Oct. 15, 2025 Environmental Planning Commission

Video

Transcript

Segment 3

[00:00:00] Commissioner Joyce Yin: In a certain instance, if I'm honest with myself as a designer, it's sort of, um, in the aspect of placemaking and urban design given its location is sort of not doing the best it can. And I say that not to take away from all the positives. So if you guys will indulge me, I will just kind of explain what I mean because, um, I think it is hard to get across easily. Um, so in this respect, I'm talking about urban design and how form creates public space. And I find it great that you have a public plaza, I appreciate that. I feel like there was sort of a lack of clarity from the get-go in terms of understanding what you have and how you could use it. So from my perspective, if I look at this, initially from napkin sketch, I would have created this public plaza to be accessible from both sides, both Castro and El Camino. And as it's been said before, it's in a premier location. You know, if I put myself in developer and the owner's shoes, I would drool over the potential. And I think two aspects which you did through the process hit, which was to listen to the community about the artwork. Um, I'll touch on that. And mainly it is the design of the public plaza. So when we have buildings in the city, and this is where, please just indulge me. When you have buildings in the city, they perform a function as sort of like a community citizen in structure form. So when you're in the middle of the block, you just continue the street wall and you're doing your job. But because of where you are, the way I see it, it is that you are at the node and intersection of the historic El Camino Real that is the largest and longest local and regional thoroughfare that cuts through the entire peninsula. You're at the intersection of that thoroughfare and the historic Main Street of our downtown. It is the heart, as a lot of people feel, and it's beloved within the city, not just for the area and the neighborhood. It's the city's sort of living room. So you guys are placed prominently at that intersection and that that node. You just move one block over and it's a little bit different. So layer that with the downtown which leads to the historic train depot that's still running to this day. It is the reason for Mountain View's existence pretty much and its growth as a city.

Segment 1

[00:01:00] Chair José Gutiérrez: Good evening everyone. Welcome to the Environmental Planning Commission meeting of October 15th, 2025. I will call the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. For those joining us in person, please note that due to our hybrid environment, audio and video presentations can no longer be shared from the lectern. Requests to show an audio or video presentation during a meeting should be directed to epc@mountainview.gov by 4:30 p.m. on the meeting date.

[00:02:04] Chair José Gutiérrez: Additionally, due to our hybrid environment, we will no longer have speakers line up to speak on an item. Anyone wishing to address the EPC in person must complete a yellow speaker card. Please indicate the name you would like to be called by when it is your turn to speak, and the item number on which you wish to speak. Please complete one yellow speaker card for each item on which you wish to speak and turn them in to the EPC Clerk as soon as possible, but no later than the call for public comment on the item you are speaking on. Instructions for addressing the Commission virtually may be found on the posted agenda. Now I will ask the EPC Clerk to proceed with roll call.

[00:03:20] EPC Clerk: Commissioner Dempsey?

[00:03:23] Commissioner Hank Dempsey: Here.

[00:03:25] EPC Clerk: Commissioner Donahue?

[00:03:27] Commissioner Paul Donahue: Here.

[00:03:28] EPC Clerk: Commissioner Yin?

[00:03:30] Commissioner Joyce Yin: Here.

[00:03:31] EPC Clerk: Commissioner Cranston?

[00:03:33] Commissioner Bill Cranston: Here.

[00:03:34] EPC Clerk: Commissioner Pham?

[00:03:36] Commissioner Tina Pham: Here.

[00:03:37] EPC Clerk: Vice Chair Nuñez?

[00:03:38] Vice Chair Alex Nuñez: Here.

[00:03:39] EPC Clerk: And Chair Gutiérrez.

[00:03:40] Chair José Gutiérrez: Here.

[00:03:41] EPC Clerk: All commissioners are present.

[00:03:43] Chair José Gutiérrez: Awesome. Okay. Moving on to the minutes approval, Section 3.1 of the agenda, the Environmental Planning Commission meeting minutes of January 15th, 2025. Any EPC discussion?

Segment 3

[00:03:52] Commissioner Joyce Yin: When you look at it that way and you note notice it's a gateway to the downtown, if you're going out El Camino, it opens up because two of the buildings on is that west? Northwest, the downtown side of this intersection pull back. It's a major move. So when you're designing public spaces, you're using the walls of the building to create and define the space. Streets are corridors because you have curbs, sidewalks, and the walls just go down. It's you don't even think about it. You know where you're going. This is the public space. You don't think about how people placemake. So we've got those two at 800 and the public park that pull away from the corner and define a gateway to the downtown. Now the older Greystar building that I believe you worked on also pulls back slightly. So you have three buildings that pull back from the corner, marking this node and intersection. And what you guys are doing is so close, but and I I appreciate the process. The end result is what I have a critique on. You're creating a place that does not respond to its context or its other three members that form the gateway. So its relationship is primarily just to El Camino and sort of turns its back on your sister building which has a public plaza, small but it's there. And so with the building that you have now, you have a public plaza that ignores its other team members, so to speak, of the gateway and creates a place as if you were not in this place in in this select location. So I'm sorry if it's I'm not conveying this well. But it's not only a missed opportunity, I feel like given this premium location, which I'm sure you'll benefit from, you're not making the most of the responsibility of what the building should be doing on that site. So it's it's not just a missed opportunity. I feel like it's it's a role that isn't being fulfilled in a sense. Um, so again, this is not to take away from the positives. It's my own personal thought in terms of placemaking and design.

Segment 1

[00:03:56] Chair José Gutiérrez: Nope. Okay. Public comment. If anyone in attendance would like to provide comments on the minutes, please fill out a yellow speaker card and provide it to the EPC Clerk. If anyone on Zoom would like to provide comment on the minutes, please click the raise hand button in Zoom or press star nine on your phone. Phone users can mute and unmute themselves with star six. Clerk, do we have anyone who wishes to speak about the... about this issue or anyone in Zoom?

[00:05:05] EPC Clerk: No one on Zoom and I don't believe any of these are for the minutes.

[00:05:15] Chair José Gutiérrez: Okay, great. Thank you. So we have no one that wishes to opine on this issue. Great. A motion to approve the minutes should include the following item. I will probably need someone to do the motion in a second. And the language should be: Approve the Environmental Planning Commission minutes of January 15th, 2025.

[00:05:33] Commissioner Bill Cranston: Move.

[00:05:34] Chair José Gutiérrez: Moved by Commissioner Cranston.

[00:05:37] Commissioner Hank Dempsey: Second.

[00:05:38] Chair José Gutiérrez: Seconded by Commissioner Dempsey. That we should approve the Environmental Planning Commission minutes of January 15th, 2025. Let's do the vote.

Segment 3

[00:06:21] Commissioner Joyce Yin: And then you've also made a big move to shape the plaza. The shape of it is like a funnel that directs you straight to the PG&E transformer. Now, I know you earlier you had said that PG&E is strict and rigid and they said, you know, late in the game, it has to be above If the idea in the beginning was clear enough, I think PG&E would have understood that, oh, we've got to clear the space out. It's a huge move. We can accommodate something. So saying PG&E wouldn't budge and we just said, okay, I understand that's what happened. I don't think that was that's not a great excuse because if the idea were clear enough and strong enough, they would have made an accommodation. I think the city would have pushed for it. You guys would have pushed for it. I think you guys did not understand like the gem that you have in this site and did not take advantage of it fully. The process of getting the artwork, that happened through many, many conversations with the community and I appreciate that it happened, that it's being saved. Um, but had there were uh had there been an understanding of what you had to begin with, I think the clarity of the design would have been there and you wouldn't have to go through the rigmarole and all those conversations. And a lot of the time and effort and money could have been spent in making the project, you know, the go to the next level. So I understand, provides housing. Provides a public space. But it is doing so in a way that does acknowledge does not acknowledge its role as an anchor, as a gateway member, and one of four that mark this very, very important place in our city. So I'm sorry, it's really long, but I just feel like I wanted to, you know, make it stated uh or state it so that you understand where I'm coming from. So, um, I'll just leave it at that for now. Thanks.

Segment 1

[00:06:45] EPC Clerk: The motion passes. All Commissioners motion to approve.

[00:06:52] Chair José Gutiérrez: Great. Thank you for that. Now we move on to Section 4 of the agenda, Oral Communication. This portion of the meeting is reserved for persons wishing to address the EPC on any matter not on the agenda. Speakers are allowed to speak on any topic for up to three minutes during this section. State law prohibits the commission from acting on non-agenda items. If anyone in attendance would like to provide comments on non-agenda items, please fill out a yellow speaker card and provide it to the EPC Clerk. If anyone on Zoom would like to provide a comment on non-agenda items, please click the raise hand button in Zoom or press star nine on your phone. Phone users can mute and unmute themselves with star six. Clerk, do we have anyone who wishes to speak on this or someone from Zoom?

[00:08:17] EPC Clerk: None online and none in person.

[00:08:21] Chair José Gutiérrez: Awesome. So we'll move on to Section 5, which is Public Hearing. 5.1: Mixed-use project at 749 West El Camino Real. Could the Commissioners with conflicts of interest please make your recusal statements now, please?

[00:08:35] Commissioner Joyce Yin: Chair? Sorry for the interruption. I just wanted to make a correction for record that this pertains to Item 3.1, the minutes approval. The final roll call was 6-1 with one abstain because of absence.

Segment 3

[00:08:35] Chair José Gutiérrez: Are you going to opine further so that we can give you more time? If you'd like to continue on, I don't we don't want to cut you back or hold you back.

[00:08:44] Commissioner Joyce Yin: No, no, I'm not cutting back right now. My mouth is dry. It's tired. I'm tired. You guys are tired. But uh, I'm hoping I was able to convey it. I'm not working at my best potential either here. Um, so.

Segment 1

[00:08:52] Chair José Gutiérrez: Thank you for the clarification on that. Appreciate it. And now we will... who abstained?

Segment 3

[00:08:55] Chair José Gutiérrez: That's quite alright. No. Thank you for sharing. Thank you, Commissioner Yin. Thank you. Um, Commissioner Donahue?

Segment 1

[00:08:58] Commissioner Tina Pham: I did.

Segment 3

[00:08:58] Commissioner Paul Donahue: So I think this is a a obviously it's it's a premier location in town. It's a great location for uh for for redevelopment. Uh, it's right near the downtown, uh it's within walking distance of the downtown. It's obviously within walking distance of the 522 bus stop, which is right there. Um, and it's uh I like a lot of the the elements. I like the the trees that are being preserved, that screen of trees that that uh delineates the the existing uh uh residential uses from from the project. Um, and uh and the the plaza trees with the the not only 48 inch box trees but 84 inch box trees, which are really huge. Um, that's I think uh fantastic. The the the tree stuff uh 20 27.1% canopy at at maturity, which is above the what we're going to talk about uh the 22.7% that we're going to talk about uh uh later tonight. Um, the and and the artwork actually is preserving the artwork I think is great. We're um I'm on the Cuesta Park neighborhood email list and somebody sent this out a few years ago. The first response was, what's going to happen to the mural? And I'm glad to see that that that's been answered and and it will be um uh preserved. I have a uh a book called Public Art in Mountain View. It's kind of a booklet put out by the Visual Arts Committee, I think in the 90s. And it's it's one of the there's like three dozen uh artworks across town and it's one of them that's in there. So I'm glad to see that it will be that it will be preserved. Um, so as far as the um the interface with the existing uh uh uses uh neighb you know, the neighboring residential uses, I am somewhat disappointed in the the waiver of the 45 degree angle. Uh, I dusted off my high school trigonometry skills and uh and it looks like it's about a 55 degree angle, which is a pretty considerable difference. Um, not totally thrilled with that, but it it's I I don't think there's really anything that we can be that we can do about that unfortunately. Um, the um as far as the other waivers, I'm not quite as concerned.

Segment 1

[00:08:59] Chair José Gutiérrez: Oh, right on. Okay, great. Thank you.

[00:09:08] Commissioner Bill Cranston: Out of the abundance of caution and to avoid any suggestion of a conflict of interest or any impropriety, I am recusing myself from this item. This is due to a business relationship between the applicant and my small business in San Francisco. Thank you.

[00:10:04] Chair José Gutiérrez: Thank you, Commissioner Cranston.

[00:10:28] Chair José Gutiérrez: Okay. We'll first have a staff presentation, then questions by the EPC, followed by public comment. At the closure of public comment, the Commission will then deliberate and take action. Excuse me. The staff presentation, as I understand it, will be presented by Project Manager Margaret Netto and Assistant Community Development Department Director Amber Blizinski. Okay, team, you're on.

[00:11:55] Senior Planner Margaret Netto: Good evening, Chair Gutiérrez and Commissioners. My name is Margaret Netto, Senior Planner and Project Planner for this mixed-use development proposal located at 749 West El Camino Real. I'm joined by Assistant Community Development Director Amber Blizinski. Staff has prepared a brief presentation outlining the project and I'll begin by providing some context describing the project location.

Segment 3

[00:11:58] Commissioner Paul Donahue: The um uh I think it's a a bit ironic that the um that the one of the waivers has to do with the fact that the uh the property line cuts in for the the bus stop there and so there needs to be a waiver for that. But the bus stop is the thing that allows uh some of the uh uh I think it's well now I now I forget exactly what the bus that the uh the parking requirements, reduced parking requirements. Um, so anyway, it's kind of ironic that that the bus stop kind of cuts both ways. But anyway, um, obviously the the thing that I mentioned before that everybody's been talking about is the kind of the Amazon deliveries, UPS, things like that. I think I hope that in the uh near future that you kind of come up with some sort of a an answer to that. So, you know, when it comes to council that that that you have some sort of a a a plan that um that that will work. Um, and yeah, other other than that, I think that uh oh, the other thing that I love is the um not only the the affordable units, but the um uh very low income affordable units that are inclusionary. So I I I just think that that's uh that's great. Um, so yeah, overall, I think it's um definitely not perfect. I mean, no no project is, but I think that it's uh I think that it's worth supporting.

Segment 1

[00:12:22] Senior Planner Margaret Netto: The existing development includes two one-story buildings, a vacant restaurant building and an operational Chase Bank building, surface parking and associated landscape and hardscape improvements. The approximately 3.05 acre project site is located in the El Camino Real Precise Plan within the Village Centers Area and has a General Plan land use designation of Mixed-Use Corridor. To the west is a four-story mixed-use residential building, the Elan Apartments. To the south is a one to two-story multifamily residential uses on Victor Way. To the north is one to four-story commercial buildings and Gateway Park. To the east, two-story multifamily residential uses across Lane Avenue.

Segment 3

[00:13:10] Chair José Gutiérrez: Thank you, Commissioner Donahue. Commissioner Yin. Okay. Commissioner Dempsey.

[00:13:15] Commissioner Hank Dempsey: Thank you, Mr. Chair. So I don't think I'm going to break any new ground with with comments that I have tonight. Um, I'm definitely going to support this project, so let me just get that out there now. Um, I sat and tried to as my colleagues were talking, I tried to make a list of things that I liked about this project and I I started running out of space on my on my paper frankly. And so I think there's a lot that really sh that is admirable and deserves recognition in this. And it's frankly, it's things that people have already mentioned. It's, you know, we it's densification of Castro Street. It's better utilization of that space. It that's absolutely true than a, you know, big empty parking lot, except for when it's a Christmas tree lot. Um, you know, it it really is bringing more people down to Castro so it can activate the street better. We want that. We're there's all kinds of things we're trying to do to get more people down there and you can walk just walk down Castro Street and go jump on VTA or go jump on Caltrain. That's a really good thing. We want people down there. Uh, the affordable housing additions and the fact that it was done inclusionary and it's properly dispersed throughout the building. That's fantastic. You save the art, which is I mean, I'd love to see how in the heck you're going to cut that mural out and replace it somewhere. I'd love to see you actually do that. Like that should be that's going to be a great YouTube clip one day. Um, you know, I'm glad to see that there is some retail activations out on Castro Street because Castro Street needs it. Castro Street really does need it. That's not the most appealing part of Mountain View. Uh or uh El Camino is not the most appealing part. Castro is wonderful. Uh El Camino, not a not always my favorite. Uh it needs some help. The fact that you've got uh, you know, one point five to one tree replacement rate. That's awe I love that. Let's let's stick some more trees in there. That's good stuff. The fact you pay living wages to your construction workers, that is really admirable because not everybody does that. There's so much I like about this.

Segment 1

[00:13:54] Senior Planner Margaret Netto: The project involves constructing a mixed-use development comprised of 299 residential units utilizing State Density Bonus Law in a six-story building with 10,830 square feet of ground floor neighborhood commercial space, an at-grade podium parking above two levels of underground parking, a two-story 8,483 square foot bank building, a Provisional Use Permit for rooftop deck, a Heritage Tree Removal Permit to remove 28 Heritage trees, and a Vesting Preliminary Parcel Map to create a single lot with up to four commercial condominium units from two existing parcels.

[00:15:18] Senior Planner Margaret Netto: The project has frontage on four public streets: El Camino Real, Castro Street, Victor Way, and Lane Avenue. And most of the site will be developed with the building area. The project orients ground floor retail commercial, common areas, lobbies and other residential amenity spaces along El Camino Real and Castro Street with the new bank building proposed near its current location. The new bank building will be two stories and will be adjacent to the public plaza sited along El Camino Real. The public plaza on El Camino will be wrapped by ground floor commercial space with landscape features, lighting and outdoor seating.

Segment 3

[00:16:07] Commissioner Hank Dempsey: I say all that and then to be honest, there was a couple parts that were disappointing. They're understandable, but they're disappointing and I feel like I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't say it. Um, you know, I am a little disappointed that the the retail activation isn't all the way across El Camino. Uh that that corner where Clarke's was, I, you know, I would have loved to have seen that activated all the way across because when we and and that we put it in the precise plan for a reason that uh, you know, in a in a village center like that, you've got a you have to have that ground floor activation. And and part of why I care about that, it really gets to what Commissioner Yin was talking about. When big, you know, what I don't want to have happen with El Camino is just to have it turn into a walled canyon. That's why we activate ground floor, right? We want it to be welcoming. We, you know, one of the things I love about the building that's across the street where Mr. Hsiung is and where Ilan is, there is a space out front. There there is a, you know, there's a fountain and there's some places you can sit and I I myself have gone there many times and gotten boba with my son. We sit out sit out front or whatever. That's really kind of nice. I like that. That feels good to me when I drive by and I live down sort of by there and so I see people out there with their dogs. Like that's a nice feeling. And I actually am a little bit worried with this that it does sort of turn its back on Castro. I think was the phrase that Commissioner Yin used. And that when I when I look at the pictures and when I imagine how I'm going to feel driving down that street as I do almost every day, that doesn't feel welcome. I don't feel welcomed there. It's just a wall. And I mean, yeah, the, you know, the the Chase building kind of looks cool. I admit that. But I don't I'm not being invited anywhere. And that that kind of bums me out a little bit. Um, and there's nothing we there's nothing that we can do about it. I totally get how the law works. That's fine. But I do feel like there was a little bit of a missed opportunity to welcome to welcome people in from both sides. And I understand that that's a hard thing to do from a construction standpoint. Um, but you know, those kids coming home at 3 o'clock from Graham, they're just going to walk past a big old wall all the way down to the corner. And that, I don't know, that just feels like a lost opportunity. Um, that's enough. That's enough for me. But I do support the uh project. You did a lot of really good things for the city here. I'm glad there's folks who are going to be able to come and live here, especially those that can do it affordably. So good on you.

Segment 1

[00:16:44] Senior Planner Margaret Netto: In general, the proposed project is consistent with the General Plan's vision for the site, as it is a mix of commercial and residential uses at six stories, consistent with the land use designation. The project is in a key location near Downtown and adjacent to the Rapid bus stop and includes a public plaza. The project is consistent with the El Camino Real Precise Plan development standards including building height, open space, and pavement coverage.

[00:17:15] Senior Planner Margaret Netto: The project proposes to provide 15.8% of the base units to lower income households. 31 units will be reserved for very low income and two units will be reserved for low income households. By offering the majority of BMR units at 50% AMI, the applicant is delivering housing at a deeper affordability level than required under the City's BMR Ordinance, thereby complying with the requirement. The units are reasonably dispersed throughout the project meeting the City's BMR Ordinance.

Segment 3

[00:17:35] Chair José Gutiérrez: Thank you, Commissioner Dempsey. Commissioner Pham.

[00:17:40] Commissioner Tina Pham: So I don't have a lot to add from what my commis my fellow commissioners have already said. Um, I'll echo some of the things that I like about the project. The tree preservation, replanting is really neat. Also, um, the addition of housing, especially affordable units is really great and supported as well. And it's uh really awesome that uh the applicant and others were able to find a way to keep some of the artwork. Um, one of the things that I read in the staff report that was really impressive and really neat to me was um the outreach and the solicitation of input from community members. It listed 10 um community meetings in three years, which is really impressive. So it shows that um the applicant really cared about getting input and incorporating it into the design. So that's all I have to say. I'm going to be supporting the project.

Segment 1

[00:18:29] Senior Planner Margaret Netto: The proposed modern design of the building includes a circular form for the bank building with residential portion of the building stepping back from the bank area towards the other project street frontages. Most of the residential units within the mixed-use building are located on the second through sixth floors, with the ground floor level containing five residential units on the southwest side of the building along Victor Way.

Segment 3

[00:18:35] Chair José Gutiérrez: Thank you, Commissioner Pham. Hmm. And thank you, Greystar, for your time and patience. Okay. So, we've let's move on to action. So I'll make a motion and I think at this point in time...

[00:18:51] Vice Chair Alex Nuñez: I'll second.

