[{"_1":2,"_87":-5,"_88":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6629289,"mediaKeyId","2705386-0c681879598ded364a2130f3004d1bbc","parentId",2705386,"title","Mountain View EPC debates land-use alternatives, streetscape priorities for Moffett Boulevard plan","audioSeconds",561,"startMs",1003000,"endMs",1564000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2705386-0c681879598ded364a2130f3004d1bbc&start=1003&end=1564","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2705386-0c681879598ded364a2130f3004d1bbc/thumbnail_1003000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6629289/Mountain-View/Santa-Clara-County/California/Mountain-View-EPC-debates-land-use-alternatives-streetscape-priorities-for-Moffett-Boulevard-plan","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6629289-b35efdc13717a71b9778cb6b19197b15/orig.mp4?Expires=1771013373&Signature=hFDwJ4eAIRDz-e1bYaD5Hm3iI8FTCOXRlA2DZN8-OBm7h6UzQGNsW~jDW4Z3B8Ft8xDuuyLFVigvWU-ZU-kE530E3hc89qhNQt7PXHQHwjpZr2trj1uz9mTrpAiAhKowFOY7X0VdlVExRMzYvBlJfW1aC8zFnEZsTlqimr-zh-xMuHs9kPw57XI6j3G2W4Ks3ZaupMBlfujHRsklwLfCFPl3PzRKj294FzIaC2AG-dg8N6h1iuRTTjnPTgDVMr8H5nqU4fQLPFHQOrey44EkjLWhvkp9J6WoYTJZyICs4QQr-Dby-YIv6cF5emgm4zP5k4PXe0v4K6UUSq5qx0Ge~A__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Coty of Mountain View","date","2025-03-20T05:52:41.477Z","article","Mountain View'9s Environmental Planning Commission on March 19, 2025 took up the Moffett Boulevard Precise Plan study session, reviewing three draft land-use alternatives and a short list of streetscape options that staff will take to City Council at a study session on April 26.

The plan is intended to establish precise zoning and streetscape standards for the Moffett Boulevard corridor and to implement guidance from the city'9s general plan and housing element. Senior planner Aki Snelling told commissioners: \"The Moffet Boulevard Precise Plan will be a new precise plan that will serve as a zoning regulations for the area shown here.\" The staff presentation summarized outreach (including a March 3 workshop with about 85 participants), a still-open online survey and council direction given in November 2024.

Staff presented three land-use alternatives: Alternative A, a medium-intensity mixed-use approach with housing densities up to approximately 75 dwelling units per acre and maximum building heights of four to five stories; Alternative B, a higher-intensity mixed-use approach requiring ground-floor nonresidential uses, with densities up to about 100 units per acre and maximum heights of five to seven stories; and Alternative C, a focused mixed-use approach that concentrates the highest densities and taller buildings in nodes (near the transit center and between Central Avenue and Cypress Pointe Drive) while keeping lower densities elsewhere.

Eric Anderson, Advanced Planning Manager, said the nodes in Alternative C were chosen \"based on access to roads that connect to surrounding neighborhoods, as well as adjacency to R3 and other higher density properties\" and proximity to the transit center. Staff told commissioners the alternatives are illustrative and can be mixed and matched to form a preferred alternative.

Questions from commissioners and public commenters focused on three themes: how to attract ground-floor, neighborhood-serving commercial uses; how state density bonus law might limit the city'9s ability to require ground-floor retail; and how the corridor'9s limited right-of-way should be allocated among sidewalks, bike lanes, parking and landscaping.

Commissioners expressed a preference for a blended approach. Several (including Vice Chair Nunez and Commissioners Donahue and Pham) said they favored a version of Alternative C that preserves the node concept but pairs it with the higher overall density of Alternative B in the parts of the corridor where that makes sense. Commissioner Cranston and others urged concentrating commercial uses in walkable nodes rather than spreading small retail along the entire corridor. Commissioner Cranston recommended treating the segment closest to Central Expressway differently from the rest of the corridor, noting existing built conditions.

Public comment included April Webster, a resident who said she had attended outreach meetings and favored pedestrian and bicycle improvements: \"I'd really like the EPC to consider a road diet as one of the options,\" she said, citing pedestrian priorities and counts at the Castro transit center.

Staff and the commission discussed state law and incentives at length. Anderson warned that, under current state density-bonus implementation, \"it is very likely that developers will be able to waive commercial requirements, or request incentives or concessions for commercial requirements,\" meaning required ground-floor retail could be difficult to enforce without other incentives or local bonuses. Commissioners asked staff to study local bonus frameworks used elsewhere in Mountain View (North Bayshore, East Whisman) to see whether a locally controlled incentive could encourage ground-floor commercial while remaining lawful under evolving state case law.

Engineering and right-of-way constraints were also discussed. Ed Arango, assistant public works director and city engineer, explained that parts of the corridor cross land owned by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (the Hetch Hetchy right-of-way) and that SFPUC typically requires written authorization for improvements on its land and strictly limits changes necessary to protect its water infrastructure. Arango and staff said Moffett Complete Streets and Middlefield Complete Streets are already federally grant-funded resurfacing projects that will add protected bikeways and fill sidewalk gaps; changing federally funded projects'9 scope now would be high-risk and would require additional federal review.

