Trainees, including actor Jimmy Steward (It’s a Wonderful Life), frequented Castro Street.  We will never know if he was a customer of the Air Base Laundry as well.  

Thus, Weilheimer House directly links Gold Rush pioneers to the research and development of technology which is Silicon Valley.  

Why Preserve Air Base Laundry/Tied House?  Built in 1931, at the same time as the Air Base, this building served the Base and was clearly built to match the thirty beautiful Spanish Revival Buildings  which are on the National Register of Historic Places. It retains its stucco finish, red roof, original upper story windows and corbels below the roof line.  Although updated since 1931, the materials and scale of the doors and windows are consistent with that of the original building. 

Thus, by history, function and design the Air Base Laundry is our link to the earliest air and space technology and the events which brought us today’s technological world.