[00:18:52] Chair José Gutiérrez: Okay, cool. Uh, so Commissioner Gutiérrez makes a a motion, seconded by Vice Chair Nuñez, to do the following. Number one, adopt a resolution of the City Council of the City of Mountain View certifying the final supplemental environmental impact report and adopting findings of fact, a mitigation monitoring and reporting program, and a statement of overriding considerations for the mixed-use project at 749 West El Camino Real (APNs: 193-02-049 and 193-02-050) to be read in title only, further reading waived (Exhibit 1 to the EPC staff report); point two, adopt a resolution of the City Council of the City of Mountain View approving a planned community permit and development review permit to remove an existing commercial bank building, a vacant restaurant building, and surface parking lot and construct a mixed-use development comprised of 299 residential rental units utilizing State Density Bonus Law in a six-story building with 10,830 square feet of ground-floor neighborhood commercial space and at-grade podium parking above two levels of underground parking, a two-story 8,483 square foot bank building, a provisional use permit for a rooftop deck, a Heritage Tree Removal Permit to remove 28 Heritage trees on a 3.05-acre site at 749 West El Camino Real (APNs: 193-02-049 and 193-02-050) and a supplemental environmental impact report (SEIR) was prepared for the project pursuant to Sections 15152 and 15163 of the California Environmental Quality Act to be read in title only, further reading waived (Exhibit 2 to the EPC staff report); and point one to two, oh is uh should this be point three? Look look at the language. We got one, two, and then we have a two underneath that. Next is three. Okay. And three. And let's make a correction if it's posted like that on the agenda uh online as well. And point three, adopt a resolution. Thank you, by the way. Adopt a resolution of the City Council of the City of Mountain View conditionally approving a Vesting Preliminary Parcel Map to create one lot with up to four commercial condominium units on a 3.05-acre site at 749 West El Camino Real (APNs: 193-02-049 and 193-02-050) to be read in title only, further reading waived (Exhibit 3 to the EPC staff report). Let's do the vote.

Segment 1

[00:19:17] Senior Planner Margaret Netto: The El Camino Real calls for a design sensitivity for height and setback transitions to surrounding buildings and lower intensity neighborhoods along the El Camino Real corridor. The building frontages on Lane Avenue and Victor Way have been designed with a residential scale and building heights step down towards the existing adjacent residential neighborhood.

[00:20:19] Senior Planner Margaret Netto: The project's proposed Vesting Preliminary Parcel Map for the mixed-use residential and commercial project proposes to create a single lot for condominium purposes which will accommodate the development of up to four commercial condominium units.

[00:20:39] Senior Planner Margaret Netto: The project proposes about 60,000 square feet of open area which exceeds the minimum requirement for the El Camino Real Precise Plan requirement. The open space area includes a combination of both publicly accessible and private common open spaces in multiple locations including the plaza on El Camino that will contain landscaping and seating, passive landscape areas around the perimeter of the project site and along residential buildings at street level, three courtyards for the residents on the second level of the building, and a rooftop deck that will include outdoor amenities such as lounge furniture, landscaping, a pool, spa, and raised planter beds.

Segment 3

[00:21:20] EPC Clerk: Chair, would you kindly uh restate the maker of the motion?

[00:21:24] Chair José Gutiérrez: Yes, that was me. Thank you. Because I'm not going to restate the motion, bud.

[00:21:38] EPC Clerk: Um, the motion passes with uh six ayes and one uh recuse.

[00:21:45] Chair José Gutiérrez: Thank you. So team, at this point in time, should we take a five-minute break? Are you open to that? Okay. Let's do a five-minute break right now at uh the time is what? I don't know, man. Well, we'll do a 10-minute break. I mean a five-minute break now. Thanks.

Segment 1

[00:22:04] Senior Planner Margaret Netto: The project currently contains 89 trees, including 28 Heritage trees and 61 non-Heritage trees. The project proposes to remove a total of 80 trees including all 28 Heritage trees and 52 non-Heritage trees, and preserve nine non-Heritage trees. The applicant will provide 123 replacement trees.

[00:22:33] Senior Planner Margaret Netto: The project will plant approximately 123 replacement trees which exceeds the replacement requirement and results in 43 additional trees onsite in areas surrounding the building and within the courtyards onsite. In addition to the replacement trees, the project will plant other new landscaping including new shrubs, ground cover around the perimeter of the site, within the public plaza, and the second floor courtyards, and on the roof of the mixed-use building. Within the plaza, large trees will be planted including an 84-inch box and 48-inch box size trees. The overall canopy at maturity will exceed the existing canopy by 5,000 square feet. The project proposes 76% native landscape plantings which exceed the City's 75% native landscaping goal.

[00:24:13] Senior Planner Margaret Netto: The project will contain one level of ground floor podium parking reserved for the commercial uses onsite and two levels of underground parking reserved for residents. Although there is no parking requirement minimum for residential portion of the project in the El Camino Real Precise Plan, the applicant is voluntarily providing parking for both the residential and commercial components of the mixed-use development. The project proposes 424 long-term spaces and 30 short-term spaces which exceeds the bicycle requirement. The project provides the offsite improvements including new sidewalk, protected bikeway, and a bus duckout.

[00:25:39] Senior Planner Margaret Netto: The applicant has provided a TDM plan that meets the El Camino Real Precise Plan requirements for the project and supports a 4% reduction of vehicle miles traveled and a 7% peak hour trip reduction for the project. The project includes transportation improvements per MTA and the project is screened out of the VMT analysis, there is no VMT impact.

[00:26:45] Senior Planner Margaret Netto: An historic resource evaluation was prepared and determined that the primary structure onsite is eligible for individual listing in the California Register of Historical Resources and the Mountain View Register of Historical Resources, and is therefore considered an historic resource under CEQA. As the project proposes to demolish a historic resource, the City determined that a focused Supplemental EIR was required. The draft Supplemental EIR was circulated for public review for a 45-day comment period which commenced on March 11, 2025 and ended on April 25, 2025. The City received six written public comment letters on the draft SEIR. Staff has responded to these comment letters in the Final SEIR. The Final SEIR was made available to the public on August 19, 2025. The project results in significant and unavoidable impact resulting from the demolition of the bank building and relocation of the artwork.

[00:28:42] Senior Planner Margaret Netto: As identified in the project draft SEIR, the project will demolish the existing bank building and associated plaza onsite to allow for the construction of the new mixed-use building. Prior to demolition, the project will salvage the individual art pieces associated with the bank building and preserve them for reinstallation in the new development. The demolition of the bank building results in the loss of historic integrity for the site as the building artwork and plaza all contribute to the historical significance of the property. Because the primary structure onsite will no longer be eligible for listing in the California Register of Historical Resources due to the proposed demolition, the impact on the historic resource according to CEQA will be considered significant and unavoidable. These slides show the relocation of the artwork.

[00:30:27] Senior Planner Margaret Netto: The significant and unavoidable impact will require the adoption of a Statement of Overriding Considerations by the City Council at the time of the Final SEIR. A Statement of Overriding Considerations demonstrates that the benefits of the project outweigh the significant and unavoidable impacts. The benefits of the project have been included and are attached to the Findings of Fact and Statement of Overriding Considerations and include mitigation measures incorporated into the project.

Segment 3

[00:31:20] Chair José Gutiérrez: Okay, at 9:01 PM we're back on. Six point six new business. But yet I find something here that says 5.1. Do we refer to 6.1? Okay. Let's try and make these corrections ahead of time so that I don't call them out in public because I don't want to have people think that I'm capping on you guys. So let's let's just try and work on that. And also, food for thought, EPC Clerk, remind me or and remind the team if we can, let's see if we can get a pointer. So that in case there's presentations and people want to point out to things and developers show up, they can use a pointer. And if you can't get one, no problem, I will get one and I will give it kindly to the city so that you can use it from here on out. That way you can remember me for the rest of your lives. Okay. Awesome. There you go. We have a pointer right here. Courtesy of uh, yeah. Thank you. Alright. So let's go with 6.1 Biodiversity and Urban Forest Plan Draft. First, we will have a staff presentation followed by public comments. At the closure of public comment, the commission will ask general questions and deliberate on this item. Let's begin with a staff presentation from Assistant Community Services Director Brenda Silvia and Senior Management Analyst Ms. Lindsey Wong.

Segment 1

[00:31:40] Senior Planner Margaret Netto: The applicant held at least 10 community outreach meetings. Several iterations of the project have been reviewed by staff which incorporate modifications that came from the community outreach efforts by the applicant. These modifications included updates to the project to preserve the existing artwork on the bank building. Staff has worked with the applicant over the course of the development review process to refine the design based on code requirements, design guidance from the El Camino Real Precise Plan, and preservation of the associated artwork. The applicant attended two design review consultation meetings on August 17, 2022 and October 16, 2024.

Segment 3

[00:32:20] Assistant Community Services Director Brenda Silvia: Thank you. Good evening, Commissioners. My name is Brenda Silvia, Assistant Community Services Director and project lead for the Biodiversity and Urban Forest Plan. I am virtually joined by my project partner, Lindsey Wong, a Senior Management Analyst, as well as Russell Hansen, Urban Forest Manager. Also with us virtually are members of our consultant team from the San Francisco Estuary Institute, also known as SFEI, who are co-presenting this item. I am pleased to introduce Selena Pang and Lauren Stoneburner, who have led the development of the plan in partnership with city staff. Tonight, we will present the draft Biodiversity and Urban Forest Plan, answer your questions, and receive your feedback. We are specifically requesting input from the commission on the discussion question outlined in the staff report. Before we begin, I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge the city project team. If they aren't here, but their time, knowledge, and expertise has been invaluable throughout this effort. John Marchant, Community Services Director; Russell Hansen, Urban Forest Manager; Tim Youngberg, Parks and Open Space Manager; Jeffrey Sumera, Senior Planner; Danielle Lee, Chief Sustainability and Resiliency Officer; Fariel Saidnia, Senior Project Manager; Raymond Wong, Senior Civil Engineer; and many more city staff who helped support the development of the draft plan.

Segment 1

[00:32:26] Senior Planner Margaret Netto: This is a Tier 1 project in the El Camino Real Precise Plan which requires a recommendation by the EPC through the Major Planned Community Permit. The focus is compliance with the objective design standards. The following are the Planned Community Findings which are part of Attachment 2 of the staff report. Staff is recommending the following. That concludes my presentation. I am here to answer any questions along with Amber Blizinski and Christian Murdock. And the applicant, Dan Dybel, is here to answer any questions. We also have David J. Powers, our consultant team, and also Paige & Turnbull. Thank you.

[00:34:01] Chair José Gutiérrez: Thank you, Ms. Netto, appreciate your presentation. Members of the EPC, who would like to opine first?

Segment 3

[00:34:05] Assistant Community Services Director Brenda Silvia: Excuse me. All right, I'll give you a little bit of background. Uh, in June 2021, City Council adopted the Strategic Roadmap, which included sustainability and climate resiliency as a key priority. Two related projects were identified: to update the 2015 Community Tree Master Plan and define biodiversity requirements for landscaping. Staff began working on both projects, partnering with Davey Resource Group for the Community Tree Master Plan update and SFEI for a biodiversity strategy. Based on feedback from the Parks and Recreation Commission and our community, the scope of the projects expanded to integrate the CTMP Community Tree Master Plan into a broader Biodiversity and Urban Forest Plan developed by SFEI with support from Davey Resource Group. The Plan is the first of its kind in the Bay Area, providing a unified science-based framework for enhancing biodiversity and managing Mountain View's urban forest. The plan is a guiding document that lays out priorities and recommendations recommended actions. It doesn't include cost, timelines, or detailed targets. Once the plan is adopted, city staff will take the lead in implementing it. Some key milestones in the project include: in 2022, the Parks and Rec Commission reviewed the consultant scope of work; in 2023, the Parks and Rec Commission reviewed project updates, outreach information, and offered guidance to strengthen the public engagement process; in 2024, the Parks and Rec Commission reviewed research findings, outreach results, and the draft vision, goals, and objectives. I will now hand things over to SFEI, Selena Pang and Lauren Stoneburner, who will share an overview of the draft plan and the process that brought us here.

Segment 1

[00:34:18] Commissioner Hank Dempsey: Excuse me Chair, the applicant has a presentation also.

[00:35:02] EPC Clerk: Just so you want to say a few words.

[00:35:04] Chair José Gutiérrez: Sure, go for it.

[00:35:06] Dan Dybel: So Chair Gutiérrez and Commission members, thank you for the opportunity to be here tonight to review the project. I apologize for getting the Chair wrong on the email this morning, sorry about that. I'm Dan Dybel with Greystar Real Estate Partners and we're here representing Metropolitan Life Insurance, the property owner. We're happy with the presentation and the staff report. We have a few things we're going to work on between now and the City Council hearing with staff to get to a collaborative conclusion on a few open issues that we still have on conditions of approval, but we think that will just evolve and be concluded over the next few weeks. We have our team here with us as well from Greystar, our design team and legal counsel from Holland & Knight to answer any questions that come up during your deliberation and comments. And we look forward to working with you. Thank you.

Segment 3

[00:35:40] Lauren Stoneburner: Thank you for that intro, Brenda. And can you all hear me? All good? I'm not seeing nods. Brenda, would you? Yes, we're good. Perfect. Thank you so much. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't talking to myself. I am Lauren Stoneburner. I am an environmental scientist at the San Francisco Estuary Institute. Uh, and like Brenda mentioned, I'm joined by Selena Pang, also an environmental scientist and planner at the San Francisco Estuary Institute or SFEI. And um, thank you, Commissioners, so much for um inviting us here tonight to talk about the plan and for bringing your input with you. We're very excited to be here and hear what thoughts you have. Um, so in this presentation, we'll try to keep it short for you so we can get to the discussion. Um, but uh we'll first just introduce the plan review process and then we'll spend most of the time talking about um the contents of the plan and that includes the input ingredients to developing the plan, introducing the recommended path to implementation, and the tools for evaluation of the plan after implement uh as it's implemented. And then we'll just briefly provide an overview of the supplemental guidance that's appended to the plan. And then we'll leave time for feedback and our discussion. So here is the review process and timeline. We're towards the beginning of the draft review process. And um prior to today, staff from across city departments have provided the first round of review of the draft plan. And the draft um that this current draft is the first publicly released draft for public review and comment. We heard comments from the Parks and Rec Commission last week and we're presenting the same draft tonight to the Environmental Planning Commission. And we are also receiving comments from the public through this coming Friday um on the project website biodiversitymv.com. We're then going to revise the plan and return to the Parks and Rec Commission again in January 2026. And pending the uh Parks and Rec Commission's approval and recommendation to the City Council, the plan would be reviewed by City Council first in April 2026 and then hopefully finalized and adopted in June 2026.

Segment 1

[00:37:01] Chair José Gutiérrez: Thank you, sir. Questions? Yes we are... do we doing questions first? Yeah. So, Commissioner Dempsey.

[00:37:13] Commissioner Hank Dempsey: Thank you, Mr. Chair. So I have a preliminary question, actually a legal question, a point of clarification that I'd like to direct to the Director if I may. I'm curious about if you could help us understand a little bit better the impact of the State Density Bonus Law because I understand it's somewhat strict in its requirements. And so if you could help us understand what is sort of germane to the discretion of the EPC tonight and sort of what isn't, I think that would be really helpful for us.

Segment 3

[00:38:15] Lauren Stoneburner: So now we'll spend the bulk of our time providing an overview of the contents of the plan. As Brenda mentioned, the Mountain View Biodiversity and Urban Forest Plan is a set of vision uh a vision, goals, and objectives that promote access to, enjoyment of, and benefits from nature. And the science-based assessments, community perspectives, and city perspectives were central to setting the plan's priorities. This document, like Brenda mentioned, also serves as an update to the 2015 Community Tree Master Plan. And importantly, integrating biodiversity and urban forest planning will better inform how to manage Mountain View's landscape as a single cohesive urban ecosystem. And um also because the terms biodiversity and urban forest can be interpreted in different ways, we also just wanted to provide a brief um set of definitions. By biodiversity, we mean the diversity of all living things in an ecosystem, including mammals, pollinators, plants, and birds. And by urban forest, we mean the entire population of trees in an urban area, including both in the um built-up uh developed areas of a city and the vegetated naturalized areas. And so, like I alluded to, the three key sources of information that were the pillars to developing the plan were community perspectives around what the Mountain View community feels is important to uplift in the Biodiversity and Urban Forest Plan, a science-based assessment of what's needed to support biodiversity and urban forest health, and then city staff input on what is feasible to achieve through this plan. So these three inputs were synthesized together to develop the plan um which charts the path from vision at the bottom to action at the top. And so we're going to walk through each of these components individually, but in short, to summarize here, the vision forms the foundational underpinning of the um that leads to the goals and objectives. The metrics and targets are what enable the city to evaluate progress towards the objectives. And then the actions are the concrete steps that the city can implement to make progress towards the vision.

Segment 1

[00:38:24] Community Development Director Christian Murdock: Sure. Thank you, Commissioner Dempsey. Good evening Commissioners, Christian Murdock, Community Development Director. As it pertains to State Density Bonus Law, I think there's likely two main elements of that law that are relevant to the Commission's discussion tonight. One is the deviation between the allowable density or scale or intensity of the project and what's proposed. State Density Bonus Law provides greater intensity of development typically through additional dwelling units as compared to the baseline regulations adopted by a city. And applicants are entitled to that by providing minimum proportions of affordable housing units as part of their project. I think the other area that's relevant pertains to waivers and concessions, and particularly waivers. This project is entitled to unlimited waivers as I recall and so what that means is traditional development standards the City may have adopted, things like setbacks or other kinds of physical standards, the City is not able to impose those standards if it would physically preclude construction of the project as proposed. And so what it does is provide flexibility and relief for a project providing certain proportion of affordable housing units from those local standards. And so the Commission may be aware of the deviations that have been called out in the staff report. The City has limited opportunity to impose its standards when the applicant can demonstrate it would physically impact construction of the project.

[00:40:29] Commissioner Hank Dempsey: Thank you.

Segment 3

[00:40:29] Lauren Stoneburner: So first I'll just give a brief overview of what the um inputs to the plan were. The science-based assessment started with an assessment of the historical landscape and ecology of Mountain View. That's what you're seeing in this map and it represents um pre-Euro-American settlement of the landscape in around the um mid-18th to early 19th century. And then we um kind of described how the landscape has changed over time from that historical landscape to today. And then we also broadly evaluate the projected future climate conditions to understand growing threats. Also part of this science-based assessment was an assessment of biodiversity. Um, our biodiversity assessment was based on the biodiversity Urban Biodiversity Framework which was published in SFEI's 2019 Making Nature's City report. And using the Urban Biodiversity Framework, we evaluated seven essential landscape elements, which are shown in this diagram, including patches and connections, to identify the needs and opportunities to improve ecological conditions and support greater biodiversity in the city. And then the final dimension of the technical assessment was evaluating conditions of the urban forest. And so in that chapter, we examined uh tree canopy cover across the city, the composition of public trees, which are trees that are um owned or managed by the city, the threats to the urban forest, and then the benefits that you are likely to see from um trees in the city. And then finally, um actually I'm sorry, this was um the second pillar is um seeking input from the Mountain View community. Um, the goals of engaging the community were to first um enhance public awareness of the plan and also to generate meaningful input from a diverse range of participants, including those who otherwise might not have sought out participating in an in a Biodiversity and Urban Forest Plan. And we ended up with over 1300 community interactions over six workshops, three pop-up events, an online community survey, and postings on the project webpage. And we worked closely with the city to develop the plan. Um, like Brenda mentioned, the plan is housed within and led by the Community Services Department. We also had meetings, workshops, and consultation with our city project team, which included um staff from the Community Services Department, City Manager's Office, Community Development Department, and uh Public Works Department. And we also consulted with advisory bodies, namely Parks and Rec Commission. And we also worked in close collaboration with the Urban Forest Manager, Russ Russell Hansen, on the urban forest components of the plan. And in addition to consulting with the city, we also reviewed city and regional policies and plans in order to align and dovetail our plan with other efforts. So we synthesized the input from the science, community, and city to develop the plan. And there are five components. Um we'll introduce each step from vision to action, but to save time uh and jump kind of right into discussion, we're not going to dive deeply into the content. So the vision is a single sentence that represents the city's north star or where the community envisions Mountain View what um what the city envisions Mountain View looks like.

Segment 1

[00:40:39] Chair José Gutiérrez: All right. So I will... Commissioners bear with me, I will take advantage of being in this spot to ask questions next and then we'll go with Commissioner Yin, then Commissioner Pham and Commissioner Donahue. So first of all, I have a question in terms of the bicycle parking spaces. Can someone help me point to where these are going to supposedly be?

[00:41:45] Senior Planner Margaret Netto: Yes, they are located throughout the project at almost each entry and entrance to the project, so they are almost all the way around the project.

[00:41:59] Chair José Gutiérrez: Okay, great. And those will be mostly away from public eyesight or within that as well?

[00:42:06] Senior Planner Margaret Netto: No, you'll be able to... I mean for the bike racks will be... you will be able to see them so you can park in front of them. So yeah, they are... you'll be able to see them.

[00:42:19] Chair José Gutiérrez: Great, great. And then I have a question for the developer. I don't know who can answer this one but what inspired you to do the parking? To add the spaces, all those in general?

[00:42:35] Dan Dybel: Just based on our experience in Mountain View, you know we have two properties, we have the property across the street that we developed or no we don't own any longer but developed and managed long term. And then we have San Antonio, The Landsby. And it's just that's the demand of the market. You know we live on commuter lines and bus lines but there's still a need for people to park a car. And so we struggled with the parking ratios and arrived at what we have and it kind of follows the Mountain View minimum or the Mountain View standard model that was in place from about 2010 to just recently, I guess 2024. But that was a... that's a good standard for the reality of you know Mountain View residents that live in our communities.

[00:44:10] Chair José Gutiérrez: And then I noticed when I was reading the correspondence that was sent in from your legal team that there was an issue about a loading dock being in dispute. Is that something that you all are still facing now or has that been resolved?

Segment 2

[00:45:00] Senior Planner Margaret Netto: ...of, um, when we receive the funding of the park fee.