Commissioners prioritized streetscape elements in roughly this order: wider sidewalks with trees and pedestrian amenities, protected bike lanes (preferred over buffered lanes), and measures to support small business activation (including some short-term loading/delivery accommodations). Several commissioners and staff said on-street parking and medians are lower priorities because the corridor'9s right-of-way cannot accommodate all options at once.

Staff said next steps: staff will record the commission'9s direction and present it to City Council at a study session on April 26. Based on council direction, the project team will start environmental review and drafting the precise plan, with additional focused outreach and more EPC and council study sessions later this year.

The commission did not take a formal land-use vote at the meeting; the session was a policy study to gather EPC input for city council.

","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","March 19, 2025 The Meeting of the Environmental Planning Commission","oneSentenceSummary","Mountain View'9s Environmental Planning Commission on March 19 reviewed three land-use alternatives and a short list of streetscape options for the Moffett Boulevard Precise Plan, with commissioners leaning toward a node-based approach combined with higher-density provisions in parts of the corridor.","taxTitle","Mountain View, Santa Clara County, California","taxId",2861,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6629284,"Mountain View EPC advises council on draft 2025—627 work plan; Stevens Creek Trail, design standards and housing rank high",1205,5885000,7090000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2705386-0c681879598ded364a2130f3004d1bbc&start=5885&end=7090","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2705386-0c681879598ded364a2130f3004d1bbc/thumbnail_5885000.jpg","/articles/6629284/Mountain-View/Santa-Clara-County/California/Mountain-View-EPC-advises-council-on-draft-2025627-work-plan-Stevens-Creek-Trail-design-standards-and-housing-rank-high","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6629284-d049fc1e4a01950eec67fb8587161b33/orig.mp4?Expires=1771013373&Signature=lqz2sAdj0dKRYZyBD1nG3WFYSRimK-XYzzZE7MnAWQ6vsVKQa62xxeK9m2~9fRWnBvi3b8lkPDuqP4yMwRAZE2TDYrMzD4jFFS1t6GAjCvUSbqEN4PNu7VscIlMrEkYm-KOmKlZ83dLTyPh14MiL3tZIX~F7-qnwsrJdsgb6CD1bVW7z-dAa07jk1YLyTZH5vV~0hGnFEAdGn4ggnJBMZ~oHmX7qOPGo~UYJ0qmRfQiYhH0GjDhAUe5miZmPHmF5g0TQD~TQoMDgFIg6mKWi7o~a8wCOP2EGmkkEc1yxgjx7rWERMLu-oEWHj2BMTIBeFPR-MPuNCxhNHUsUkPvJ7w__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","City staff asked Mountain View advisory bodies for input on the City Council'9s draft two-year work plan during the Environmental Planning Commission meeting on March 19, 2025. Lindsay Hagen, assistant community development director, described a narrowed approach to the work plan and asked the commission to identify its top three priorities from a preliminary list of 16 proposed projects.

Hagen said the council and staff are emphasizing quality over quantity: past work plans included 40 to 70 projects and historically achieved roughly half of them. \"We're targeting sort of 10 to 14 projects,\" she said, and encouraged advisory bodies to identify their three highest priorities to inform a council study session scheduled for April 22; the adopted work plan will be finalized with the fiscal-year budget in June.

The commission discussed project scope and staff capacity. Several commissioners said they wanted projects that produce tangible results rather than plans that remain unfunded. Commissioners highlighted projects that intersect planning, mobility and housing: funding and engineering for the Stevens Creek Trail extension, updates to R3 zoning standards, design standards and storefront activation programs for downtown.

Christian Murdoch, community development director, described the prioritization process as \"more of an art than a science,\" noting that some projects listed by council are continuations of existing work while others would be new efforts requiring scoping and resources.

Commissioners asked detailed questions about several items. Commissioner Pham asked staff to estimate the cost of raising the city'9s pavement condition index to 71; staff said reaching and maintaining that level would likely cost tens of millions of dollars. On the proposed smart water-meter project, staff confirmed the initiative would include meter-to-software data so customers could view usage and detect leaks; staff said the city is preparing an RFP to study vendor options.

On the Stevens Creek Trail extension, staff said potential partners include the City of Sunnyvale and the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) for grant opportunities. Staff also cautioned that two federally funded Complete Streets projects (Moffett and Middlefield) are already in design and that changing their scope now would be high-risk because of federal grant conditions.

Commissioners recorded their top picks during the discussion and staff tallied preferences for the record. According to staff'9s tally at the meeting close, several projects received multiple endorsements: the Stevens Creek Trail extension (three commission votes), the R3 zoning standards update (three votes), a storefront activation/downtown activation program (three votes), and a new design-standards project (four votes). Commissioners also discussed charter amendments, revenue measures and a potential smart-meter program, but those drew fewer top-three votes at this meeting.

Hagen reminded commissioners that staff are performing follow-up scoping (cost, staffing, timing) and will present a summary of advisory-body input and staff analysis to City Council in April. Council will select the final work-plan projects at the April study session and adopt the plan with the budget in June; staff will report progress to the council at six-month intervals.

","City staff asked advisory bodies to rank proposed projects for the council'9s 2025\t27 work plan. EPC members prioritized the Stevens Creek Trail extension, design standards for development and programs to facilitate low- and moderate-income homeownership; staff will present commission input to council in April.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Mountain View EPC debates land-use alternatives, streetscape priorities for Moffett Boulevard plan

Mountain View EPC advises council on draft 2025—627 work plan; Stevens Creek Trail, design standards and housing rank high