Council approves five-unit row‑house project at 198 Easy Street after review of tree removals and design
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Summary
The council approved a five‑unit detached row‑house development at 198 Easy Street, finding the project categorically exempt under CEQA Section 15332 and approving removal of specified heritage trees with required replacements. The vote was unanimous.
The Mountain View City Council voted unanimously to approve a five‑unit detached row‑house development at 198 Easy Street and the associated vesting tentative map, development review and special design permits, and a heritage tree removal permit.
Assistant Community Development Director Amber Bleszinski and project planner Margaret Neto presented the project as a replacement of one existing residence on a 0.51‑acre R‑3‑3 (special design overlay) parcel near State Route 85. The entitlement includes five residential lots and a common lot for a private shared driveway, guest and bike parking, and common open space. Bleszinski told the council that the site “complies with the row house guidelines” and that the project had been previously entitled in 2021; that entitlement expired and the applicant reapplied with a similar design.
The design maintains two‑car garages per unit, provides guest parking and bicycle parking, and supplies private and common open spaces. The project proposes to remove eight heritage trees (oak, cedar, Chinese pistache, palm and eucalyptus) and four non‑heritage trees because the arborist’s report found those trees to be in poor health or within the developable area; the applicant proposed 22 twenty‑four‑inch replacement trees, a replacement ratio of roughly 2.25:1 that exceeds the typical 2:1 requirement for heritage trees.
Staff recommended the council find the project exempt from review under CEQA Guidelines section 15332 (infill projects) and approve the project and tentative map with the conditions listed in the staff report. Foy Fan, the project architect, was available to answer questions. Two members of the public and one email raised concerns about heritage tree removals and off‑site impacts prior to the zoning-administrator/subdivision committee hearing.
The council moved to adopt the resolutions conditionally approving the project permits and the tentative map and finding the project exempt from CEQA; the motion passed unanimously.