Segment 1

[00:45:03] Dan Dybel: No no. We... so there was a lot of dialogue on Lane Avenue and we did a lot of community outreach and a lot of work with Planning and Public Works about the movements along Lane Avenue. If you could put up a site plan to look at... um... You know we... by choice we eliminated the drive entrance on Castro because we want to protect bike/ped movements along Castro and so we took that off the table at the beginning of the process. And we wanted to park all the retail and bank parking and those uses at street level so guests weren't going up or down in a parking structure. And that required just right and left turns on Victor Way and only right turns out on El Camino. And then we kind of deal with the other component which is the residential entrance. So we have a loading dock that we use on an appointment basis with residents when they, you know, we know when they lease and they schedule, you know if it's two to four hours or whatever it's required for their moving van to come. And we needed a place for the van to get off the street and into a loading dock because there isn't any area around the perimeter of the site that a moving van could happen. And so when you have 299 units you have 299 move in and then every year you have 150 of them move out and another 150 move in. So you have 300 appointments a year that you need to accommodate. And so that was our solution is to have a loading dock and then through the process of making sure that we were paying close attention to bike/ped, particularly the route to school. We spent a lot of time with the Cuesta Park Neighborhood Association. They actually had a subcommittee that we worked with for about a year to make sure that we were addressing all the public safety needs of their kids. And then we finalized that with some mitigations, let's call them, that address that on the long term. We're funding $24,000 a year for five years for a crossing guard between the alley and the loading dock for awareness, to make sure that people are aware of what is... you know the kids and are you know aware and that we're bringing attention to that. Along with speed bumps, a pork chop at Victor Way and a few other things. So and then some real mitigation measures as far as just that the loading dock doesn't get used for people parking in it or things like that. There's a lot of precautions and things that we, whatever, we worked together to really make that area of the project safe and you know kind of... I think I've said enough.

Segment 2

[00:45:05] Commissioner Joyce Yin: Okay, thank you. That's all my questions.

[00:45:08] Chair José Gutiérrez: Appreciate it. Let's see here. Commissioner Donn- actually Commissioner Yin?

[00:45:13] Commissioner Joyce Yin: Apologies, I forgot to clear myself of the queue.

[00:45:19] Chair José Gutiérrez: Sounds good. Commissioner Donahue?

[00:45:20] Commissioner Paul Donahue: Um, one thing I noticed in the staff report and also in the presentation was that, uh, it said that basically all the trees are getting cut down except for some non-heritage trees. But my understanding from the arborist report is that at least seven of the trees that are being preserved are the redwoods that are between the, uh, the apartment buildings and what's currently the parking lot, which would, I think, they're more than 12 inches in circumference, so—I mean considerably more—uh, so that they, they would actually be heritage trees that are being preserved there. Is that correct?

[00:46:08] Senior Planner Margaret Netto: Let me ask the applicant because it's been a long process, so maybe now they are heritage trees. But the trees that you are talking about are right along, um, right back there, that the existing trees.

[00:46:21] Dan Dybel: Yeah, I, I think that some of the trees being preserved are the ones in that big green box that's, uh, to the west of the, the loading dock.

[00:46:30] Senior Planner Margaret Netto: Right. Uh, you have to, um, use the microphone, otherwise the people online can't...

[00:46:37] Dan Dybel: Seven trees, the seven trees in question are, um, yeah, as you said, below, above the white triangle—or white, uh, rectangle in the, uh, right-hand quadrant of the, uh, slide—and the parking structure. There's, there... it's actually just a buffer. I mean, we pulled the... we pulled the building back in order to preserve those trees. Um, so those are heritage trees. Yeah.

[00:47:09] Commissioner Paul Donahue: Okay. Seven...

[00:47:11] Dan Dybel: Seven. I think, seven of them are...

[00:47:12] Unknown Speaker: Eight.

[00:47:13] Dan Dybel: Eight. I'm sorry, eight of those trees are heritage trees.

[00:47:15] Commissioner Paul Donahue: Okay, great. So, well, so that's a little better than what the staff report said, that, that they're, yeah, they're heritage trees. Okay, great. Thanks. I just wanted to clarify that. Um, one other question I had is the—this is kind of a Commissioner Cranston type of question—but, uh, deliveries. So, there's two kinds of deliveries here. One is just Amazon and the, you know, those kinds of things that, that the residents will be getting kind of every day. And the other thing is that there's commercial space here, so there will be deliveries for, uh, the, for the retail and restaurants and things like that. Will those be using that loading dock area or how is that accommodated?

[00:47:59] Dan Dybel: I believe we have provision—I believe we have provisions in, in the loading dock. It's the same, same procedures would be addressed for true loading, like someone that has to reserve it, they have to arrive at the time that they're, that they're scheduled and they have to use it and pull completely into the space? Otherwise, um, you know, the ceiling height or the clear height of the garage is going to limit the, uh, height of, of delivery vans or delivery trucks to the site, um, from, you know, from, uh, pulling all the way in. So, yeah, it will be, um, it'll be an issue, uh, that we all experience every day, we, whether they're parked in, you know, in the street, um, lane, um...

[00:48:42] Commissioner Paul Donahue: Okay. So, I, yeah, I'm just wondering about the, you know, somebody... I mean, El Camino, there's, there's no parking anymore. Uh, that bus stop, I think, you know, is that's not going to work very well, yeah.

[00:48:58] Dan Dybel: That's completely off-limits. El Camino is completely off-limits, yeah. Um, lane really is completely off-limits because it's a drive-in, drive-out. Um, so Castro is off-limits. I mean, it's a high—the high frequency traffic along Castro. Um, so, yeah, it's...

[00:49:12] Commissioner Paul Donahue: I, I mean, I'm, I'm primarily thinking now about, about these Amazon things, which are pretty tall. I, what's the, the clearance in the garage?

[00:49:19] Dan Dybel: It's probably, you know, less than nine feet. I mean, for, for handicap vans it's got to be 8'2" minimum, so I think we built some height into that, but that's relatively the range, like eight to nine feet.

[00:49:33] Commissioner Paul Donahue: Okay. Yeah.

[00:49:35] Dan Dybel: Yeah. Well...

[00:49:37] Commissioner Paul Donahue: Yeah, that, that doesn't sound great, but, um, I guess it is what it is right now. Okay. Um, that's all my questions. Thanks.

[00:49:48] Dan Dybel: Thanks.

[00:49:49] Chair José Gutiérrez: Thank you, Commissioner Donahue. Commissioner Dempsey?

[00:49:50] Commissioner Hank Dempsey: Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh, couple more questions for the applicant if I may. And let me start with trees. So, I have questions about that sort of same neighborhood of trees as Commissioner Donahue, um, but I want to ask about the new ones. The, the, these not the big ones kind of, uh, that are going to, that are sort of right in the middle there at the, uh, in the middle of lane and then that same up down, um, string of new trees that are going to be right in the middle of Victor. Remind me what type of trees those are, how tall they grow...

Segment 1

[00:50:00] Chair José Gutiérrez: Yeah yeah, no problem. And then my final question is, what made you... I saw here that you were also hiring union labor. What's the thought behind that?

[00:50:10] Dan Dybel: Um, we have good relationship with union and we... so the... the labor... I believe we have a speaker that will be on later tonight that we just have a good relationship so, you know, they support us and we support them.

Segment 2

[00:50:20] Dan Dybel: Um, just let me pull it up real quick. Um, so...

[00:50:24] Commissioner Hank Dempsey: And really what I'm, what I'm trying to get at here is sort of the screening and the impacts and the mitigation of impacts for the folks that live there already.

Segment 1

[00:50:28] Chair José Gutiérrez: Thank you so much. Appreciate it. Commissioner Yin.

[00:50:35] Commissioner Joyce Yin: Thank you. First question was why is this transit stop so special on El Camino that we're modifying the street and the block for the bus stop. There's an island and everything. I'm just curious about that.

Segment 2

[00:50:35] Dan Dybel: Um, you're talking about along the, the...

[00:50:37] Commissioner Hank Dempsey: Yeah, the up and down.

[00:50:38] Dan Dybel: ...other, the other portion of the rectangle that, that aren't the heritage trees?

[00:50:41] Commissioner Hank Dempsey: Yep.

[00:50:42] Dan Dybel: Okay, let me, um... So, those are, um... I have to go to... just give me one second because I have to... um... imagery... There we go. Um... Okay. The, um, tree palette, um, for that area... or tree species... Um... I just... Can I go to your next question while I'm looking at this?

Segment 1

[00:50:50] Dan Dybel: I can speak to that. The current layout with the inboard really doesn't work with the extended buses, the express buses, because they stick out into the road. And as we were making this application, Caltrans and the City agreed to eliminate the parking on El Camino so it provided the opportunity to incorporate the bike lane into our frontage along El Camino. And with that, we made all the movements that really VTA, City, and Caltrans wanted in terms of how the bus movement works. They, instead of pulling in and departing, they stay straight in the lane. That's why we moved the bus shelter and point of entry out along that lane and then brought the bike lane inboard. And so the movements I think will be great for all parties: pedestrians, bike riders, bus patrons. And it is a VTA express stop so it's the 522 Express and 522 regular, so it gets a lot of use and I think it'll be a better outcome.

Segment 2

[00:51:40] Commissioner Hank Dempsey: Yeah, that's totally fine. The, if it's helpful, let me tell you why I asked. The reason I'm asking is I'm trying to figure out are those going to be shrubs or are they going to be screening trees?

[00:51:56] Dan Dybel: Screening trees. Definitely screening trees.

[00:51:58] Commissioner Hank Dempsey: Do, do you expect them, because I know they're, they're going to be right there next to a bunch of redwoods, it's hard to keep up with redwoods, but are we talking like 30 feet? What are we talking?

[00:52:05] Dan Dybel: Yeah. So, I mean, I, um, I expect them to be something like an Italian Cypress which grows vertical and the way you get the screening is you plant them close enough together to where they go vertical and, and, and create a, create a, a screen, um, early, you know, within a few years, I would say.

[00:52:35] Commissioner Hank Dempsey: Okay.

[00:52:38] Dan Dybel: Um, and then there's a fence along there as well. So there is planting on the fence that's in addition to—so that if you see that there's language about...

[00:52:48] Commissioner Hank Dempsey: Right.

[00:52:49] Dan Dybel: ...screening and also planting, but the planting is really to grow on the, you know, on the fence, um, to, to cover that.

[00:53:00] Commissioner Hank Dempsey: That gets you like eight feet at best. The, really what I'm asking is about the sort of the privacy and the screening implications for the folks that live there. I think that's a really important consideration. So, if this means that you're going to try to get them, get some Cypress up to 20 feet, 25 feet, something like that, that's good news because I think that'll, that'll lessen some of the many...

[00:53:23] Dan Dybel: That's exactly the intent. Yeah.

[00:53:24] Commissioner Hank Dempsey: ...that the folks that live there are going to face. And in fact, I'm glad Commissioner Pham asked this question about noise and dust mitigations. You know, I think as you know very well, heavy dust living next door to it and breathing it all the time, there's a, there's a bunch of negative health impacts that come from that including asthma and things like that. So, um, it sounds like that's something that you've considered seriously. It sounds like the, the city, you've been in dialogue with the city about making sure that that's adequate. Um, just putting it out there that that's important to me because the folks who are going to live there for multiple years living next to a construction zone, that's a big sacrifice for them. I just, uh, want to make sure that they're, they're well thought after because they're going to be the neighbors here for all of this. So that's, that was question number one. The second question I have is if you could—I, well I take note that the upper right corner there, um, that's on El Camino, that's going to be private. That's not going to be commercial space if I understand it correctly.

Segment 1

[00:53:30] Commissioner Joyce Yin: Is that something we would expect at most of the express stops if there's a development that happens there in the future? I was just curious from staff.

[00:53:43] Assistant Community Development Director Amber Blizinski: I'm not sure of that. Our colleagues from Public Works are here. I'm not sure if they have something to add.

Segment 2

[00:53:45] Dan Dybel: Correct. At the ground level, that's...

[00:53:47] Commissioner Hank Dempsey: That corner that faces on El Camino.

[00:53:49] Dan Dybel: Yeah. If you look at the, kind of the livability of the building, um, you kind of have two ends of El Camino becomes your vertical transportation, if you will. Like people that live there, they, they, they need to get up and down to the floor they live on and so there's an elevator bank, um, in that region of the building and there's one at the, kind of near the leasing office, uh, and lobby along Castro. Um, so that people that park on the lower garage, they go to floor to floor to floor, but when they want to leave the building, that would be kind of their lobby and their amenity space, um, as well as other amenity spaces. There's, you know, there's a, there's a bike, uh, storage facility, uh, you know, or room, package storage. There's all the uses are kind of taken as far as what the purpose of them are. Um, and that one it's really lobby and some, um, amenity space for that kind of quadrant of the building.

Segment 1

[00:54:00] Public Works Director Dawn Cameron: Good evening, Commissioners. Thank you for your question. With El Camino being such a significant corridor in Mountain View, as developments come in, we would look for opportunities to do improvements that support bicycle, pedestrian, and transit improvements. It really would depend on the amount of right of way that's present there but we would be looking at projects on a case-by-case and looking for opportunities to coordinate the uses. Thank you.

Segment 2

[00:54:49] Commissioner Hank Dempsey: Okay. And so you may have answered my question, but, uh, I was hoping you could explain to me what the case is for requiring a waiver to have that section of the building not be commercial even though it's facing on El Camino.

[00:55:00] Dan Dybel: Um, I mean, it's, it's, it's really like the, the usefulness of it as a retail component is, is not as... I mean, we struggled with whether or not, um, retail would be successful there. Um, we think it is successful, you know, leading up to that driveway, but then you break the driveway and you, you might have a thousand feet or something like there left over. We just thought that that was not a, um, not an ideal location. It's isolated. Um, that's our assessment.

Segment 1

[00:55:18] Commissioner Joyce Yin: Thank you for your answer. Another question. With this diagram since it's up there now I may as well ask it. When I first looked at it, it seemed that there was access from Castro into the plaza. But in this diagram that's not really the case physically. If you wouldn't mind describing what actually happens because it looks like it's open space. What really is there and what's... what you're planning for?

Segment 2

[00:55:35] Commissioner Hank Dempsey: Yeah. It wouldn't be my place to argue the point with you. Um, Clark's was there for many decades.

[00:55:40] Dan Dybel: Yeah. Clark's had a parking lot and... Oh yeah, of course, yeah. I loved Clark's but, but it's a little different with, um, when you break the string. Yeah.

Segment 1

[00:55:50] Dan Dybel: Sure. I don't have a pointer. Do you have a pointer? No? Yeah so the bank building, I think you're referring to between the horizontal green bar next to the yellow on Castro and then that space, the gray space between it and the purple. Yes exactly. That's what you're referring to. Okay. So that is an area where there's a PG&E transformer right in the center. If you see the square with a small triangle within it, that's a transformer. And when we have been planning this project over the years, about a year into it, PG&E came to us and said we're no longer allowing subsurface transformers in anywhere. They don't allow them. And so it's a challenge for everybody in the room here because they have to go somewhere. And that is what's between the purple and the green is a transformer. It's also paving and it's a back of house and it's an exit stair for the bank and you know there's a lot going on there. But the reason why it's not a pedestrian way through that is because there's a transformer.

Segment 2

[00:55:53] Commissioner Hank Dempsey: Thank you.

[00:55:54] Dan Dybel: Thanks.

[00:55:54] Chair José Gutiérrez: Thank you, Commissioner Dempsey. Commissioner Yin?

[00:55:55] Commissioner Joyce Yin: I really appreciate being on a commission with others because they ask questions and it becomes like a true discussion. So, um, you were talking about the, earlier about the, um, delivery trucks. And so I know that you, you guys have already worked with the community to try to make Lane a little safer, but you're saying that Lane is also going to be probably be the place for all the delivery trucks, um, for Amazon and everything, which is also, if I recall, the school route?

[00:56:29] Dan Dybel: Yeah, it's, um, I... I'm not saying that delivery trucks for Amazon are going to go there. I'm talking about a delivery truck that is going to have a regular schedule at, you know, 10 o'clock in the morning to deliver something to a retail that they make a reservation, uh, that's not in conflict with a resident reservation. That's how complicated that will all be. But, um, I mean delivery trucks from Amazon and will, will have to, will, will have to, they'll have to figure out how to get to, to our, um, package storage and, and, and lobby. Um...

[00:57:07] Commissioner Joyce Yin: Yeah, I, I think just, you know, knowing that there are 300 units round about, that's going to be deliveries constantly. And we... you're not the first to have this issue, but I bring it up as an issue that is real. Um, and you know, you've gone to great lengths to try to accommodate the ones that are on schedule, which is a little bit easier, but now you're going to have constant flow of delivery trucks that will block traffic and the bus routes and so I, I would...

[00:57:44] Dan Dybel: Yeah.

[00:57:45] Commissioner Joyce Yin: ...put out that it probably just needs to have some extra eyes on it and something to figure out, perhaps.

[00:57:54] Planning Manager Eric Anderson: Right. I think one of the challenges we have is that, um, thinking back to when the El Camino Real Precise Plan was adopted in 2014 initially, um, we don't have objective standards at this point to address that type of loading or delivery space. And so we're really at the whim of the applicant to be able to design it into the project. And obviously there are a number of factors that applicants are trying to balance when designing their projects.

[00:58:18] Commissioner Joyce Yin: No, I understand. Yeah. It's just this is a real situation and so if that is an area of concern then if it's possible to figure something out. Because you know with the design of your building where deliveries will be made, what the easiest way in to get to the mailboxes or the, you know, where that's going to be. So how's that going to work and it's just something to think of, think about. Um, another question then is about the trees. You guys have underground parking, which I understand you're going to have to clear a lot of trees and so the city will give up a lot of mature healthy trees, um, for the project, which, you know, is warranted in certain respects and in the balance of trying to get housing, the city is accommodating, uh, that. Um, but with the underground parking, it's harder to get large mature trees, uh, planted over it. So I understand that the canopy will grow in time to have a certain amount of coverage and that we will have a lot more new trees. So the count of trees will probably be good. But in terms of the quality and diversity of the tree size and type and ability to mature into something, that is not something we look at yet? Wait till 6.1, maybe, um, agenda item to follow if you're interested. But, um, I just wanted to ask if there were any trees in the landscape plan that were going to be at maturity very large trees?

Segment 1

[00:58:55] Commissioner Joyce Yin: I have a question for staff. With a project this size if PG&E has a transformer, is it possible initially to say we request that it move slightly over somewhere else? Does it have to be there? I'm just curious.

[00:59:10] Assistant Community Development Director Amber Blizinski: It's probably more of a question for the applicant because he's had more of those conversations. I think PG&E is not very... they're a little rigid and there's really specific... they can only go in certain locations that are clear and that aren't next to trees etcetera etcetera. And so it's hard to design these transformers to be honest and it is true that a lot of the people in this room do struggle with these kind of conversations. So whether or not that transformer can be moved somewhere else, I don't know the answer to that but I think that it's important that you know we don't... we can't impact site design or the design of the entire building on this site due to some information that was received much later than at the beginning of this process.

Segment 2

[01:00:05] Dan Dybel: Yeah, I mean, I think in response to your comment that the, the, everything you see there that's, you know, the large tree canopy, um, that's identified on the perimeter of the site, um, that's all, those are all planted in soil, um, at grade. And the plaza is all at grade and in soil. And like, it was in, um, Margaret's presentation that we have, I believe a seven foot box tree, um, is one of those and several other like 48 inch box trees, um, in the plaza area to create some scale from the beginning of the, you know, life of the, the space. Um, so I, I think that, you know, in, in, you know, the whole plaza and around the bank is all planted, you know, in, you know, soil and not in planters, uh, as well as all the large canopies. I mean I think the, the, the diagram, um, really speaks for it, for what to expect long term, um, in terms of the size and scale of, of trees. Um, let's say that those are, you know, 15 year, um, diameters on there. Um, I don't know exactly what it is. I'm not a landscape architect but I could, uh, have a lifeline. But I think it's probably 15 to 20 year canopy dia- diameters. And those that are on the planters or, you know, on, on, um, and are on, you know, on podium or on the perimeter, they've been scaled appropriately here to demonstrate what they'll look like at that, that scale.

Segment 1

[01:00:52] Community Development Director Christian Murdock: Right, just to build on that point. I think what the applicant indicated is that that design change came up after the project had already been designed and so to basically rethink the entire project likely would have been a significant hardship for the applicant. And so trying to make the best of a bad situation, this is where this particular transformer seems to have ended up.

Segment 2

[01:01:43] Commissioner Joyce Yin: So most of the big trees are along the street, the sidewalk, the planter, going around the block?

[01:01:46] Dan Dybel: Well, those are, those are new street trees. And then, like I said, the whole plaza and all around the bank, all those, the, this... those are all planted in whatever, not native, by the time we dig it, dig it up and plant back. But, you know, foreign... in, you know, at grade, um, planting conditions. Not, you know, not, uh, up against a parking structure that's going to limit its root growth. So.

Segment 1

[01:01:50] Commissioner Joyce Yin: Would Public Works happen to know? Do you think?

[01:02:05] Public Works Director Dawn Cameron: Thank you for the question. So Public Works typically deals with PG&E transformer boxes in the public right of way but from our experience we are aware that PG&E has some pretty stringent requirements on where the transformers can go, clearances and access for when they do need to come in and maintain the boxes. So it seems like that the location there that we've seen is pretty typical of what we've seen of other projects. And then as for the transformers being above ground, we have heard from PG&E that there is a bit of a shortage of the underground transformers so as much as we can we try to work with PG&E to get the boxes to be below ground but we have had some projects where unfortunately it either would delay the construction of the project significantly if we waited for the below ground boxes to become available. So. Thank you.

Segment 2

[01:02:14] Commissioner Joyce Yin: Thank you.

[01:02:14] Dan Dybel: Mmhmm.

[01:02:15] Chair José Gutiérrez: Thank you, Commissioner Yin. Commissioner Nuñez? Or Vice Chair Nuñez. Questions to the applicant?

[01:02:24] Vice Chair Alex Nuñez: So, at least in my opinion, um, that corner, that property, uh, if, if you also share my opinion, that at least as of right now it is an underutilized property in terms of what it could be. Um, nonetheless, it's still potentially like the most prominent, um, property or, you know, kind of like parcel in the city, at least in my view, in terms of, um, like transiting through, you know, just like as a person in the community or otherwise. Um, you know, as you're moving through Mountain View, there's a very high likelihood that you're going to for some reason or another transit through that area, right? It's, it's, it's called gateway for a reason in a way, right? So, I guess like in terms of, um, how you guys set about thinking about the project and kind of like what that location kind of means to the City of Mountain View, um, how did that inform, if at all, and or guide like how you guys approached the project, um, both from like an aesthetic and like resourcing perspective and, and you know, to what, to what extent did that like influence, you know, what you guys envisioned the project should deliver to the City of Mountain View?

