Mountain View committee recommends approval of 80‑unit Tyrella Avenue condominium amid neighborhood opposition

The Administrative Zoning and Subdivision Committee on March 12 recommended that the City Council approve development permits for a proposed seven‑story, 80‑unit condominium at 294–296 Tyrella Avenue in Mountain View, despite substantial neighborhood opposition and several noncompliance issues staff said are overridden by state housing law.

Zoning Administrator Rebecca Shapiro made the recommendation after staff presentations and public comment, and the subdivision committee voted to recommend approval of a tentative map. The committee’s recommendation covers a development review permit, a heritage tree removal permit and a determination that the project is categorically exempt under CEQA section 15332 for infill development; City Council will make the final decision at a later hearing.

The project proposes 80 condominium units on a 0.48‑acre site at Middlefield Road and Tyrella Avenue, including three levels of enclosed, structured parking and 20% of units set aside as lower‑income affordable housing (16 units at 80% AMI). Project plans submitted by the applicant reduced the unit count from 85 to 80 and reduced parking stalls from 96 to 83; staff noted the site would provide 83 vehicular parking spaces and 144 bicycle parking spaces, short of the city’s stated minimum of about 173 motor vehicle spaces (150 resident + 23 guest) for the project’s scale, and that the site is outside a half‑mile of a major transit stop, allowing the city to enforce minimum parking requirements absent builder’s remedy constraints.

Nut graf: Staff and the city attorney’s office said the applicant qualifies as a builder’s remedy project under the Housing Accountability Act — a state law that limits local agencies’ ability to deny or condition…