Senator Atkins,

I write on behalf of Mountain View YIMBY to support SB 9, which will allow duplexes on lots currently zoned for single family use only in California.

Mountain View YIMBY is a chapter of South Bay YIMBY. We are a group of people who live or work in the city of Mountain View and believe in increasing equitable access to the opportunities offered by this amazing city, and combating global warming through urbanization. We do so by advocating for construction of homes at all income levels from supportive housing to market rate. We protect Mountain View’s more vulnerable residents by defending Mountain View’s rent control law, and advocating for better displacement protection policies. Last but not least, we push for more transit, and bike and pedestrian infrastructure.

Dear Chair Friedman:

On behalf of Mountain View YIMBY, I write to express our strong support for your Assembly Bill 1401 to eliminate local minimum parking requirements for both residential and commercial buildings.

Mountain View YIMBY is a chapter of South Bay YIMBY are a group of people who live or work in the city of Mountain View and believe in increasing equitable access to the opportunities offered by this amazing city, and combating global warming through urbanization. We do so by advocating for construction of homes at all income levels, from supportive housing to market rate! We protect Mountain View’s more vulnerable residents by defending Mountain View’s rent control law and advocating for better displacement protection policies. Last but not least, we push for more transit, and bike and pedestrian infrastructure.

Dear Mayor Kamei and members of the council:

Mountain View YIMBY, a local volunteer advocacy group, expresses enthusiastic support for the following potential projects to achieve the strategic priorities from the workplan in the staff report:

1.1 Hold a Study Session on a displacement response strategy and net loss; develop a work plan for any desired follow up actions.
We support developing strategies and ordinances to help stem displacement in our community. There should never be incentives for a net loss development. Options should include: Replacement requirements for demolished rent controlled units, Tenant Opportunity to Purchase (TOPA) or Community Opportunity to Purchase (COPA) ordinances and Tenant right of return options. We believe that this project should be in conjunction with project 2.1: Revise R3 Zoning standards.

Mountain View YIMBY welcomes the news, reported by the Mountain View Voice, that Google filed a preliminary plan for developing 120 acres of North Bayshore. This development will represent the culmination of a process that began in 2014 with the election of a pro-housing City Council, which revised the North Bayshore master plan in 2017. The 7,000 homes proposed for the Google property will fulfill most of the city’s goal of 9,850 homes in all of North Bayshore.

Dear Mayor Kamei and Members of the City Council,

Mountain View YIMBY supports staff’s recommendation on Item 6.1 Density Bonus Ordinance, though we believe staff’s recommendation would be improved by slightly modifying §36.48.80(5)(d).

City staff deserves credit for crafting such smart tweaks to the city’s density bonus law, as their tweaks would make our density bonus law clearer, simpler, and easier to administer. With these improvements, affordable homes can be built faster, and city staff will be freed up to spend more time on council’s legislative priorities. The proposed changes were well-received by the Environmental Planning Commission, and we hope you agree with them as well.

To the Environmental Planning Commission:

Mountain View YIMBY, a local volunteer advocacy group, expresses enthusiastic support for the proposed project at 555 West Middlefield. We like this project because:

• It is a no-displacement project that adds 329 new homes in place of surface parking!
• 15% of on-site below market rate homes!
• Walking distance to downtown, Caltrain, and a grocery store, and right next to Stevens Creek trail this site provides a great location to lead a car-free lifestyle to the residents.
• New pedestrian and bike path connection from Cypress Point Drive to W Middlefield makes Stevens Creek trail more easily accessible to the neighbors living south of Cypress Point Drive. Further bike and pedestrian improvements along Moffett Boulevard to the north and west of this project would be most welcome!
• The 1.34 acres of land dedicated for a new park will be a welcome addition to the neighborhood, creating a space for socializing.
• The developer has listened to community feedback and made an effort to line up the residential frontage facing Cypress Point Drive with existing trees or parking lots to the south of Cypress Point Drive in order to minimize the impact to privacy of neighbors to the south of that street.
• The developer has made an effort to preserve as many heritage trees, transplanting some more and planting additional trees to make up for the ones they are requesting to remove.

We hope that you recommend a hasty approval of this project to the council!

To the Environmental Planning Commission:

Mountain View YIMBY, a local volunteer advocacy group, expresses strong support for Google’s proposed Middlefield Park Master Plan.

The opportunity to add 1,675 to 1,900 new homes, with a target of 20% below market rate makeup in a mixed-use setting, right next to jobs is quite exciting!

• This master plan has the potential to create a one-of-a-kind community that affords residents a car-free lifestyle and easy access to high paying tech jobs and their associated service jobs in Mountain View.
• The 10.5 acres of public parkland dedication will provide a pleasant place for the members of this community to destress and socialize.
• The $19M of community benefit package being offered in exchange for bonus FAR will be valuable to the city.

We also have some constructive feedback that we’d hope for you to take into consideration:

Dear Mayor Abe-Koga and Members of the City Council,

Mountain View YIMBY would like to share our vision for Item 8.1 R3 Zoning District Update.

Overall, we would like to see the city adopt changes to the R3 zoning that make it more flexible, feasible, and predictable in terms of both the total fees and timing of the process. We think this can be achieved via a form-based code. More specifically, we would like to see:

Mountain View YIMBY sends its regards to Mayor Adrian Fine of Palo Alto, who declined to seek re-election this year. Adrian, we wish you all the best in your future endeavors, and we will miss having you as an ally.

We share the sentiments Adrian expressed in this interview with The Six Fifty in October. We appreciate the shout-out to our city of Mountain View, but we need to keep up the momentum and keep up the pressure on our neighboring cities to build more!

Dear Mayor Abe-Koga and Members of the City Council,

Mountain View YIMBY would like to make comments about Item 3.1 Lot 12 Remaining Development Priorities.

Since Lot 12 is owned by the city, it represents a finite and valuable resource.We think the city could make the best use of this opportunity by not limiting the number of units to 120.

Furthermore, given the financial impact of COVID on future budgets and the increased risk of homelessness, we believe that the city should utilize Measure A funding sources to close the financial gap in Lot 12 funding and create much needed Permanently Supportive Housing and Rapid Rehousing infrastructure for the city.