[01:03:44] Dan Dybel: Yeah, thanks for that. Um, I mean, I... I spoke to it a little while ago. Um, you know, I was, I started working on the project across the street, I think it was in 2012. And, um, we delivered that, but through that process we, um, engaged deeply with the neighborhood and, and, and the retailers and, and the community at large, um, to, to know what all the issues were to and, and attempt to address those that we could with that development. And, um, during that time was also a very intense traffic calming and, um, you know, kind of bike/ped safety along that, that route, along Miramonte, Castro. Um, and so we were active in that. And so when we, first thing we did when we looked at this site as far as starting land planning it, is really paying attention to that as it relates to Castro Street and, and taking that driveway away that currently exists because it's an impediment, it's a safety impediment. Um, and we enlarged the, the, the sidewalk widths along there so it was more friendly in terms of barrier from, um, the street to the pedestrian. Um, so that was a early kind of stake in the ground if you will. Um, then, you know, the linchpin to the site is the bank. Um, is to providing a new bank to Chase that they can occupy and park for their, for their customers, um, as kind of a priority. It's, you know, and so that, so we, you know, the place where that, that bank, um, resides here is deliberate and, um, and that's why we designed it the way we did with a circular, circular, um, sty- uh, shape, um, and to kind of embrace that corner or radius, because it's not really a hard corner. Um, and then built from that. Um, we think that the plaza is strong. Um, I think Quinn is participant and many others, uh, in early discussions about, you know, when we were talking to VTA and Caltrans and the city and everyone about this idea of doing what we ended up doing here with the, the bike, the bus, um, island. Um, in Zoom calls and, and, and whatnot, I mean, there was like excitement from those, from, from planners that that work in those entities, Caltrans and VTA, about how successful this will be for their ridership. That people will come here, um, and then take their ride. And so all those things, I mean, so the plaza was an, an, an intentional, um, um, you know, idea about, um, creating community, creating, um, ridership, creating, you know, chance to meet somebody, you know. So that's was the intent of the plaza. And so, and then it's a mixed use. We, we, we, we worked within the framework that the city worked hard on back in 2012 to '14, I think it was, uh, on the first round of the, um, El Camino Precise Plan and embraced a lot of those ideas as we, as we built this, um, built this design. And, um, and then really worked with the greater community, especially, uh, Cuesta Park on like what, you know, what, how does this feel to you? And, um, and, you know, Mountain View, uh, Coalition for Sustainable Planning and others like to get input and, uh, make sure that we're addressing, um, you know, our needs but their needs and, and making sure that we arrive at a project that we are looking at tonight that everyone can be proud of. So.

Segment 1

[01:03:52] Commissioner Joyce Yin: Thank you for your answer. I'm good for now. Thank you.

[01:04:00] Chair José Gutiérrez: Thank you, Commissioner Yin. Commissioner Pham.

[01:04:05] Commissioner Tina Pham: Okay, I have a few questions. My first question has to do with the tree planting on slide I think it's 13. I noticed the existing canopy is 23.2%, the new canopy at maturity will be 27.1%. What is the time frame expected to reach maturity?

[01:05:05] Senior Planner Margaret Netto: Generally the time frame for the canopy would be from 10 to 20 years to reach maturity.

[01:05:18] Commissioner Tina Pham: Okay. My next question has to do with the public space on this site. Wanted to get more of an idea of what was envisioned to be there and a description of it and also what kind of small community activities are envisioned to be able to be held there in the future.

[01:05:42] Senior Planner Margaret Netto: You're referring to the public plaza, correct?

[01:05:45] Commissioner Tina Pham: Correct.

[01:05:48] Dan Dybel: Can we go to that? Can I give you the sheet number? Can you go to the one that you showed earlier? You have another one I think that was a close-up of the plaza I thought? Anyway. Yeah that's better I think. Okay so activities within the plaza. We have activated ground floor retail and restaurant that's part of a draw. It is the pedestrian, so those that drive to the property or those that arrive on bus or bike are going to obviously go through that space. The parking, the tan area at the top of the white section below the plaza is kind of a generous opening from parking there so that it's a destination within the development. And then within the uses there's seating, there's outdoor restaurant use and I think activation will be programmed by the management team as we build the occupancy of the building. It will become a focal point of residents and community to have planned events as a typical program similar to what we have at Landsby. We have quite an open space there.

Segment 2

[01:07:44] Vice Chair Alex Nuñez: Thank you. That's very helpful. And just for, um, sorry if I missed it, do you guys also manage the property? Yeah? Okay. Um, and so then, uh, that frilly renaissance collar looking thing, just like, what would you call... what's that feature called? That... Which one? That wheely thing on the property, on the building? The Chate... like, you know how that... You know how the... you know how Shakespeare had that weird little collar? What would you call that thing? That round...

[01:08:03] Dan Dybel: You mean on the bank?

[01:08:03] Vice Chair Alex Nuñez: thing? Fins, maybe fins? Fins? The fins? Like...

[01:08:07] Dan Dybel: Yeah.

[01:08:07] Vice Chair Alex Nuñez: Am I missing... is... it looked a little like, um, iridescent from the images. Is that just like the effect or are there like light, lights in that thing?

[01:08:17] Dan Dybel: No, I mean it's, uh, it's, I think maybe it's solar. It's like sunshine, you know, is going to hit that. It's, I think arguably it'll be good for, um, shading, you know, in, you know, during certain times of the day. But, uh, no, that's just, it's the, I think the color of the glass versus the color of the, of the material that's the vertical material is creating that, um, illusion, or you know whatever, that, that, um, kaleidoscope or whatever whatever you want to call that.

[01:08:50] Vice Chair Alex Nuñez: Got it. And then, um, when it comes to you guys as a management, uh, you know, as you're kind of like fully operating that property, I don't know, have you had a chance to, and correct me if I'm mistaken here on, I might be, uh, uh, hand in foot, uh, kind of situation here. Um, have you been to that San Antonio property over, you know the... Yeah? Exactly. Okay, cool. Yeah, yeah. And I, I think if I'm not mistaken when it's like holiday time, there's like decorative, festive feel...

Segment 1

[01:09:00] Commissioner Tina Pham: Thank you. Had a couple more questions. Maybe not a question for now but I was curious for nearby residents during construction, are there any protections for noise or air quality?

[01:09:13] Dan Dybel: Yeah, I mean there's... it's all been evaluated, studied and mitigation measures developed within the conditions of approval that the onsite team will follow. During our planning application process we create kind of the total development schedule. In this case it's a phased development project because we need to build the bank first. So it's a very long process but we provide the information as far as like the equipment that's going to be used during each phase of work, the hours of operation, all those things so that they can evaluate the effect of those impacts. And through working through that process with David J. Powers, we've defined the equipment, the level of exhaust mitigation, like the quality of the filtering so that it minimizes particulate matter from being any greater than a certain threshold. It's all documented in the EIR. And so those are the kind of the flavor of a very elaborate evaluation of those impacts and mitigation measures.

Segment 2

[01:09:17] Dan Dybel: Yeah. In the center of that... Yeah. I said I was referring to earlier, programming the space and the... because there's... you know, that, that was, uh, that was a labor of, of love and design as well. I mean, we, we had a, we went through a master plan of that, uh, that site, uh, intentionally decided to build four different buildings with different character, um, that spoke to one another but, you know, worked, you know, around that park that has the, uh, redwoods that we preserved. And it, it works. I mean, the four buildings speak to one another, the, the spaces, um, are used and, yeah, they're programmed in order to, uh, you know, create community. So any similar...

[01:10:03] Vice Chair Alex Nuñez: I think, yeah, similar will happen here? Yeah? I mean...

[01:10:04] Dan Dybel: Christmas, you know, like oh it's Christmas. Yeah, whatever, you know. I think things happen, you know, like people say 'Oh, we need to have something for an art, you know, event or whatever,' and they go 'Oh, can we come use your plaza?' Yes. You know. So, things like that. Being part of the community is definitely, um, something that is a, is a, is a goal and, is, and we evidence it, um, every, every week or every month in this city. Um, we're very involved and active and, uh, and stay that way. Yeah.

[01:10:34] Vice Chair Alex Nuñez: Two, two last questions. Um, how are you going to like store the art? Right? Like...

[01:10:39] Dan Dybel: Yeah. That's a... Like, yeah, right? Like how will, how will we know it won't like accidentally chip away or something?

[01:10:44] Dan Dybel: Yeah. Well, we provided, um, the, the team and the, the EIR preparer and, and the consultants that over, on oversight as far as what we did, we, before, before the project was kind of tagged with it being a cultural resource, we had already done evaluations and deconstruction, um, work with consultants to, to figure out how to get the, you know, what were we dealing with. Because it's, it's currently in a concrete wall, the, the, the mosaic. So we have to take, we have to, you know, saw cut that out and it's going to be, it's a, it's quite a, uh, an effort. So yeah, through that process it'll come out, it'll be cleaned up, restored so, so to speak. Um, you know, so it's, it goes back into this location in a way that, um, you know, that we'll all be, you know, happy with. Um, and, you know, we have a interpretive, um, marker there so people will understand where it came from, who, who, you know, the studio that produced it, um, and, you know, what it, uh, signifies in terms of the histor- history of, you know, Mountain View or Silicon Valley.

[01:11:58] Vice Chair Alex Nuñez: Nice. And then, um, if you just assume that, just for, right now for the sake of just the timing of this, um, just assuming like best case scenario, um, by what date roughly speaking are you, um, looking at a project that would be like fully live like, you know, like, the, you know, full tenancy, you know as much as, you know can be possible? Like basically at what point will this no longer be like...

Segment 1

[01:12:10] Senior Planner Margaret Netto: I also wanted to add that we've conditioned the project for construction noise, there's construction hours so there are several conditions in the conditions of approval that address construction hours. There's also a disturbance... there's also a coordinator out there so if there is a question about noise or any of the construction, people can call the designated coordinator.

Segment 2

[01:12:26] Dan Dybel: Under construction?

[01:12:26] Vice Chair Alex Nuñez: Yeah, like what, like, roughly...

[01:12:29] Dan Dybel: Yeah. I mean, so, I gue- I spoke to at the beginning, um, um, it's a, it's a phased effort in order to unlock the, the land. Um, and so the first, you know, the first step, um, of this development is to be able to, you know, complete the design. We're, we're up through, like I think we're, you know, we're in design development if you will phase of the construction drawings, uh, for the bank. And then, you know, so we, after our approvals we would advance that and put the set of drawings necessary to go through the plan check process and, uh, on the, on the bank building. Um, and then pull permits and build that. And then, then when the bank moves into that building, we go start doing the deconstruction and then deconstruction goes to parking lot, uh, maneuvers as far as building a parking lot in the plaza for the bank temporarily and then unlock the, the land. And then, so, you know, if things happen on a just a sequential basis from now, I'm not saying there will be, you know... No fossils. Assuming best case scenario.

Segment 1

[01:13:22] Commissioner Tina Pham: Thank you. I have one more question, probably more appropriate for staff. I noticed that the project will be paying a large in-lieu fee for parks. Are there any planned parks projects in the vicinity that would benefit from this amount?

Segment 2

[01:13:37] Dan Dybel: Yeah. I'm just putting it on a timeline, uh, and not, yeah, this isn't a commit- commitment. It's just like if you just put that in a normal time frame, it would be probably, I don't know, nine months before you could submit the permit package, um, for the first building and then go through... so then you have to build the building, that's going to take about a year. So like what, sorry I'm terrible at math, like, so like what? 2030? Yeah. 2030. Okay, cool. Last question. Is the team proud of the project? Pardon? Are you proud of the project? Very much so. I hope it shows.

Segment 1

[01:13:45] Public Works Director Dawn Cameron: Thank you for that question. Yes, so park fees can be used towards the acquisition, development or rehabilitation of parks and recreational facilities depending on the timing of receipt of the funds. We recently acquired parkland at 711 Calderon Avenue and we would have the opportunity to use the funding towards the design and construction of that park depending on the timing of the funds. Thank you.

Segment 2

[01:14:09] Vice Chair Alex Nuñez: Cool. Thank you.

[01:14:09] Dan Dybel: Thank you.

[01:14:10] Chair José Gutiérrez: Thank you, Vice Chair Nuñez. Commissioner Yin?

[01:14:15] Commissioner Joyce Yin: Sorry, I didn't know if we were entering into this, um, discussion phase versus question phase.

[01:14:20] Chair José Gutiérrez: I'm hoping we enter in discussion phase, but if you have a question, go right ahead.

[01:14:23] Commissioner Joyce Yin: Uh, no, I thought we were entering into discussion so I was going to chime in but...

[01:14:25] Chair José Gutiérrez: All right, sounds good.

[01:14:26] Commissioner Joyce Yin: We're still in questions?

[01:14:27] Chair José Gutiérrez: No. We're done. I think we're done with questions unless you have a question.

[01:14:28] Commissioner Joyce Yin: Don't. No.

[01:14:29] Chair José Gutiérrez: Okay. Okay. Then let's go on on public comment. And then we'll, yeah, we'll go with that, okay? I'm sorry, I did not think, with all due respect, sure, that this was going to take this long for this presentation and questions and all. I mean, we've had other developers who have been grilled less than this. Please. Okay. So, having said that, uh, Public Comment. If anyone in attendance would like to provide comments on this item, please fill out a yellow speaker card and provide it to the EPC Clerk. If anyone on Zoom would like to provide a comment on this item, please click the raise hand button in Zoom or press star nine on your phone. Phone users can mute and unmute themselves with star six. E- EPC Clerk?

[01:15:13] EPC Clerk: Uh, yes. We have four, uh, Zoom speakers and it looks like we may have one in person. Um, would you like in person or Zoom?

[01:15:29] Chair José Gutiérrez: In person first. Thank you.

[01:15:33] EPC Clerk: Um, and time limit?

[01:15:36] Chair José Gutiérrez: How many do we have again?

[01:15:37] EPC Clerk: Uh, typically it's three minutes.

[01:15:38] Chair José Gutiérrez: Okay, let's do three.

[01:15:41] EPC Clerk: Um, so our first speaker is Lada Adamic.

[01:15:48] Lada Adamic: Hello. Um, I just wanted to comment on the delivery vehicle issue and I'm grateful that you've brought it up. Um, I don't know what the possibilities are, just saying, you know, we don't have something that says anything about it in this particular precise plan. It seems like it's an issue throughout the city. So, my son some years ago, uh, attended Graham and we were so grateful that those, uh, protected bike lanes were put in on Castro Street. However, when he was meant to use them, a lot of the time the new development across the street, um, attracted delivery vehicles which then would park in the bike lanes so he needed to bike in the street which was not as safe. So I think given, and you're well aware, the volume of deliveries, Amazon, UPS, FedEx, etc., etc., it is, um, I think really essential for every new development, and I understand that this one started a while back, but maybe future developments, somehow provide a way for those vehicles to be off road, um, you know, off of the street, pull in, be able to make the delivery and then kind of go back out. Frankly, I'm just kind of disappointed that it's all shrug, there's nothing we can do. We see this problem coming but there's nothing we're going to do and these vehicles are going to be blocking the street and bike lanes, etc. So I hope in the future both for the developers and for the city, this is something that can be incorporated into the design process. Thanks.

[01:17:33] Chair José Gutiérrez: Thank you.

[01:17:36] EPC Clerk: Uh, we have four speakers online. Uh, first up is Bruce England. Bruce, um, you should be able to unmute and speak.

[01:17:49] Bruce England: Yes, indeed. Uh, everybody hear me okay? Assume you can. Okay. Uh, yes. Bruce England, Westminster Station Drive, representing both the Mountain View Coalition for Sustainable Planning, or MVCSP, and, uh, Green Spaces Mountain View tonight. MVCSP would like to voice our support... This is in our letter that we sent earlier today. MVCSP would like to voice our support for the mixed use project at 749 West El Camino Real. Time constraints prevent us, prevented us from providing a more formal letter, but our support is just as strong regardless. We have had several presentations with the developer, as they mentioned, where they also responded to our questions, comments, and concerns. Our members have been highly supportive of the project as it provides additional housing options for Mountain View, including affordable options, and provides good infrastructure for those walking, biking, and using transit through the area. And includes impressive design elements with attention to reuse of elements from the current buildings. It also will take full advantage of the bikeway and bus stop improvements recently or soon to be implemented by Caltrans with extensive collaboration with the city. Uh, not in the letter, but we support emphasizing use of stairways over elevators, so a thumbs up for placing the stairs ahead of the elevators in the lobby area. From a Green Spaces Mountain View perspective, we do feel strongly about existing tree preservation. Uh, we have discussed this with the project team over time and we're happy to see the plans for new tree planting as part of the project work. Um, we also hope the project will include no artificial turf and we will continue to advocate this position in general for Mountain View projects. That's it for me. Thank you.

[01:19:29] EPC Clerk: Uh, next we have Robert Cox. Uh, Robert, you should be able to speak.

[01:19:41] Robert Cox: Okay. Can you hear me?

[01:19:42] EPC Clerk: Yes.

[01:19:43] Robert Cox: Okay. Chair Gutiérrez, Vice Chair Nuñez, and members of the EPC. Thanks for the opportunity to talk about the redevelopment of the Chase Bank site. Tonight, I'm speaking on my own behalf but I do want to thank Mr. Dybel, Ms. Thibodeau, and other members of the Greystar team for reaching out to the Mountain View Historical Association and Livable Mountain View to share their plans to preserve key pieces of artwork from this historic site and integrate them into the new development. I also appreciate their adopting the theme of Richardsonian Arches in the architecture for the apartments that they will develop. This design element will lend a sense of historical continuity to the site. I do want to echo the concerns that were raised about, um, from Mr. Donahue and Ms. Yin about, uh, parking for Amazon and Amazon-like delivery vehicles on the site. Uh, the project is almost 300 new apartments. It's likely there will be multiple package deliveries per day. And, uh, when the bike lanes were recently installed on El Camino, street parking was removed in front of many of large apartment complexes. On my last shopping, uh, trip, I was blocked by Amazon trucks parking in the traffic lanes in front of three of these apartment complexes on just one trip. Such Amazon vehicles should have dedicated parking somewhere in the complex so they don't block other drivers and create a safety hazard on the road. Uh, there's... Let's plan ahead for this development before any problems occur. I want to thank, you know, Greystar for always being a good citizen in its planning and it seems like there is still an opportunity for them to voluntarily step up and solve this problem, you know, before it just adds to the problems that we already have, uh, on the streets today. So, um, yeah, I'm hopeful that you might sit down with staff and figure out a way to do this. And thanks for listening to my views.

[01:21:55] EPC Clerk: Uh, next we have, uh, Alejandro Martinez. Uh, Alejandro, um, you should be able to speak.

[01:22:04] Alejandro Martinez: Yeah, hello. Can you all hear me?

[01:22:05] EPC Clerk: Yes.

[01:22:06] Alejandro Martinez: Awesome. So, good evening, Planning Commission. Uh, my name's, as mentioned, my name's Alejandro Martinez. I've been a member of LiUNA Laborers Local 270 for over 10 years. I'm here in support on the 749 West El Camino Real project. The developer Greystar has proven to be a reliable partner. They have not only made promises, but also demonstrated their commitment through actions that benefit our community. Right after high school I tried going to college, have a career, however life didn't go as planned. I found myself struggling making ends meet. I am a single father and I have a nine year old daughter. However, the union gave me an opportunity to be a skilled laborer through the apprenticeship program. And now I was, I was able to provide for my daughter and my, and my family. Now I also have a home of my own and I can allow my daughter to grow in the same city I did. This jobs allows us to live in our communities and support working families like mine. Allowing this project by Greystar will have a positive impact because it will also offer livable wages with benefits to all of us. Thank you for your time and I urge your support.

[01:23:19] EPC Clerk: And last we have, um, John Zervis. John, um, you should be able to speak.

[01:23:33] John Zervis: Can you hear me?

[01:23:36] EPC Clerk: Yes.

[01:23:38] John Zervis: Hey, good evening. Uh, my name is John Zervis. I'm the Executive Director of LiUNA, on behalf of the Laborers, uh, Local 270, uh, in, in Santa Clara County. Uh, we represent, uh, 600, uh, 6,771 members in this county and 98 members in Mountain View. Uh, we have worked for over a decade, uh, with Greystar and appreciate their commitment, uh, to use union labor that supports working families with living wages and, uh, health retirements. We support this project and we thank you for your consideration. Thank you.

[01:24:25] EPC Clerk: Uh, there are no more speakers.

[01:24:29] Chair José Gutiérrez: Great. Thank you. Let's move on to EPC deliberation and action. Um, let's see here. I'm going to start. Uh, Greystar, I want to thank you for your time and patience. And, uh, appreciate the time and energy that you've placed in being able to consult with members of the community. This city is not easy to deal with. With some projects, some go faster than others. With others when or in general, if there's an issue, there's a time delay. My father, I come from a working class background, I'm first gen with everything. Um, high school graduate, university graduate. My dad's a retired, uh, construction worker, worked in drywall, he's a member of the union. He's proud of it. And I appreciate everything that was given to him, um, as much as he could provide. So, having said that, year in and year out, there's always an increase in cost. So, the way I compare this program and this development project to others, in my example of my mindset and the commission may disagree with me and that's fine, that's okay, we're here to agree to disagree but move forward. I like that this was the most well thought out perspective in terms of listening to community input, working with the city, understanding what the limitations are and being flexible as much as you can with trees, placement of construction items in general, with PG&E's help or not really, but working with the city to try and get stuff done, right? Understanding that you've got two major, uh, streets, uh, El Camino and Castro, where you have not only general traffic and VTA transportation opportunities, but you also have Castro where you have and the rest of the area there where you have kids going to and from their neighborhood over to Graham Middle School. And there's a lot of... when I was on the school board and, and we had issues early on with that construction development site and eventually with the shuttle buses, there were a lot of accidents between the shuttle buses and the kids riding their bikes to school, whether in the morning or in the afternoon. You have to factor all that in right now and you're doing the best you can to get this done. So, from my perspective, I'm happy you're still here and that you still want to do the project. Because it's been some time, right? Uh, from another perspective, I'm appreciative that you looked at this issue too, and this is where I'm pointing to you as an example of what I think we should be aiming for with development projects, that you looked at the parking situation and understood this is an issue. Other developers around other parts of the neighborhoods that we have in Mountain View didn't do that. I don't know. I don't know why. All I know is that they opted not to do something about it because they had that luxury. You looked at it more from a responsible citizen perspective, from a developer, which for me is a breath of fresh air, right? So, I like that. I like that you took the initiative to get that taken care of, to look at that. Now, I've heard other people speak before this project about the issue with delivery trucks, whether it's Amazon or FedEx or what have you. Man, I live in, on California Street in apartment-ville between California, Rengstorff and Escuela and all the way up to Target and the Walmart shopping centers, right? And with the new pedestrian, um, uh, structures that we have on California, there's a bike lane now and then there's spaces that have been reduced in, in parking from what we had to a reduction of 44. In the middle, there's a lane where you can use that to turn either right or left to go into your respective apartment complex or if you've been, uh, lucky enough to get a, a condo or townhome to go into your home. Fine. But the problem has been always there with delivery trucks, right? I don't expect you to solve it here. I expect you to do the best you can to try and listen to what that issue is, see if you can come up with some sort of solution, but at the same time, it's hard because you're on Castro and El Camino. And the reality of that is, the project still has to go on. You do the best you can with what you have to make things happen. We appreciate you that you're doing that already because it's going to provide housing but also jobs for union members which I also appreciate very much. And I understand there's limitations to everything. But the more important thing here... the most important thing here is acknowledging your ability to be a good citizen and working with us to try and get everything done that you can. Because other developers have not done that. And that's why I hold you to a higher standard and I'm holding them to meet that standard because you can. Because they can. When there's a willingness to work together as a team to get things done, it's not just about profit motive. It's about meeting the needs of the community. And sometimes we forget that. So thank you. That's all I have to say. Vice Chair Nuñez?

[01:29:00] Vice Chair Alex Nuñez: I think it's great. Uh, I'll be supporting it. So, uh, whenever anyone wants to motion or second, I'd be down.

[01:29:12] Chair José Gutiérrez: Thank you, Vice Chair Nuñez. Commissioner Yin?

[01:29:15] Commissioner Joyce Yin: Thanks. Um, oh, I forgot to disclose earlier that I had actually talked to, uh, Mr. Dybel, uh, prior to this, uh, when he presented the project to me. So just wanted to say that. Um, and so he, he's already heard this, but I just wanted to share that I appreciate the process very much so that, uh, Chair Gutiérrez had mentioned. And I appreciate a lot of the, the sort of benefits to the city that we're getting through this project. So, the following, please don't take it too poorly. Uh, the following is sort of a critique of the project in where I feel like it, um, was a missed opportunity in...

Segment 4

[02:15:00] Lauren Stoneburner: Vision. Mountain View envisions a healthy, connected, and resilient urban ecosystem with abundant access to nature and its benefits, for people and native species alike. So I'll read it and then I'll kind of parse it apart, but the Mountain View envisions a healthy, connected, and resilient urban ecosystem with abundant access to nature and its benefits, for people and native species alike.

[02:15:23] Lauren Stoneburner: The first highlighted piece, healthy, connected, and resilient are the values that we heard often through our community engagement. Abundant access to both nature and its benefits represent the community's value of access to nature for recreation and enjoyment, and also value of the services that nature provides like clean air and water, cooling, and human health. And the last component, for people and native species alike, harkens back to the community's strong emphasis on balancing strategies both for people and for nature.

[02:16:05] Lauren Stoneburner: And then the next tier, goals translate the vision into long-term tangible aspirations, and it acts like a compass that eventually would lead you to that north star vision. And we outlined four goals. Connect people and nature. By this, we meant connections in all directions: connecting people to nature and place, connecting nature to nature, and connecting people to each other in their community.

[02:16:43] Lauren Stoneburner: The second goal is foster places of refuge. And here we're referring to balancing improving natural resources for both people and nature. The third goal is build resilience, and we're referring to resilience of the urban forest, of natural resources and habitats, and resilience in a changing climate. And finally, activate and collaborate represents engaging and kind of enlisting support and partnership with the community, with practitioners and projects, and across city departments, and also with other external agencies.

[02:17:31] Lauren Stoneburner: And then the next level is objectives, which translate the high-level vision and goals into specific, measurable, and practical commitments that guide the city's implementation. So there are 11 objectives here. I won't walk through all of them, but just to give you an example, in order to work towards goal one, connect people and nature, the objectives include supporting a network of connected green space and fostering a cultural shift that spotlights biodiversity to instill a sense of place. So we can flip back to these slides in our discussion if it's helpful and you want to look at the language that we have in the plan.

[02:18:23] Lauren Stoneburner: And related to these objectives, there are then two components that will drive the day-to-day execution of the plan. And the first are actions, and those are the concrete steps that the city can take to implement and make strides towards the objective. On the other hand, there's targets and metrics, which are evaluation tools. And the metrics are the methods of measuring progress, like this ruler, and the targets are the milestones along the way that help you see how far you've come.

[02:19:03] Lauren Stoneburner: City staff on the city project team played a big role in helping us develop these, the implementation and evaluation components of the plan especially. They helped us identify steps that are feasible for the city and to tie actions to city processes and operations where possible.

[02:19:26] Lauren Stoneburner: And so first I'll introduce some of the actions. There are 25 actions, so we're not going to walk through each one. And again, we can flip back to these slides if we want to pull them up. And I think I'll, just for the sake of time, I think I'll just flip through these slides, and again we can come back. But I'm sorry, I'll go back to the first goal. But you can see how there's a nesting structure where you have the goals with nested objectives, and each objective is tied to specific actions.

[02:20:10] Lauren Stoneburner: And then, like I mentioned, the targets and metrics enable the city to track progress towards the objectives. And we outlined two sets of metrics. First, we put forward 14 recommended metrics that the city can readily implement with the information that it already collects currently. And with these 14 metrics, each objective is touched on by at least one metric, meaning that there's full coverage of the objectives with these recommended metrics.

[02:20:44] Lauren Stoneburner: And then we also offer 10 additional supplemental metrics that would require additional data collection beyond what the city currently tracks. And these supplemental metrics also span all objectives.

[02:21:00] Lauren Stoneburner: And appended to the plan, we also provide four complementary guides. There is a lot of detailed guidance in these guide resources, and they're very specific and applied. And so we collectively decided with the city to format these guides as independent, self-contained resources so that the city and community can pull out these guides, print them, and use them separately from the plan. And the city felt that this would be the most usable way that the city could apply these resources in their day-to-day operations and decision making.

[02:21:43] Lauren Stoneburner: So the guides cover specific resources on urban landscaping strategies, plant and tree lists, strategies for urban forest policies, operations, and management, and a guide on monitoring and target setting.

[02:22:00] Lauren Stoneburner: So again, we really appreciate how much expertise is in this room and also how much enthusiasm that the commission and also the public bring for making Mountain View healthier and more biodiverse. And so we came up with some discussion topics to help leverage all of the amazing ideas and knowledge that you all bring.

[02:22:25] Lauren Stoneburner: So you know, this is something that you can use or you can speak kind of on the items that you feel are important, but we would love to get your thoughts on whether the plan aligns with city needs and priorities, and whether the plan and particularly actions are feasible and have the necessary impact, and then finally what could be done to lower barriers to implementation of the plan. And because the actions, metrics, and targets are what really influence the city's day-to-day operations and execution of the plan, any comments that you have on those are especially welcome.

[02:23:14] Lauren Stoneburner: And then just to show the review process and timeline again, this is the first draft that's released to the public, and we have several more review stages ahead. The plan is planned for adoption in June 2026, and anyone can follow updates at biodiversitymv.com. So thank you again for your time and review of the plan. We're excited to hear your ideas, and I'm going to pass it back to Brenda to close us out.

[02:23:43] Assistant Community Development Director Amber Blizinski: Thank you, Lauren, and thank you commissioners for your time and engagement on this process. This plan is truly groundbreaking, and Mountain View is really paving the way, so we're very excited about this being a leader in the Bay Area and a leader with a plan like this. So thank you.

[02:24:02] Chair José Gutiérrez: Thank you. We'll move on to public comment. If anyone in attendance would like to provide comments on this item, please fill out a yellow speaker card and provide it to the EPC Clerk. If anyone on Zoom would like to provide a comment on this item, please click the raise hand button in Zoom or press star nine on your phone. Phone users can mute and unmute themselves with star six. EPC Clerk?

[02:24:23] EPC Clerk: Yes. We have five members on, or six members on the line and two in person. Would you prefer in person or Zoom?

[02:24:36] Chair José Gutiérrez: We'll do in person first and then the callers online. And does everyone have a maximum of three minutes or can I modify that?

[02:24:42] EPC Clerk: You can modify it.

[02:24:43] Chair José Gutiérrez: Two minutes, please.

[02:24:44] EPC Clerk: Okay, two minutes. The first speaker in person is Andrea Wald.

[02:24:56] Andrea Wald: Good evening. My name is Andrea Wald. I'm co-founder of Community for Natural Play Surfaces. On October 12th, I sent an email regarding the draft Biodiversity and Urban Forest Plan to you all, and included City Council members and Park and Rec Commission members. I believe the info contained in my message is something that should be shared with all who have input on future processes and decisions in Mountain View.

[02:25:24] Andrea Wald: The draft is amazing and contained a wealth of information and relative findings and suggestions. However, it did not go far enough in that artificial turf, which is a toxic plastic ground covering and whose use is counterproductive to the goals of your plan, is never, ever mentioned. The intent of the plan you are discussing is to help make Mountain View greener, cooler, and healthier. It concentrates heavily on trees and shrubs and also natural things that will contribute to, quoting from the plan, a healthier and more diverse city.

[02:25:53] Andrea Wald: It brings up all the to-dos, but nothing much about what should be avoided. I will not take up your time now to reiterate my reasons why artificial turf should be brought up in the plan. I only hope you will take the time to read what I sent and feel a need to take action on my suggestion. If anyone wants more info or to discuss with me further, please do reach out. I am very passionate about cities doing the right thing for their communities and for the future of our planet. Thank you.

[02:26:26] EPC Clerk: The next speaker is Lada Adamic. You may come up.

[02:26:34] Lada Adamic: Hello, commissioners. I sent a very long public comment. I hope you enjoyed the comics of my struggles with squirrels. I think that the plan, especially since it's pioneering, needs to take responsibility for all effects that it will have so that it's not going into rewilding, which is basically what it is, blindly.

[02:27:02] Lada Adamic: We had 75% of survey respondents say that allergies are at least somewhat important. The plan makes no mention of strategies to minimize allergies with plant selection. At least 75% of survey respondents said that they were concerned about nuisance animals and pests. The plan actually doesn't mention this at all.

[02:27:27] Lada Adamic: It says we should plant a lot of oak trees, and then does not mention that oak trees favor omnivores like rats, mice, squirrels, crows, raccoons, all of which one could imagine their populations being boosted. And there was not an attempt to figure out what Mountain View's wildlife acceptance capacity is. How much do people want more crows? Sunnyvale had a mega murder of crows that I don't know if they're still trying to tackle. Do we want to put out a bunch more food for this wildlife?

[02:28:01] Lada Adamic: So I would say this plan needs to not just tout the benefits of biodiversity, but also look at the science. I provided references for what the holistic impact will be to the quality of life in our city. Thank you.

[02:28:26] EPC Clerk: Our first Zoom speaker will be Shani. Shani, you may now speak or unmute yourself.

[02:28:39] Shani Kleinhaus: Good evening. My name is Shani Kleinhaus. I'm the environmental advocate for the Santa Clara Valley Bird Alliance, previously known as Audubon. We have been advocating for this plan for a very long time, and we're glad to see it moving forward. A couple of small comments for tonight. One is that it's very gratifying to see that the vision looks through from what nature and biodiversity, and not only through the anthropocentric view of how or what does it good for people, but also nature in itself has value. That is wonderful.

[02:29:16] Shani Kleinhaus: However, I think that the vision statement is hard to understand, and if it's possible to simplify that, I would go for simplification. I understand that some people are concerned. So if you want to see examples that are working as to how you can integrate our natural environment into the urban environment, I think looking at Mountain View's own North Bayshore is a great example where Google has planted oaks and all kinds of locally native plants, and the monarchs followed, and it's absolutely beautiful to see butterflies which children don't get to see anymore. And it's just something very, very special with the bird life and the pollinators and the butterflies.

[02:30:05] Shani Kleinhaus: Sunnyvale has a native wildflower meadow in front of their city hall, and if you haven't seen it yet, please go see it. It's absolutely beautiful, even when it's not in full bloom. So it's feasible to do a real integration of nature into an urban environment. I would only say a couple of things if I still have time, and it's hard to tell. It's great to focus on trees, but please look for immediate actions that don't take time and don't take a long process.

[02:30:51] Shani Kleinhaus: We have in this area a tremendous variety of shrubs that are native to the region and support a lot of butterflies, and potentially the city could just start planting only that selection in the city's landscaping and maintaining things differently. And if you just do those two things, we get a long way into the goals.

[02:31:12] Chair José Gutiérrez: Thank you so much for your comments. You've reached your two-minute time limit. I apologize for interrupting you, but by all means, I encourage you to send the rest of your ideas into the team through an email. Thank you so much.

[02:31:24] EPC Clerk: Next we have Dashiel Leeds. Dashiel, you can unmute and speak.

[02:31:31] Dashell Leeds: Hello, thank you. My name is Dashell Leeds. I'm the conservation coordinator for the Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter. We broadly support the Biodiversity and Urban Forest Plan and have advocated in its support as well. I just want to talk a little bit about trees and to emphasize the importance of using locally native trees, which have far greater benefits for local biodiversity than non-native drought tolerant species or even Californian native trees from other regions.

[02:32:06] Dashell Leeds: So just really emphasizing the use of locally native plants to really enhance that biodiversity impact. I know that the plan discusses the balance between this and we hope that the balance prioritizes locally native species wherever possible. We also support the rapid implementation of the biodiversity plan once adopted. So we hope that the city really hits the ground running and begins working on implementing the plan as quickly as possible. I also want to support the comments made before by Shani from the Santa Clara Valley Bird Alliance. Thanks so much for your time and consideration.

[02:32:43] EPC Clerk: Next we have Bruce England. Bruce, you can unmute.

[02:32:50] Bruce England: Thank you. Yeah, we're not seeing timers on the screen for the remote people, so you might want to take that into account. I've got my own timer running. Bruce England, member of GreenSpaces Mountain View, speaking for myself tonight. In general, I like what I've read so far, which is most of the plan. I've got six short comments and one question. One, I liked that various city departments are involved in the development process on this and other key city plans actually.

[02:33:16] Bruce England: Number two, 'strategy' was dropped from the title. Not sure why, but that can be problematic for those running searches on the original title. Number three, private property canopy full details are truly needed for this plan, at least eventually. Otherwise you're not looking at as full a data set as you ideally should. Number four, practical details regarding actions to be taken should be more fully described, including timelines and dependencies. Dark Skies is currently off the radar it seems, and the city is called out, but that's vague and can mean multiple things.

[02:33:54] Bruce England: Five, as you know, GreenSpaces Mountain View members and others have raised objections to heritage tree removals in both public and private projects. We feel it's particularly important to establish clear and reasonable guidelines for tree removal approvals and appeals beyond what we have today. This will make life easier for commissioners too, PRC and EPC. Number six, I appreciate all the comments and questions raised so far from commissioners and the public, including what PRC commissioners brought up regarding artificial turf and adjacent city canopy levels, the cities meaning around our area, around Mountain View. These details could easily be missed along the way.

[02:34:32] Bruce England: And my question is, how will other plans, city plans, be impacted by work on this plan through the review phases and vice versa? That's still unclear to me. So I think I'm within the two minutes. Thank you.

[02:34:51] EPC Clerk: Next we have Aisha Theissen. Aisha, you should be able to speak or unmute yourself.

[02:35:00] Lauren Stoneburner: Hello, I am Aisha. I represent the Guardian Project, which is a grassroots volunteer effort to save the burrowing owl, specifically in Shoreline Park. And looking over the plan, I was surprised to see that in the biodiversity ambassadors, burrowing owls weren't included, and instead there are only what we call urban tolerant or common species like frogs, warblers, and lizards.

[02:35:32] Lauren Stoneburner: In fact, there were no local species of conservation concern, not just the burrowing owl, but like the tricolored blackbird, the western pond turtle. And it's pretty disappointing because we've been fighting for the burrowing owl, which has been dropping, plummeting in numbers since the 80s, and over a year ago our biologist was put on administrative leave. We still don't have a biologist supporting us, and yet there are more volunteers now than ever before.

[02:36:03] Lauren Stoneburner: So I am curious what the disconnect between this plan and the local community is, as we have been leaving input online, via volunteers going to your meetings, bringing up the burrowing owls, and yet they still do not appear in the plan. And uh, yeah, I just want to know why, especially because we're fighting so hard to get support and we're not getting it. And that's all I have to say about that.

[02:36:34] EPC Clerk: Thank you. Our next speaker is April Webster. April, you should be able to unmute and speak.

[02:36:45] April Webster: Hi, thank you. I want to start by saying, sorry, I think this plan is groundbreaking and really strong on biodiversity. I'm really happy to see that. But I want to ask the question: where are the people? They seem to be missing from the urban ecosystem that's defined in this plan. It highlights animal ambassadors, but there aren't any human ambassadors. The people who walk, bike, seniors, people who are sensitive to heat, low-income communities. Urban forests are just as much for people as for habitat.

[02:37:19] April Webster: Yet in this plan, they seem to have taken a back seat. Trees aren't only ecological assets, they're public health infrastructure. They make sidewalks and bike lanes usable when it's 95 degrees. In full sun, mean radiant temperature, what your body actually feels, can exceed 120 degrees. Without shade or evapotranspiration from trees and landscaping, that heat radiates off the streets, the asphalt, the buildings, and it makes our streets physically unsafe to walk or bike.

[02:37:46] April Webster: The tree canopy assessment missed this connection as well. It looks at parks and schools, but not sidewalks or bike lanes, the very spaces where people experience heat most directly. So if we want that to be usable, safe, we have to think about these corridors in our canopy and cooling zone analyses. There's also a circular reference, I noticed, between this plan and the Active Transportation Plan. I'm on the technical advisory committee, and they both point to each other, yet neither sets measurable goals for reducing shade deserts or increasing canopy over sidewalks and bike lanes.

[02:38:20] April Webster: They also don't talk about road diets and how that's going to happen. And we won't be able to find those shade deserts without an updated complete tree inventory. Ours is 10 years old and it's missing, for 15% of the trees, missing metadata. And there's no clear plan to update that or to maintain it. I want to say the cooling zones are a great start, I love to see that, but they don't include the tree equity index or healthy places index which helps identify lower income neighborhoods...

[02:38:48] Chair José Gutiérrez: Thank you for sharing your opinions. I'm sorry, your time is at a limit now at two minutes. But please feel free to send the rest of your comments through email to the EPC and we will read these. Thank you.

[02:38:59] EPC Clerk: Next we have Tracy Ferea. Tracy, you should be able to unmute and speak.

[02:39:12] Tracy Ferea: Okay, can you hear me? Yes. I'm Dr. Tracy Ferea, I am a PhD biologist. I want to say we need to pay attention to the natives appearing to be walked back in multiple sections, and that should be cleaned up. For example, pink sections 8 and 9. We all know humans are creatures of habit, and if we provide the easy out, even the great people will take an easier path.

[02:39:36] Tracy Ferea: None of the recommended metrics include natives. Guide A Section C doesn't belong in the plan. The green zone appears to be a way of going quickly without natives yet saying we are meeting biodiversity goals. Native planting escapes are built in multiple sections. An example is Goal 2, Action 6, which says native and biodiverse plantings. Biodiverse plantings are not defined.

[02:40:00] Tracy Ferea: Similarly, they use near-native in places. As a biologist, I don't know what that means and can only surmise that means non-native. To be clear, if it is not native, it is not supporting biodiversity. The plan is intricate, but we can't lose sight that if we aren't planting natives, we are not supporting biodiversity. It's that simple. Our trees are currently only 15% native, so we should really put a moratorium on planting the non-natives and try to get quick tree plantings to be natives. Every day or bushes or shrubs, whatever. Every day that we don't, we are literally losing biodiversity.

[02:40:41] Tracy Ferea: And as Lauren, the presenter of the plan, said at the PRC meeting, artificial turf is similar to non-native turf. I'm sorry, I'm paraphrasing, I couldn't get her exact quote. But for biodiversity, it needs to be native turf. So she made the point there too. Thank you so much. And it's great, thank you for writing it and working on this. Since I had time to put that in. There's a lot of positives and a lot of natives, so thank you.

[02:41:00] EPC Clerk: Thank you. And our last speaker is Mary DeTio. Mary, you should be able to unmute.

[02:41:08] Mary DeTio: Good evening. I'm excited to see this biodiversity plan, and I'm excited to see that more native trees are being added or being recommended to be added to the city's tree list. Given our city's projected growth, I especially think that recommendations to set some development standards are especially important. I'd like to see in our standards include guidelines about soil systems, engineered soils, etc., so that trees that are under pavement can reach closer to their real canopy size.

[02:41:55] Mary DeTio: Cooling and greening are very important, and I'm also, as a previous speaker, also following the Active Transportation Plan very closely. And I want to echo the comments about it's unclear how the departments, you know, there are different departments involved, and I think in order to achieve our goals of greening and cooling and resilience, and also encouraging people to be out and walk, it's extremely important that this plan, the greening goals be incorporated in the Active Transportation Plan, and that recognition be given to how important greening and cooling are to active transportation.

[02:42:28] Mary DeTio: I was recently in a city in Utah that had very few trees, and it was only in like the 80s, and it was just really draining to be out walking. So we need these to be integrated. Thank you.

[02:42:48] EPC Clerk: There are no more speakers online.

[02:42:52] Chair José Gutiérrez: Great, thank you sir. Okay, let's begin with our EPC questions. First let's go with general questions. Are there any general questions regarding the topic, excuse me, this topic from the EPC? And friendly reminder, questions focused on individual recommendations should be held until later in the meeting. Vice Chair Nuñez.

[02:43:21] Vice Chair Alex Nuñez: I guess I have a meta question. Did you say that questions about the process are not for right now? Just to confirm.

[02:43:32] Chair José Gutiérrez: Right, so just to reiterate, questions focused on individual recommendations should be held until later in the meeting.

[02:43:40] Vice Chair Alex Nuñez: Okay. So we're just asking staff questions. Okay. I do have questions about the like the native element. I guess if you look at those like CO2 graphs and the, you know, it looks like yeah, significant change very fast. I'm curious, like I guess the rationale, the assessment like at what point, and from like a native plant perspective, at what point is that not appropriate, if at all? Why such an emphasis on native versus like functional?

[02:44:44] Vice Chair Alex Nuñez: And I know that there's like language in there like 'prioritize', but within that prioritization when does the nexus tilt toward, okay, native doesn't work for whatever purpose we're going for at whatever moment with regard to the plan implementation?

[02:45:04] Lauren Stoneburner: I can, should I answer that?

[02:45:07] Vice Chair Alex Nuñez: Yes, please.

[02:45:08] Lauren Stoneburner: Okay, yes. Please correct me if I'm not pointing to the section that you're referring to, but I guess I could talk about Guide A, would that be helpful? I think related to Guide A, we provide some zones where planting strategies can be prioritized in one location or another at the city scale.

[02:45:41] Lauren Stoneburner: We have, I think it's called an Ecological Enhancement Zone, where we prioritize planting natives. And we identified that zone locationally based on its proximity to important natural resources for biodiversity, namely habitat patches and connection and special resources.

[02:46:10] Lauren Stoneburner: So because we expect that more urban sensitive species, species that are less tolerant of urban conditions, would be found in habitat patches and moving through more conserved corridors, providing native plant resources in those areas would be more beneficial. On the other hand, the areas that are less in close proximity to those natural resources we identified as greening zones.

[02:46:48] Lauren Stoneburner: It's a little bit more of a general term. A lot of the same principles apply of converting underutilized turf or converting impervious cover to vegetated landscaped areas. But there's less emphasis on native because those sites are more likely to be more impacted with less vegetation in those areas. They're probably experiencing greater heat and having harsher soils, maybe greater contaminant.

[02:47:25] Lauren Stoneburner: And so greening, having a more flexible plant palette might enable those plants to thrive in those harsh conditions without having so many constraints on which plants you're selecting. So we want to enable the plant selection to be responsive to the site condition, and that just getting plants on the ground is better than no plants at all. So I hope that that responds to your question, Commissioner.

[02:47:54] Vice Chair Alex Nuñez: Yeah, that was very helpful. Thank you. Along those lines, and yeah, I did look at that Guide A component. But I guess one thing I'm just kind of like, it's not a concern, it's just more observation at this stage. I noticed a lot of language like 'prioritize'. And it's just like, it's not clear to me when a prioritization has to go elsewhere in terms of an action.

[02:48:28] Vice Chair Alex Nuñez: So for example, where it comes to some of the kind of like the use of, whether it's tree canopy or urban forestry as a means to kind of reduce heat corridors or to kind of like accompany or support the use of public infrastructure or transit stops or things of that nature, there are areas in that in the plan where it says, you know, 'prioritize' greening or I don't know what the verb would be, but I guess I'm trying to understand more around like what are the circumstances under which, for example, a bus stop won't be able to support having tree canopy or something like that, right?

[02:49:16] Vice Chair Alex Nuñez: Like what's the like, where's the wiggle room there is broadly I guess is what I'm trying to get at with regard to some of that public, because I too am interested in the human infrastructure element of this, and especially as it pertains to like heat corridors and to those kind of like bus stops where people would be just kind of like having, you know, heat rained down on them. I'm trying to understand why 'prioritize' and why not like 'assure' or something of that type, if that makes sense in the language.

[02:49:59] Lauren Stoneburner: And are you referring to the actions in the plan or to the Guide A?

[02:50:07] Vice Chair Alex Nuñez: Both. I guess like I notice the word 'prioritize' comes up a lot across the plan and I'm trying to understand like, yeah, why prioritize or like at what point is a priority not available? I guess it's ambiguous and maybe that's why I'm struggling to explain exactly the concern, but I hope you can fill in the dots.

[02:50:32] Lauren Stoneburner: I definitely hear your point there on, you know, maybe using the word prioritize so often might make it hard to see where the actual priority is. I think the intention of the guidelines, or the Guide A urban landscaping, is to offer strategies and best practices. And so it's a resource to use. And if you are in a certain site type or zone within the city, it gives you sort of a palette of options or a menu of options to look to on what can help you bring your project to the next level.

[02:51:19] Lauren Stoneburner: As for the actions in the use of the word prioritize in that chapter, I would need to take a closer look at how we use that word. But I definitely hear your point on how using the word prioritize often could potentially dilute that as a term. So I just want to say I hear your point on that.

[02:51:46] Vice Chair Alex Nuñez: Okay. Thank you very much for that. And then I guess two more questions. I did look through the plan I promise, and maybe I'm just, maybe I'm neither a biologist nor a horticulturist, and so maybe this is just like escaping my like where. But in terms of some like assessment of like existing, cause I did see there's like that analysis on the current canopy cover, right? I guess I'm curious if there was an assessment or analysis done which may have like transposed, for example, like existing heat corridors or like existing hotter places of the city as mapped against areas where there might be less urban forestry resources as exists today.

[02:52:57] Vice Chair Alex Nuñez: Did I miss that? Can you speak to that?

[02:53:01] Lauren Stoneburner: Yeah, we don't address or provide like a technical analysis of heat exposure or heat risk in the urban forest assessment, that would be chapter 3.2. But we do factor in the Trust for Public Land's heat severity map into the cooling zone of Guide A urban landscaping.

[02:53:41] Lauren Stoneburner: So the areas that we've identified as a priority for cooling through tree canopy cover expansion factors in exactly what you're describing, which is the overlap between areas of greatest heat severity and heat exposure and the least canopy cover. Also factored into the cooling zone are also the bikeways. But just to answer your question, yes, that is where it is factored in.

[02:54:12] Vice Chair Alex Nuñez: Okay. Thank you. And then my last question. I guess like as much, you know, I love the wildlife. I plant my garden for the squirrels actually. But I am very curious about the considerations around if there was like that analysis around like the kind of like, I guess fauna absorption rate that the city can support and tolerate.

[02:54:47] Vice Chair Alex Nuñez: I guess like is there some ecological, you know, kind of like unforeseen consequences, for example, that was some assessment of that type conducted as part of this just to make sure like, you know, as and if we do proceed with a plan such as this that, you know, we're at least a little more conscious and deliberate toward what kind of creatures we're inviting in, how that relates to the need for humans to live in a city, right? Can you just speak to what kind of considerations were taken as part of the development of the current draft?

[02:55:34] Lauren Stoneburner: Yeah. I liked the term that Lada used earlier and now I'm not finding it in my notes. It was something like the capacity tolerance or of undesirable species. People have difference of opinion on raccoons and squirrels. So I won't try to get into that. But I'll just say that we did include the challenges of inviting nature and greening and biodiversity into the urban environment in the community engagement process. That was where it showed up the most.

[02:56:22] Lauren Stoneburner: And so we asked the community to sort of rank their level of concern for various challenges as well as the benefits of nature. And we generally saw that the benefits were ranked higher as an area of interest over the concerns. And the issue of potential like nuisance or pest species was ranked relatively low on the list. And so that wasn't an area where we spent as much time exploring in a more technical sense.

[02:57:09] Lauren Stoneburner: However, we did include Action 9 which focuses on mitigating human-wildlife conflicts and the tradeoffs of inviting biodiversity into the urban environment. And so the plan's purpose is inherently to support biodiversity, but it also seeks to consider the human needs and potential conflicts. And so Action 9 promotes investigating this a little bit more and giving, kind of creating a framework for how Mountain View can collectively support biodiversity in a resilient forest while also managing these tradeoffs.

[02:57:55] Vice Chair Alex Nuñez: Thank you.

[02:57:57] Chair José Gutiérrez: Thank you, Vice Chair Nuñez. And at this point I'll do a point of personal privilege. I have a quick question for the team. So I think we're covered by the Brown Act, so I'm just double checking here. Do we need to extend or have a motion to extend the meeting after 10 o'clock? Are we obliged to do that as well or do we just go on until we finish?

[02:58:18] EPC Clerk: EPC doesn't have that rule.

[02:58:19] Chair José Gutiérrez: Great. Thank you. So having understood that and having my question be answered, let's move on to Commissioner Pham.

[02:58:28] Commissioner Tina Pham: All right. I have a few questions. One of my questions relates to the plant list. It's clear that a lot of work went into it. It's a pretty extensive list and also a lot of discussion on the selection criteria. I had a few questions specifically on the selection criteria. The first one was regional nursery availability. Nurseries are not something I know a lot about. What nurseries were considered? Are they generally in the area? Can we indicate on the list how far these trees may be coming from?

[02:59:04] Lauren Stoneburner: Yeah. This list was developed primarily by Davey Resource Group who isn't here tonight, so that is something that we could look into. But I do know just from my own experience that there is a database of nursery plant availability and there are sort of regional or geographic constraints you can put on that search query. So that's something we can take a note of to circle back to, but I'm, I would guess that Davey referenced that database on nursery plant availability.

[02:59:47] Commissioner Tina Pham: Okay, great. Another selection criteria that I had a question on, I was just curious, it was salt tolerance. The report says that trees were selected based on

Segment 5

[03:00:00] Commissioner Tina Pham: on if they could be successfully irrigated by reclaimed water? Um, if in a hypothetical future if the quality of reclaimed water were to improve um in the next three to five years, would that open up additional plant species to be included on the list?

[03:00:20] Lauren Stoneburner: Um, again, with Davey having been the lead on this, the the tree list, um, that is something that we can um ask them and gather more information about. Um, as I'm not, I'm not quite um as informed on whether um changes in the technology of reclaimed water would change the criteria that we used for selecting plant species based on salt tolerance. Um, so that's something that we can just take a note of.

[03:00:55] Commissioner Tina Pham: Okay, great. Um, my next question has to do with the section on past and current context, which was great. It helped me kind of understand where this plan is coming from and um how it relates to Mountain View. Um, my my question specifically was for future climate challenges. There was language in the plan about what challenges um were identified and needed to be um accounted for in the future, but no sort of timeline on how far in the future. Any sort of guidance or thought process you can share with us?

[03:01:35] Lauren Stoneburner: Yeah, um, this was a section that we we we actually drafted a a much longer version of the of the plan if you can believe it, and um we did have to uh boil it down. And so, um I don't have the the prior draft in front of me to reference the timeframe, but I would guess it would be somewhere with within the century that we were we were talking about, but that is another one we can take a note of.

[03:02:20] Commissioner Tina Pham: Right, it may be good to note for the public so that they know how far in the future you may be thinking um to help understand the timeline. Um, last question I had was related to grants and external funding. In the next steps section, um there was mention of the Santa Clara County Urban Forest Master Plan, um which is a document I wasn't aware of. Um, can you speak a little bit about that and how, you know, future funding may come from there to help carry out these actions?

[03:02:38] Assistant Community Development Director Amber Blizinski: I'm gonna go ahead and defer to Russell Hansen, our Urban Forest Manager who can speak to that. He sits on that uh committee.

[03:02:48] Urban Forestry Manager Russell Hansen: All right. Can everybody, can everybody hear me this evening? All right. Thank you, Commissioners. Um, yeah, in terms of the Santa Clara um Urban Forestry Alliance, what that really is intended is Santa Clara County has taken a lead to try and improve, I'll say, the collaboration between all the different agencies that ultimately reside within Santa Clara County. Um, as a result of that, um kind of what we're going to be able to do is share a lot of resources in terms of outreach, in terms of, you know, designing planting programs, in terms of our species lists that we talk about, etc., and just having all of that information kind of prepared or otherwise um will I'll say um make us better situated in terms of when grants come available.

[03:03:49] Urban Forestry Manager Russell Hansen: Um, CalFire has a regular program um where at least every year or two they're releasing um funds for grants. Um, a lot of those are related to tree planting efforts, etc., um but they have also branched out in terms of maintenance and other kinds of activities um over the last several years based off of feedback from the different agencies and so forth that have been applying for these grants. And so it it really just boils down to preparedness that we will have the ability to work with these other agencies to very quickly um build lists, build programs, build outreach, all of those different things to where it just it makes our applications look a little bit better, I guess, is the best way to put it.

[03:04:30] Commissioner Tina Pham: Okay, thank you. A follow-up question. Sounds like there's a lot of collaboration and resource sharing at the county level. Are there other um government levels or entities that could help provide funding to help further these actions or goals?

[03:04:48] Urban Forestry Manager Russell Hansen: Yeah, I mean all ultimately there are grants that come from the federal agencies, that come from the state agencies, as well as there are absolutely other nonprofit groups or otherwise um that typically will take some of those funds from some of these other, I'll say, higher agencies and then they become responsible for the actual disbursements of the grants and so forth. California Urban Forestry Council is just one of many um that kind of come um to mind in that regard, but um yeah, the the the green industry has them at all levels of government as well as even in the private sector and the nonprofit groups.

[03:05:25] Commissioner Tina Pham: Okay, thank you.

[03:05:30] Chair José Gutiérrez: Thank you, Commissioner Pham. Moving on to Commissioner Donahue.

[03:05:38] Commissioner Paul Donahue: So Guide D has a lot of, it's kind of a framework, it has a lot of fill-in-the-blank kinds of things for developing these metrics. Um, at what point will those get get filled in? Is the is the idea that those get filled in later in the process so that by the June uh adoption all that's there, or is that kind of a the the plan just kicks off that process and then that gets done later?

[03:06:14] Assistant Community Development Director Amber Blizinski: Yes, we're intending to build a an implementation team within the city, much like the city project team, where that that team would look across departmental, what would work, what's realistic, what's feasible. Uh, so it would be after plan adoption that we're looking at that to fill in those blanks.

[03:06:30] Commissioner Paul Donahue: Okay, so so the the metrics then wouldn't wouldn't be wouldn't go to the City Council and and

[03:06:40] Assistant Community Development Director Amber Blizinski: Well, there are metrics that are laid out in the plan that are recommended and some that are um suggested, but those fill-in-the-blanks are more of a, correct me if I'm wrong Lauren and Selina, they're more of like a guide, like a suggestion, like this is something that you could be tracking and reporting out.

[03:06:58] Lauren Stoneburner: Yeah, to to clarify, the the fill-in-the-blanks column are the targets. So that's what you're trying to get to um by a certain date. And the metrics are what you're measuring, it's like the yardstick you're using to measure um to get to that target.

[03:07:17] Commissioner Paul Donahue: Okay. Um, on along those lines, the well it this was actually even in the uh the presentation, the there's the the targets and metrics slide has basically targets and metrics and how they track towards uh meeting certain objectives, which is useful, but also each objective has multiple actions, and if there's an objective that has three actions, um it would be nice to be able to see which action is the thing that is helping us meet the objective so that we can pour more resources into that action versus into some other action. So uh pairing it with objectives makes sense in one respect, but kind of targeting uh pairing it with actions would make sense in another respect. What what are your thoughts on that?

[03:08:18] Lauren Stoneburner: Yeah, I definitely um hear that, you know, being able to provide something concrete to um be able to demonstrate progress towards the actions and the contribution of actions to the objective would be helpful. We did intentionally decide for the metrics to measure the outcomes of the um towards the objectives as a more of a holistic or cohesive framework where um the activities that you're conducting, meaning the actions that you're conducting, may change over time, and regardless of the actions changing, you're still working towards the same objectives, goals, and ultimately vision. Um, so in that way it has a little bit more staying power than if you were tracking individual actions.

[03:09:18] Commissioner Paul Donahue: Yeah, I I can see both both ways. It it so anyway I just wanted to point out that that's that's another way of looking at it. Um, I think that's probably all my questions for now. Thanks.

[03:09:33] Chair José Gutiérrez: Thank you, Commissioner Donahue. Commissioner Yin.

[03:09:38] Commissioner Joyce Yin: Thanks. Um, I think the the document is impressive. It's a great start. I know right now you're just looking to to get feedback to to fine tune and tweak and um get some more input as to how to make it better. So um one of the questions I had, and these are the ones that maybe overlap with what some of the public had asked, um I know we've up here seen a lot about the Dark Skies Ordinance and it hasn't really come forward, but I think maybe there's some basic principles that are there. Has that been looked at and is that, I didn't see it but, is that folded into the plan anywhere? Um, and does it leave room for the plan to change when that does come to fruition?

[03:10:22] Assistant Community Development Director Amber Blizinski: So one of the action items is actually to develop a Dark Skies Ordinance, which we have started internally as a team. So that's one of the action items, so the the actual ordinance is not baked into this this plan.

[03:10:33] Commissioner Joyce Yin: Okay, now that's great news to hear. Thank you. Um, oh I I also read that there are some more regional programs uh like there's an SB coming up regarding this or an AB, I forgot. Um, and I was wondering how this document then will tie to some of the larger plans that are coming aboard or in place.

[03:10:54] Assistant Community Development Director Amber Blizinski: Sure. Do you want to speak a little bit to that Lauren? How this plan kind of cohesively works together with all of the other Active Transportation Plan, our precise plans, things like that? Do you do you have an first thoughts Brenda you'd like to share? Well, we did work collaboratively with all the different departments that are working on all these different plans, so they all weighed in heavily on this Biodiversity and Urban Forest Plan. How would it tie into, for example, active transportation? Um, how can we create these sort of green zones and these these um uh corridors if you will in conjunction with active transportation. So we had representatives from, like I said, all different departments and divisions that sat in, uh Sustainability and Climate Resiliency. So we made sure that this plan works together in tandem with other plans in the city. Also, um SFEI took a look at all of our different guiding policies, guiding plans that exist currently in the city and crafted this Biodiversity and Urban Forest Plan based on those existing plans. Did you want to, anything else I'm missing?

[03:12:18] Lauren Stoneburner: No, that was perfect. Thanks Brenda.

[03:12:22] Commissioner Joyce Yin: Okay, thank you. Um, let's see, another question was, oh, um artificial turf. Is that discussed in the document? I didn't necessarily see a a discussion of it and I personally agree that, you know, we should try to avoid using artificial turf. It's maybe not everyone's opinion, but um is there a discussion or was there thought going into whether or not to include it, not include it, and what were those reasons?

[03:12:48] Assistant Community Development Director Amber Blizinski: That one I'm gonna defer to Lauren.

[03:12:51] Lauren Stoneburner: Yeah, the artificial turf topic um definitely came up in our discussions with the city as we were formulating the the plan and also what we would be um getting input from the community on. And we ultimately decided that um the high use recreational spaces, like sports fields, are largely dedicated for a specific purpose that is outside the realm of managing for biodiversity um for or for other multiple benefits. So, um you know, the the differences between one turf or another were a little bit outside the purview of this plan.

[03:13:18] Commissioner Joyce Yin: Okay, uh does the city have any, I mean since you're working holistically within the city and there are lots of plans, was it in the discussion?

[03:13:26] Assistant Community Development Director Amber Blizinski: Sure. Artificial turf, um like Lauren said, we we use that for recreation programming, not to enhance biodiversity and and greening in our city. So we, again like Lauren said, we felt like that was outside of the scope of this plan. It's not, this plan doesn't talk about recreation programming, which is what our artificial artificial turf is currently used for. Sports fields, exactly.

[03:13:52] Commissioner Joyce Yin: Right, so then where would that fall in the city's purview I guess? Which department mainly would?

[03:13:59] Assistant Community Development Director Amber Blizinski: It would be Parks and Recreation. That would be part of the Parks and Recreation strategic plan which we're currently working on.

[03:14:08] Commissioner Joyce Yin: Okay. Um.

[03:14:09] Chair José Gutiérrez: Just a point of clarification, for the majority of the funding for those programs come from the Mountain View Whisman School District. They have oversight over the fields at Graham and Crittenden Middle Schools. So they have jurisdiction over the funding to that, which is why where I pitched in to help mentioning that I don't like artificial turf, I want grass because of various reasons that I've already been stated before. So that's a partnership issue I think.

[03:14:32] Commissioner Joyce Yin: Thank you. Uh let's see. Other question. See if I can get 'em all in one shot otherwise, you know, you have to come back. Um, oh I think you answered this one already. Ah yes, size class distribution. Um, I saw that there was one table or chart that had a goal of size distribution. I was curious, um we don't have to get into super detail about where it came from, but um it did it did show that Mountain View was sort of short on the larger older trees and made a point to say that we should take care to preserve our heritage trees. I was also curious um if we had uh some thought in the plan that goes into how to replenish specifically for the larger trees because if we're talking about biodiversity we want, you know, a good selection or of each type. Um, and I know along with having larger trees requires the environment to help it succeed and it's a constant struggle in Mountain View to find, you know, extra land. But I think it's important and so I wanted to to find out how you guys have been thinking about how to meet that goal.

[03:15:18] Assistant Community Development Director Amber Blizinski: Sure, I'm gonna let Russell Hansen, our Urban Forest Manager, answer that, and Lauren you can always chime in too.

[03:15:28] Urban Forestry Manager Russell Hansen: Thank you again Commissioners. Um, you know it really what it boils down to is making better decisions when we are planting our trees so that they are more sustainable. What we historically have done in the industry is, without a lot of consideration unfortunately, plant a lot of trees trying to meet certain, you know, high level goals where we need to plant like big initiatives, LA, New York, etc., plant a million trees. And unfortunately what happens in a lot of those cases is just we we are so focused on getting trees in the ground we are not doing it well, I will say. And so it really boils down to um, you know, in terms of our public spaces, for us to kind of have a good idea of those spaces, what species are likely to thrive, etc., using this biodiversity plan etc. to kind of support all the other things we're trying to accomplish.

[03:16:24] Urban Forestry Manager Russell Hansen: And then above and beyond that, when it comes to private property, new developments, etc., um we have lots of competing challenges um in terms of infrastructure or otherwise um when these developments are put in. And unfortunately that frequently leads to conflicts further down the road, whether it be walkways, whether it be, you know, street lights or other kind of infrastructure ultimately. Um, that is what typically affects our trees and so it really is just a matter of kind of addressing that very early in the development process when we're planting those trees um so that we can allow them to grow.

[03:17:02] Urban Forestry Manager Russell Hansen: Um, the second aspect is maintaining them well. Um, you know that's a big challenge that uh obviously we have control over some of the trees that are within our areas again, public right-of-way, parks, etc., um but private trees. Um, making sure that we have good contractors available to property owners. Trees are not something that a lot of property owners are well educated on, I will say. And so providing resources to kind of help them make those good decisions, select the right contractors, take the right approach to maintaining their tree, um not just in frequency but just in the style and the and so forth that they're doing it. That some trees require end weight reduction to prevent limb failure that ultimately those limb failures could lead to complete structural loss within the tree, etc. And so it really comes down to that maintenance, not just making right decisions in the beginning but also doing the maintenance um to kind of prolong those trees, make them more sustainable, less susceptible to our storms or to other issues um that are going to kind of impact them. Um, does that answer your question?

[03:18:48] Commissioner Joyce Yin: That helps, thank you. Um, I know that the private public sort of dichotomy there is a challenge. Um, we read that 90% of our trees in the city are actually on private property and with any document and plan, you know you've got the goals, the action items, then you, like you said, you need funding for monitoring, uh there needs to be enforcement of whatever you're putting forward. I I I was curious um what are some plans for the private lands? That's 90% of the city. If we're to meet our goals then we we need to kind of look at that. I'm I'm not trying to advocate for, you know, every tree must be absolutely saved no matter what, you know, and pushing that it has to be and then having city members go onto private land and just like investigate every tree and every root. That's not what I'm saying, however there needs to be a balance and if we're to truly try to meet the goals then we have to have a plan in place for that. Um, so I was curious what your thoughts are.

[03:19:58] Assistant Community Development Director Amber Blizinski: Very legitimate question and um something that we talked a lot about internally, the city project team. And it's it's also about kind of getting creative and maybe looking at the way we do operations differently, taking a look at some of our agreements that we have with the private landowners and and seeing if we can come to some compromise where you know could we green some areas and they would be amenable to it if we were to maintain it. Taking a look at a lot of different ways of doing business and and how we operate. It's it's really, I don't like using the term think outside the box, but it really is. It's thinking more creative creatively and like Lauren said it's like a like a mind shift a little bit on how we've been operating and how we could be operating.

[03:20:53] Assistant Community Development Director Amber Blizinski: So, um incentive programs, working with our partner Canopy. Um Canopy, we had them do uh two uh street tree campaigns where they were tasked with, you know, signing up 25 new homeowners to put a to plant a street tree. And a lot of that was just pounding the pavement, going out there and knocking on doors and explaining the benefits of trees, but that's time consuming, right? And it's but it's 25 new trees that we were able to put in and and being able to provide that education, that benefit, explaining that, and then being able to also provide um follow-up care. You know, Canopy went out there, followed up, how's the tree doing, what can we offer. So again, looking at creative ways to implement some of these programs and partnering with our private landowners.

[03:21:37] Commissioner Joyce Yin: Is that something that could be put into the plan? There's taking look at the agreements is in here, that's one of the action items. Um, looking at operations differently, that's another action item. Mm-hm. Those are in there. They're not specifically spelled out because we want to give ourselves a little bit of flexibility and again, that creative thinking.

[03:21:48] Lauren Stoneburner: And I'll I'll also underscore that the goal for Activate and Collaborate is entirely about exactly this idea of the fact that um the city or even more specifically the Community Services Department can't operate alone to achieve the vision and goals of this plan. And so also like we are open to feedback if you do have specific ideas and input on actions related to um better activating and collaborating with um with projects, with community, with um other agencies.

[03:22:24] Commissioner Joyce Yin: Okay, thank you. I think we were asked to wait till later. I'm I'm good with questions now. Thank you.

[03:22:30] Chair José Gutiérrez: Thank you, Commissioner Yin. Appreciate your help. Commissioner Dempsey.

[03:22:34] Commissioner Hank Dempsey: Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh, just a couple of quick questions about the state of tree maintenance now. Um, so for example, I it sounds like Parks and Rec are the city staff that work on trees. Is that fully staffed up? Do we have vacancies? How are we doing there?

[03:22:49] Assistant Community Development Director Amber Blizinski: It's a division of eight folks total and we are in the process of filling the last vacancy, which is, this has been about four and a half years in the in the, yeah, trying to fill those vacancies. So, um we're close. We also have a contractor that we use as well. Yes, we have a very large contract with um WCA, West Coast Arborists, that do a lot of our larger tree work and our um our city staff folks kind of work on the more high touch um residential and our park system, that things like that.

[03:23:24] Commissioner Hank Dempsey: Congrats on getting that last person hired up. What is what is the city's backlog for tree maintenance?

[03:23:30] Assistant Community Development Director Amber Blizinski: Ooh, Russell's gonna have to answer that one.

[03:23:38] Urban Forestry Manager Russell Hansen: Can you guys hear me? There we go. So yeah, in terms of backlog maintenance, absolutely that has been a challenge over the last three or four years as Brenda had kind of suggested, is as we were short staffed or otherwise, a lot of those programs have fallen by the wayside. We just were not resourced well enough to stay on a set schedule. Um, having said that, um no official backlog, I can't give you a hard number in terms of deferred trees etc., um but one of the things we are currently doing, I'll just throw some rough numbers out there as to kind of what we are looking at as we move forward. Um, generally we have between 25 and 30,000 trees in our inventory that are in public spaces.

[03:24:27] Urban Forestry Manager Russell Hansen: Um, we are in the process of updating that. Some of that data, as this plan calls out, some of that data is a little bit old, so we're in the process of kind of tackling that. We're going through with West Coast Arborists to kind of inventory upwards of about five to 6,000 trees this year perhaps, um so that we've got updated data on that. In addition to that, um you know if you take that 25 to 30,000 trees and we divide that over kind of what the recommended best practice is within the industry, and that's about a five to seven year cycle, um you know roughly I'll say 5,000 trees um a year was what would be required uh to do those on a five to six year cycle. Um, you could drop that maybe a little bit lower if you extended it out to a seven year cycle.

[03:25:08] Urban Forestry Manager Russell Hansen: Um, what we have done is about two years ago we got back on track and started to where we got almost 1,000 to to 1,500 trees. Last year we were closer to about two to 3,000 trees and this year we hope to get as close to that 5,000 trees um actually touched, serviced, etc., um before the end of the year. And so, again I don't have a hard number in terms of the backlog, but if you wanted to look at it in that way and say that it was, you know, 4,000 trees a year that got missed for four years, there's about 16,000 trees um that we're off cycle on. But we're trying to get back onto that and hopefully over the next couple of years we do achieve that.

[03:25:48] Commissioner Hank Dempsey: Okay. I I can imagine that that is really, really hard work. Um, I I guess I would I I would proffer for your consideration that metr some of the metrics may want to include, are we taking care of the trees we have now as we are focused on trying to get some more trees. Let's take care also take very good care of the trees we have now, otherwise we might lose some of them. Um, I I also think the the point Russell was getting at about sort of the tree census, I don't know what else you would call it. Um, I if to whatever extent we can have a a good cadence of our tree census, I think that that's an important metric because we need to know what we have, especially if one of our key metrics is canopy coverage. If our data is multiple years old, we could be pretty cl maybe 22.7 isn't the right goal if we're maybe we're at 21. I don't we don't know, we haven't checked most of the trees in a while. So I think that getting some data about what we have now, what we essentially what we have now and where we're at now, I think that's really important and my hope would be that that would be well baked into the into the metrics.

[03:26:53] Assistant Community Development Director Amber Blizinski: One of the first uh one of the first uh um oh what what do you call it? It was uh the percentage of tree canopy by a certain year and that's that those blanks that we need to fill in. I think we need to do a little bit more like you say some of our um filling in the existing blanks that we currently have so that we can set those goals. We can't do that if we don't know all we don't have all the accurate data. So there is some backlog that we'll have to do to catch up in order to set those goals.

[03:27:23] Commissioner Hank Dempsey: Perfect. Thank you.

[03:27:27] Chair José Gutiérrez: Thank you, Commissioner Dempsey. Commissioner Cranston.

[03:27:28] Commissioner Bill Cranston: So, some of my other questions have been asked by other commissioners, but a couple in particular. Um, not that long ago we were in a drought. Several of my neighbors took out landscaping and put in green plastic in their yards instead, okay. Did you test this against the next drought? Okay, this it seems to assume the level of precipitation we have today and not dealing with the fact that we were the city was paying people to take landscaping out four or five years ago, not paying them to put stuff in. And this I didn't sense in this that that anticipates that there's going to be another freaking drought. Can you talk about did you look at that?

[03:28:24] Assistant Community Development Director Amber Blizinski: Lauren, I'm gonna let defer to you on that one.

[03:28:28] Lauren Stoneburner: Yeah, um this plan does account for the likelihood that drought will become a more frequent occurrence and that um water use will be more restricted. And so this plan does really emphasize um both uh native plant palettes, which should be more drought tolerant, um and also climate adapted species. And so the the tree list in particular really takes into account water requirements. Um, and one reason why it's very important to pay special attention to climate adaptedness in trees is because they have such a long lifespan. And um losing a tree early um either on its own accord or um or if it has to be removed is really a loss of great potential um because they provide so many services for so long. Um, and so we put a lot of emphasis on climate adaptedness for trees in particular but um overall we do emphasize um climate resilience in tandem with um landscaping strategies.

[03:29:50] Commissioner Bill Cranston: Okay. Um, next question. Do you have a prioritized list of these things? Because I looked at this and thought there's no way we can we're going to do all of this at the same time. So do you have a have you looked at this and said okay if we're going to work on these this subset, which one would they be?

[03:30:04] Assistant Community Development Director Amber Blizinski: Sure, the the action items are prioritized by short term, long or medium term, and long term. Um, some of the action items we're doing on a very soft level that we haven't formalized anything but we've started some of those items like for example the the Dark Skies Ordinance. We've gotten started on that, we haven't um adopted anything. So we we prioritize those actions working with SFEI based on the needs in our community and also what would be practical, realistic, uh feasible. And then again we'll have to create that implementation team on of all these short term items what are we going to be doing first. And again some of those things, some of the the action items we are currently doing, we just need to amp them up a little bit, improve upon them, build upon those things.

[03:30:18] Commissioner Bill Cranston: So you're saying this is already a prioritized list?

[03:30:28] Assistant Community Development Director Amber Blizinski: Each of the action items have a short term, medium term, long term priority attached to each of 'em. Right, but you haven't prioritized which ones should stay on the list or not because I'm more worried that there's just too many actions overall. That's my, not prioritized within actions, but that there's too many for the city to actually do. You haven't looked at that way, it sounds like. Yeah, yeah, I I um it's it is a it is a visionary and a guiding document that's meant to evolve and change and we can, you know, take a look and updating it. Okay. Dark Sky Ordinance has been on a list. How long have I been on EPC? Seven years? Seven years. So I'm I'm not confident that just because it's on a list that it means it's gonna happen.

[03:32:09] Assistant Community Development Director Amber Blizinski: Sure, sure. And it is bold and it is that that is what a a a vision is. It's bold and

[03:32:19] Chair José Gutiérrez: Thank you, Commissioner Cranston. Okay. Moving on to me. I have a couple questions. Following up on what the rest of the commissioners have said, I agree with all their all your perspectives. You bring very good points of interest and concern. The biggest one I have, which is what Commissioner Cranston alluded to is, can we do this? Followed up by is there money to do this? Followed up by will we continue to have money to make this happen? Because to me it seems like it's too bold. And I'm sorry if people misunderstand what I'm saying, but I want this to be realistic, I want this to be efficient, and I want this to be specific with budgetary estimates for cost and maintenance and upkeep. I hear that we have ideas and that's wonderful, but I don't see any follow through with accountability to that.

[03:33:23] Chair José Gutiérrez: And one of the things that have always been concerned about, along with many members of the community is follow through, accountability, and timeline, meeting those said goals and estimates. Because the city unfortunately doesn't have a great reputation sometimes to keeping that in place. I'll give you one quick example. And I don't mean to sound like a negative ninny but I'm just picking up on this stuff and it it it concerns me very much. I heard a lot about protecting trees, I read a lot about what type of trees we need, I heard a lot of concern for heritage trees, not only in this report but also when we've had community comments whenever said developments that have been brought to our body have been reviewed. And for the most part they're taking out over and over and over again.

[03:34:10] Chair José Gutiérrez: So my question would be when will we revise or revisit the issue of protecting our heritage trees? What can we actually do to protect them? More than what we do now because now it just seems like we have no options or they're very limited. So realistically speaking how effective can we be in doing something like that, protecting them? Because if we can't do that now and that's part of this plan, I don't think that's realistic. And I think that's an undue burden on the team that the city has focusing in on that because if we all and I heard something else which was disturbing for me, um I I forgot who mentioned this. I think the gentleman mentioned that they had uh not enough resources, which tells me there wasn't enough money to do the maintenance of the trees, the upkeep of the trees. So help me to understand how this is gonna work.

[03:35:03] Assistant Community Development Director Amber Blizinski: Sure, I think he was referring to staff resources at the point. Um, we are one of the things we're looking at at incorporating into the plan, there's a couple things, is um not cost necessarily but a legend of, you know, say it's between, you know, it doesn't cost anything but staff time is one dollar and if it's, you know, the little legend would be if it's shows you two dollar signs that it's, you know, anywhere under a hundred thousand dollars. So at least we can kind of give an idea of the cost that'll be associated. We'll have to bring those budget requests with as part of the budget process when we're implementing these action items. Um, another thing that we need to do a better job and update the plan is to articulate our implementation plan, which is to build that that city team to keep this momentum going and to and to help guide it. CSD while we're leading the plan, we're not the only ones that are are, you know, tasked with taking on some of these action items where we've been partnering with CDD and with Public Works and with Sustainability. And so there are other players at the table that we need to coordinate with based on, you know, current existing workloads and and current action items and priorities that Council sets out. So we have to kind of balance this and that's why we didn't want to put any hard and fast timelines exactly in this document because there are other competing plans, projects, and um priorities that have been laid out, you know, by our governing bodies. So uh but we do need to do a better job at kind of articulating what that implementation is.

[03:36:39] Assistant Community Development Director Amber Blizinski: Regarding the Heritage Tree Ordinance, that's one of the easy layups because we have already been talking about the Heritage Tree Ordinance when we were doing the Community Tree Master Plan update when we started that process. We started working behind the scenes staff um on how could we make those those updates. So that one's an an easy one. We can get started on that one right away. That's that low hanging fruit if you will. Uh we have intended to bring in phases those updates based on kind of like themes uh within the ordinance as opposed to one giant update that would be, you know, a a heavy lift if you will because it has to go through different um, you know, uh review processes. So we had talked about, I'm trying to look at the themes here. For example, tree size and scope of protection, species considerations, appeal process, and that way those changes can be thoroughly reviewed and implemented as we go. So phasing things like that. So I don't know if that really answers your question but I hope I provided some some context and some helpful insights.

[03:37:43] Chair José Gutiérrez: Oh no no, I I your response is what I I thought I would hear. Uh and so that just allows me the ability to just reiterate my concerns because there's still a lot of uh openness. And and I I don't deal well with openness that way, right? I just don't. I I can tell you we had a bold vision in the School Board with teacher housing and look what happened. There wasn't enough accountability or oversight, some people like myself pushed for it, in the end it didn't happen and it turned into a mess. Um and that's not good for the city. So my my follow-up question, it's a simple one. Uh so I hearing your timeline you have um you are presenting this to us now in 2025 October, then Parks and Rec 2026. Parks and Rec had this before October 2025. And then in April 2026 at City Council. Now I would think final reading would be City Council June 2026. So my question to you is, is this the only chance that we have to then look at this and then afterwards it's all in the hands of Parks and Rec?

[03:38:37] Assistant Community Development Director Amber Blizinski: Yes.

[03:38:38] Chair José Gutiérrez: Thank you for being clear on that. Is there a reason why?

[03:38:41] Assistant Community Development Director Amber Blizinski: Uh, when we started this plan uh a few years ago that was what was laid out was that because CSD was leading it that we would be revisiting the Parks and Rec Commission twice um and EPC once.

[03:38:53] Chair José Gutiérrez: Great. Final question. Um the timeline seems to be a little aggressive. Do you think it's feasible that by April 2026 we're going to have something concrete more than what we have now? Will you be able to fill in the blanks then?

[03:39:08] Assistant Community Development Director Amber Blizinski: Well, we've been working on this since I started with the city which was four and a half years ago so I'm not sure if it's super aggressive at this point. Um we've been very thoughtful and mindful with the um with the timelines and working with SFEI and what's what's realistic. We actually did um extend the internal review period which pushed our timeline out even a little bit. We're being very careful sticking to the timeline but also being realistic with with, you know, all the different, you know, internal reviews and working with everybody.

[03:39:40] Chair José Gutiérrez: Okay. So then follow-up question would be, I trust your judgment and the team and I'm hopeful that the city processes and tackling these issues become effective, efficient, accountable, and responsible. So I would think that if you all seem to believe that at that time the timeline's not realistic, you'll promptly let everyone know so that we can then figure that out and realize what the next steps could be and by when.

[03:40:04] Assistant Community Development Director Amber Blizinski: I'm a stickler for it. So absolutely.

[03:40:08] Chair José Gutiérrez: Okay. Okay great. Thank you. Does anyone else have any, oh here we go. Commissioner Pham.

[03:40:14] Commissioner Tina Pham: Um I had a follow-up question. Um staff had mentioned that the implementation plan will come after adoption. Um will Council be able to weigh in on the implementation plan? If not um can you talk more about how that will come together and who will have input?

[03:40:30] Assistant Community Development Director Amber Blizinski: Sure, everybody can weigh in on the implementation plan. I welcome it. Um I I would I would hope that Council would have um some thoughts and some uh something to contribute if they have, you know, some strong opinions about the implementation plan. I do know that Council really values that cross departmental uh work that we have done with the city project team and the idea being that the implementation plan we would continue with that cross departmental work together to execute.

[03:41:01] Chair José Gutiérrez: Thank you, Commissioner Pham. Okay. So let's go on to right here, it's got EPC questions. Does the EPC have any feedback on the following areas to better align the plan with the city's priorities? But mind you I want to go back to what I had highlighted before and was emphasized to me. Questions focused on individual recommendation should be held until later in the meeting. I'm thinking that that means now, okay? So so let's roll with this. And I I I hate to do this. I am so sorry. Something told me to bring the full report because I thought you would bring out a certain page or pages. I didn't do that. So and that's that's my fault, okay? That's on me. So when you refer to the plan's action items and priority levels, page 77, do I have that here? And if not can we get that just on the screen? Same thing with performance metrics and targets. I don't have page 98. Do we have that here? I don't think we do. Can we get that presented on the screen or somehow get copies of that to view. Does that make sense?

[03:42:04] Unknown Speaker: Yeah, if you give us a few minutes we can bring that up.

[03:42:07] Chair José Gutiérrez: Sounds good. So should we take a five minute break or are we good?

[03:42:09] Unknown Speaker: No, I can bring that up.

[03:42:12] Chair José Gutiérrez: All right. Great. Thank you so much. I appreciate that. So once again we'll go to EPC questions. Does the EPC have any feedback on the following areas to better align the plan with the city's priorities? We'll first look at the plan's action items and priority levels found at page 77 and then we'll move on to performance metrics and targets found at page 98. Taking into consideration that we have if we have questions focused on individual individual recommendations, we should do this now. And I will um do the best I can to track the majority sentiments on ideas that we have that are presented and I trust that my colleagues such as Christian and Deanna will help me with all this one way or another but we'll get this taken care of tonight for sure before midnight.

[03:43:18] Assistant Community Development Director Amber Blizinski: Go to page oh um go to the little uh it's like a chart right above. I know that it said page 77 but sometimes when it when it went to PDF it didn't translate. There you go. That's a nice good snapshot of the action items and priority levels. The priority levels aren't listed, they're actually listed with each action item.

[03:43:46] Chair José Gutiérrez: Ok great. Team, do you have any questions right now about this? And are these all the uh is this everything on page 77 or does this spill over to something else?

[03:44:02] Assistant Community Development Director Amber Blizinski: If the Commissioners um you know this is a lot to look through and I I recognize that. It's a lot it's a lot that we're asking. Um you've provided a lot of great input for us already. Um this is very specific and we welcome the feedback if you want if you want to take some time to digest and look at all the priorities. Going through this would take some time tonight um because each action item actually has a priority listed with it. There's 25.

[03:44:34] Chair José Gutiérrez: Okay, bear with me here and and I'm sorry to interrupt. I'm just a little confused because this said page 77 here but yet in the report it's not 77, it's 74 or 75.

[03:44:43] Assistant Community Development Director Amber Blizinski: When we were when we were changing the document from a Google Doc to a PDF there was some a yeah. Apologies. Yeah.

[03:44:51] Chair José Gutiérrez: Got it. I I've faced that before. I totally No worries. No worries. Okay. So Deanna and Christian, what do you suggest? Because right now it seems like

Segment 6

[03:45:00] Chair José Gutiérrez: We've provided ideas and suggestions and concerns. But yet now we're looking at something more detailed like this. Should we table this for another meeting to look into the issues that are presented here so that we have time to look at this more closely? Or how would you think the best approach would be in moving on to what you requested of us with question one, EPC questions? Do we have any feedback on the following areas?

[03:45:34] Principal Planner Diana Pancholi: Um, so I think at this point of time, um, and you know, listening through all the information that we just heard in the as part of the discussions and questions and, um, seeing where, um, you know, Brenda is leading us as well, it seems like staff actually got a lot of information that they were looking for, which will help them to kind of refine the project, uh, document for the next step before we come back, uh, in 2026. So at this point of time, it feels like we're good and, you know, uh, what staff had drafted as a specific question, they got that information and direction from EPC. Uh, again, Brenda has said that, you know, you're welcome to send more, uh, suggestions or comments, uh, if need be. Uh, but I think going through each of this is, uh, not going to be that easy at this point of time. And it, yeah.

[03:46:34] Chair José Gutiérrez: Okay. And Commissioners, I'm open to your ideas. Thank you so much, Diana, for providing this, um, uh, response. So, uh, just because we were going through, my fellow commissioners, this process, um, I have a question. In case people do have additional feedback or what have you on the Plan's Action Items found at said pages and the performance metrics and targets, would we be able to submit through email those concerns to you and then have that be publicly made available on the website as potential follow up for review and understanding? Or how would you suggest we tackle this? Because I have a question here that that would be quick that I'd like to bring up, but I'm not sure. And so if I have that, I'm thinking perhaps maybe others might have ideas too, and I just want to make sure that we all get a fair shot to pitch in.

[03:47:24] Community Development Director Christian Murdock: Evening Commissioners, Christian Murdock, Community Development Director. Um, anything that comes after this meeting tonight will not be a Commission recommendation. Individual commissioners as members of the community can submit their further thoughts. What was discussed tonight is part of the feedback that can carry forward as, uh, the official discussion of the Commission.

[03:47:45] Chair José Gutiérrez: Okay. Well, that raises, that opens up a can of worms here. Okay. Um, Commissioner Yin?

[03:47:52] Commissioner Joyce Yin: Sorry, I I was under the impression that those were questions and we were to save our remarks for later, and am I understanding that that's no longer needed or you're not requesting that anymore that we're ending?

[03:48:10] Principal Planner Diana Pancholi: So maybe one way to look at it is, you know, usually the kind of items that we bring to, uh, Planning Commission, uh, you know, we have very specific things like these are the four options, we want you to weigh in on that, going through a process like this. Uh, in this case, the question that has been brought, um, uh, forward to you in the staff report, it actually deals with all the goals that are listed in here. Um, they are not, you know, we're not discussing one to ten, prioritize those. So if you have any, uh, specific suggestions or comments, uh, on the goals that you have actually, you know, gone through as part of review of the package, we can take that. I think usually when we present a policy document and we say policy A, policy B, let's discuss each policy, we will not, I we would not suggest going down that route, um, or that approach for this one.

[03:49:07] Commissioner Joyce Yin: Sort of like a study session in a, in a sense, kind of?

[03:49:09] Assistant Community Development Director Amber Blizinski: Yeah, we provided that question just to help kind of guide the EPC on providing some feedback. It wasn't meant to, you know, go down the line and have everybody weigh in. It was just kind of a guide because it is a big document.

[03:49:22] Commissioner Joyce Yin: Understand. Um, so since a lot of us I think were waiting to save those comments, I'm for going ahead and going through and just giving everyone a chance to say what they saved.

[03:49:36] Chair José Gutiérrez: Thank you, Commissioner Yin. Commissioner Dempsey, I think you had a a suggestion?

[03:49:39] Commissioner Hank Dempsey: Uh, I think it's very much in line with what Commissioner Yin suggested. The hour is quite late and I think it behooves all of us to move efficiently. And so for those of us that do have questions that pertain to individual items on here, maybe we could instead of making them questions, turn them into comments and speed round through them? Get them out, get them said, you'll hear them, you can work them in. Um, but it's nothing that needs to take a long time to bring this to completion because it is very late and I think everybody wants to go home. So I submit that to you, uh, Mr. Chairman.

[03:50:09] Chair José Gutiérrez: For sure. Yeah.

[03:50:10] Vice Chair Alex Nuñez: So just to understand quick quickly, um, we're basically just doing like a almost one, one, one and staff is going to record what we're saying and grab a majority that comes out of that as such? Pseudo. Right? Everyone's going to say what their comment is around the plan, what their recommendations are and then staff is going to record that. Is am I just hearing that correctly?

[03:50:34] Chair José Gutiérrez: I would think that that's the, that understanding. And let's just double check with Diana and Christian, is that what you also understand? Okay, great. Because it's good to be on the same page. Okay. All right, sounds good. So having said that, thank you Commissioners for being flexible. Um, and I I will go first. I just have one question slash, well yeah, just question and concern. So in the report it said, hey, we have to promote, uh, uh, protecting our trees and we want oak trees and we want better quality of life and we want everything to be made sure that everyone is looking after the best interests of the city that way with nature and human beings coexisting as much as possible.

[03:51:10] Chair José Gutiérrez: And I want people to know that all the Commissioners here receive emails and your concerns. We read those, right? So so we hear what you're saying, we understand what you're saying. A few of you came in person to also make your points come across and you also called in to just say, hey, I sent in a letter and this is what I'm thinking about. And the first thing that struck me just quickly was, holy cow, wait a minute, I like the report, I like the energy, I like the vision. However, I'm concerned because if we plant certain types of trees that will promote more pollen, I myself go through allergies. I don't want more allergies. You ever been to Austin, Texas? Holy cow, man, that place is a nightmare. I'm sorry to people from Austin, Texas, you might think I'm a hater on Austin. I'm not. It's just that the allergies were everywhere because of the type of tree that exists there.

[03:51:57] Chair José Gutiérrez: And so then the cleanup that comes with that in the streets, the street sweepers and around businesses is intense, which means cost. And if you have that added cost, that's something that you have to factor in with budget. So just please keep that in mind. And the other issue is the type of trees that we're promoting for the most part are things where certain types of our animal friends like to reside there and make a mess. Particularly squirrels. I remember a few years back, squirrels were a huge issue at our parks and we had aggressive squirrels. Watch out for those black squirrels, watch out for those brown squirrels, watch out for the squirrels in general because they were just there everywhere and in crazy amounts. So I'm concerned that we aren't factoring that in and we should. This was brought up to us in our in the emails that were sent in. I understand that concern and I wanted to give voice to that because I think that when you're doing a project like this, this goes back to the efficiency, uh, accountability and the follow through.

[03:52:48] Chair José Gutiérrez: We need to factor all that in one way or another because those are consequences to the actions that we're trying to promote. And if we don't look at those side issues that come into play when that type of item happens, then this wasn't really thought out that well and we're going to find ourselves in another situation where we need more money to do extra things to possibly control our little friends one way or another. And the last thing we need is to have something like Sunnyvale where crows were an issue that way. Thank you so much. And having said that, Commissioner Cranston.

[03:53:18] Commissioner Bill Cranston: Thanks. Um, so I wasn't prepared to go through and prioritized 25 different things. Um, you probably gathered from my question is, I think there's too many. Okay. Number one. And just like Commissioner Dempsey's question, um, the Chair and he didn't bring it up today but uh, Commissioner Dempsey and and both Commissioner Donahue have mentioned metrics. I was troubled by the, and I think uh the Vice Chair mentioned it first, it was not just, you know, one weasel word. It's a lot of weasel words. Okay? There's way too little specificity in what these actions are going to be in my view. So it was hard for me to say, okay, establish, conduct, explore, what do those mean? Okay? So my general feedback is there's too many and they're not specific enough. There's things that I think they're coming I I I'd suggest a tighter list of here's the low hanging fruit. We've heard heritage trees several times. I think you'd get a lot of support for heritage trees to be high on that list, right? But it there's there's you've already talked about staff. You've finally gotten the staff at after four years. The next person quits, it could be four more years until you're back to full staff. So just it feels too big. It feels too vague. And what I what I look to see look for is victories you can show the community that it's on the way. A heritage tree program would be part of that.

[03:54:57] Commissioner Bill Cranston: I don't know that dark skies would be a big viewed as a big win for the community as a whole, but there's people who would it's a good thing, but I don't know that it would be seen as necessarily a quick win. Um, so I would like to see this this overall list as kind of like to me the general plan list had 30 years of stuff to do and we're still got stuff on the list that we've never done. I don't want this to be a general plan list. It needs to be something that's much more tactical and I'm sure we would each rank the 25 things in here different ways. I don't think that's a good use for our time, but I think staff should we ought to go back and look at this, tighten it up, come back with more specificity and say here's our here's our low hanging fruit that we want to try to go after first. That's my general feeling overall because that's the thing and the some of the things that I thought were just missing, we talked about the things that at people at residential. I didn't call the city when I wanted to landscape my property. I called my landscaper. If you want to talk to somebody, don't call Canopy, go out, put in a program that's going to outreach to local landscapers, to local nurseries as uh, um, Commissioner Pham mentioned, and they should know when they go in there, hey, this is what the city's looking to try to do. Every every landscaper in the city should know what that is. Every, you know, every every nursery should know here's the plants that are on that list.

[03:56:25] Commissioner Bill Cranston: That's the way to help reach that other 90 percent and that's not touched in here at all. And that's again, they're not going to call the city and just that level of communications isn't been there. I lived here for 22 years before I found out about the the free tree program. I've got two now. Okay? I both times I applied I got a tree. But I had no idea somebody was like, I can get a free tree? What are you talking about? It was so let's reach out to the find a way to reach that other 90 percent. I think that's that's my only kind of general thing that seemed really missing in all this was techniques for reaching the the 90 percent we don't touch as a city. Thank you.

[03:57:13] Chair José Gutiérrez: Commissioner Cranston, thank you so much. That's very insightful as always. Um, Commissioner Yin?

[03:57:18] Commissioner Joyce Yin: Uh, I'll piggyback on what you said. I think the same about regarding the the second statement which was um reaching out to the contractors, uh, I remember reading in the document that it was based on availability and I thought once we have a plan, the availability will be there because they will know what is needed and so they will stock what is needed and what people will plant. So it's like, you know, working together. So you're already doing a good job of being holistic. I think that is a missing piece that would greatly help and it's a little bit more proactive. Um, some other things, the metrics, I think we could add in the metric for how to overcome the shortage of the mature trees, the big ones. Since we are short on those, do we have a plan to replenish that stock? Uh, we have to make sure, you know, the environment is suitable for for them and create those environments that are suitable for them if that is a true goal.

[03:58:29] Commissioner Joyce Yin: So in conjunction with the Active Transportation Plan and also our street corridor design, green streets, so on so forth, a larger planting strip very often is what you need. I've gone to LA where it's like these gorgeous trees and the poor things are like gnarled at the bottom because the tree well was so small. They lift the sidewalks. It's just a it's a nightmare for the future. So just plan for that future. If if that is a priority to try to meet that goal, let's truly plan for it and that means larger planting strips and you know, you can have a hierarchy and prioritize where that is prioritized. Um, anyways, so that that's another another one. Um, so metrics as to um for that particular goal. I um, do we have a public GIS system that has the dataset for trees and can the public access that? I think that would be really helpful. We have so much public data.

[03:59:24] Assistant Community Development Director Amber Blizinski: We have an internal GIS and we're working to make that publicly available eventually.

[03:59:28] Commissioner Joyce Yin: Okay.

[03:59:28] Assistant Community Development Director Amber Blizinski: We're working to update it currently.

[03:59:31] Commissioner Joyce Yin: Great. If that could be on the timeline as, you know, as far as what you feel like is doable, I think that's also good.

[03:59:39] Assistant Community Development Director Amber Blizinski: I I believe it's actually mentioned in the in the plan but...

[03:59:42] Commissioner Joyce Yin: Okay, thank you. I'd missed that then. Um, and as far as the outreach and education, I am so glad to hear that you were quote unquote thinking outside the box to see how to get this done. I sort of liken it to, you know how cops, the beat cops, when they're on their street, those relationships are built, people understand more about what the, you know, they work together. It's more community building. It's the same thing. If there's somebody had an idea of like a little Junior Corps of tree, you know, it like I think that's a great idea that gets the youth involved, uh, gets them outside. I have to say you can't ask the future generation to protect the environment if they don't and, you know, and diversity and sustainability, all those goals that we want them to like prioritize if most people live in the cities and if the cities don't have those things, if they don't know about it, they're not going to care about it. If they don't understand it, what what's the incentive for them to save it? Um, what are the other ones? Oh, very simple one. The vision triangles. I know we we chopped down a lot of trees for vision triangles. If we could just limb those up, you can still see from the cars and people pedestrian, I think we would save some trees there. I know that's not part of this, but it's just a thing I'm thrown out there uh to save some trees that are already there because that was another one is to protect the large heritage trees. Now that's a biggie, I know, I'm lobbing this out, but we really need to have some true guidelines around when we say protect heritage trees because on private property it can get very sticky. You know, somebody's garage door can't even open because of the roots and they can't remove that tree.

[04:01:07] Commissioner Joyce Yin: But in an instant 128 heritage, or maybe not 128 heritage trees but 120 trees, mature ones that provide the biggest benefits go in an instant. And I understand that's a matter of priority and in some cases we can't help it, but if it's a true priority, then it needs to be stated so and enforced and somehow there needs to be guidelines as to how we make those decisions. Um, what else? I think that's it. Too many and it's going to be hard to implement. But yes, clarity, implementation, doability, all things I'm for. Thanks.

[04:02:19] Chair José Gutiérrez: Okay. And just for the record, I think it was a Youth Ambassador program that they were pointing to, which was awesome. I I like that idea too. So so if if you all haven't read that those ideas yet that have come in and I know you presented the emails to us in in hard copy format, I strongly encourage you to just look at some of that, read that because there's a lot of good, good, good information. Okay. So, uh, moving next, uh, Commissioner Dempsey. Oh, are we going through through this here? Okay. Then my bad. So we'll go with what's listed here on my screen. So in this case it's not Commissioner Dempsey but rather Commissioner Donahue.

[04:02:50] Commissioner Paul Donahue: Okay. So there's there's 25 things. I'll I have like 2 to 3 minutes each so I'll. No, I'm just. Okay, everybody knows that's a joke. Okay. Um, so I do have uh specific comments on specific things though, but not not all of them. Um, so objective 3A is about um increasing the canopy to 22.7 percent, but that goal we had 10 years ago and we got halfway through that the the the period to to get to the 22.7 but we were only a third of the way to the goal. So my concern is that we're not planting at the required rate and how is this plan going to I you don't need to answer this question. I'm just how how is this plan going to uh help achieve that goal? Because I I don't want to have an old plan that people weren't paying attention to get replaced by a new plan that people aren't paying attention to. Um, okay, so that's one comment. Um, the um, also on that uh point, there's a map that shows that actually 3 of the 7 census tracts already meet the 22.7 percent goal.

[04:04:23] Commissioner Paul Donahue: And so I want to throw out the um the the concept of uh kind of equality versus equity and and making sure that uh that resources are put into the the deficient areas, not just equally across the city. Um, the action 12, which is in in support of that that uh that objective is um, hold on, let me see what I was going to say here. Um, oh, yeah, is to plant 1575 street trees uh by 2030. Uh, it it wasn't clear to me if that was net uh new street trees or if that was you know, that if we that some that get taken out get replaced anyway. Um, so it should I think at least should be clear about whether that's a net increase of 1575 street trees or if that's just planting 1575. Um, let's see. Uh changes to the heritage tree ordinance, uh, things like no net loss. So, um, I was on the Parks and Rec Commission 15 years ago and one of the things that we discussed at a meeting there that kind of nothing came of it I think, but some nearby uh cities have uh requirements that if you take out a heritage tree that the replacement tree must be is considered a heritage tree even from its when you initially plant it, um, as a way to uh to basically prevent the the kind of workaround where you cut down a heritage tree, you throw a little tree in the ground, you say, oh, it's not heritage yet and then you cut it down and then you don't have any tree.

[04:05:58] Commissioner Paul Donahue: Um, so the uh, I mean somebody on my street uh cut down a this beautiful tree and it was huge, huge tree. And it was lifting the driveway and so it was appropriate to cut it down I'll say. But um, uh, but they replaced it with a dwarf lemon tree which is about about this high. And so it's never going to get to be heritage size and it's I wouldn't even consider it a tree, it's more like a bush. Um, okay, anyway, uh, action 17 talks about shade trees in parking lots. It doesn't list Community Development as as a department that's involved in that, but I think that it should. Um, and uh, action 20, uh, review city development processes. I think that's kind of one of the core things that uh for Community Development and I think that the ideas they're listed in that action are are uh are great ideas. So um, like the plan and uh looking forward to uh getting it there and uh and starting implementing it. So thanks.

[04:07:13] Chair José Gutiérrez: Thank you, Commissioner Donahue. Commissioner Dempsey.

[04:07:16] Commissioner Hank Dempsey: Thank you, Mr. Chair. Let me go quickly. Uh, three points that I want to make. First, the pest burden is a real thing. Uh, I live in south Mountain View. I have to deal with gophers, I have to deal with rats, I have to deal with rabbits, if you can believe that. Um, man, I got all kinds of stuff. And I try to garden and it's it's a constant never-ending war. And I'm grateful for all of the, you know, for all the trees that we have down there and stuff. It's really lovely. You know, the over by Cuesta Park is perfect. But if you go walk around the annex of Cuesta Park, if you actually walk through it, it is Swiss cheese with gopher holes. It produces gophers and the gophers go spread out all through the rest of the neighborhood. Still, I love that annex and I love walking through it. My point is simply nature doesn't always stay where we put it or where we want it and it's not always cute. And so I just think that this pest burden issue that's been raised by others, we really are going to have to wrestle with it because it's a cost that comes with greening.

[04:08:14] Commissioner Hank Dempsey: Second point, um, I'm not sure this is even going to end up mattering, but I just wanted to speak for a second in defense, partial defense of artificial turf. As a long time soccer coach, there are a couple of good reasons to have turf. I mean, part of it is the school districts need it and it's a little bit probably cheaper than grass. But it means you can play soccer when it rains because the turf doesn't get chewed up. You also don't get gopher holes because I used to have to coach at Springer and Springer was full of gopher holes. And those are ankle breakers for little kids. And so I would have to go and steal sand out of the sandbox and pour it into holes before games. Don't tell the school district I did that. But like it it really is a real thing. And so I understand that there's problems with turf, but turf also does make it possible for more kids to play more games and that that has value too. Lastly, I really do agree with Commissioner Cranston that there's probably too many things in this. And when there's too many things, if you don't really prioritize, then every, you know, he's right. I mean there's there's stuff that just never gets done. And it looks great and it sounds great, but if we don't make it a priority, we're not going to get to it because there's the city has too many things to do. So uh I I think and it may be that you want to give a broad list of options to the council and the council will winnow it down. And if that is in fact what you're doing, no objections from me. I think that it's good to give people choices as long as at the end of it we winnow it down to the stuff we really care about and is really doable. Otherwise we just get lost in this ocean of possibility and nothing ever gets done. Thank you.

[04:09:09] Chair José Gutiérrez: Thank you, Commissioner Dempsey. And just for the record, Springer School is not part of the Mountain View Whisman School District. It is part of the Los Altos School District. And as a former soccer coach myself, I do not like artificial turf because it changes the nature of the game. Having said that, we will move on to Commissioner Pham.

[04:09:25] Commissioner Tina Pham: All right. I don't have that many more comments other than what my fellow commissioners have brought up. Um, I want to say that this plan is great, that it's bold. Um, it's very detailed, ton of GIS maps and detail for the plant lists. Um, it's clear that it took several years to put together, um, with a very complex team, so that's amazing. Um, I also want to say that um echoing some of my other commissioners, it's bold but implementation is a a question of how it's going to happen. Um, I want to say that I read in the plan that it's supposed to or considered to be updated every five years. So it may be something that you want to highlight some of the interim goals that could be completed in five years if the intent was that it needs or it should be updated on a recurring basis anyways. That could be something you consider. Um, last thing I want to say is that I really support um some of the other commissioners mentioning the youth ambassador or Junior Corps idea. That's um something I can get behind as well. I think some other cities do have similar programs for tree planting and involving the youth. So that's something I think that um, you know, Mountain View can take on as well. All right, thanks.

[04:10:49] Chair José Gutiérrez: Thank you, Commissioner Pham. Commissioner Nuñez, Vice Chair Nuñez.

[04:10:53] Vice Chair Alex Nuñez: Um, I think that as as much as I be, you know, am down with the wildlife and the and the biodiversity and the forest, I think that the biggest value of this plan needs to benefit like humans. Um, and so to that end, I um very much would like to see more specificity and like um like a a harder, how can I put it, um less wiggle room uh if any around the concept of um putting canopy and other greening around and above and as in support of pedestrians, um, you know, bicyclists, people waiting at a bus or transit stop. Um, I'd I'd like as little wiggle room as possible with that. I mean I in my view there's no reason that every bus stop in Mountain View should not have um effective tree cover for the people.

[04:12:12] Vice Chair Alex Nuñez: Um, and so that's that's the biggest uh thing I'd like to see. I I I again not being a what do they call it, a a arborist. Um, I don't personally have as much and I'm just going to leave this to the bigger um brain people are around this subject, but like um I especially as the climate is changing, if we need to let go of like native plants and have more functional plants within the like actual borders of again this being a city for people. Um, like I said, I love the wildlife um but I just like to see a little bit more of the discussion around that around like the functional canopy, functional species if you will of of plants um that will like be equipped to handle the future and the climate whiplash that we are experiencing um increasingly. Um, I am extremely uh grateful and and appreciative of the the vole being one of the ambassador species. Um, I am a massive ally to the rodents and I don't appreciate all the hating on the squirrels um or the rats or the all of them, gophers. They're wonderful. Um, and for that reason I also agree that maybe we just need to be considerate of not increasing the numbers to such an extent that we trigger unwarranted aggression against um rodents. So that is how I would categorize my views. Thank you.

[04:14:08] Chair José Gutiérrez: Vice Chair Nuñez, I don't know what to say, but uh thank you for chiming in. I appreciate that. Uh uh I feel threatened by the animals already, but it's okay. Not a problem. Do you have what you need or do you want me to just read it? Okay, sounds good. All right. Uh and and finally, I just want the team to know we appreciate all the hard work and what we bring up is not meant to bash or to debunk whatever goal is there to try and make things happen. It's just that we're trying to do the best we can to give you serious input so that you can then relay that on to the next commission and eventually City Council because as you can tell we have concerned members of the community here that really care about their city. And we thank you for your time and for presenting this to us tonight and we appreciate your help very much.

[04:14:53] Assistant Community Development Director Amber Blizinski: I appreciate all the input that we've been given. It's been great. So thank you.

[04:14:59] Chair José Gutiérrez: Okay, thank you so much. And then moving on to that, I believe this is now 7, Commission Staff Announcements, Update Requests and Commissioner Reports. This says for Diana as EPC Liaison. The next EPC meeting will be on November 5th, 2025. That is correct. Okay. All right, great. Um, and then moving on to point 8, Adjournment. Right now I will adjourn our Environmental Planning Commission meeting at the time of 11:16 PM. Thank you very much everyone.

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