Los Altos Hills council approves Pinewood School modernization with traffic review and construction conditions

The Los Altos Hills City Council voted unanimously on March 19 to approve Pinewood School’s Upper Campus Modernization conditional-use permit and related variances, clearing plans to demolish five aging buildings and construct three two‑story classroom buildings and a new performing arts center.

The applicant, led by head of school Scott Riches, sought a 75‑student increase for grades 9–12 and site changes including a reconfigured entrance and a new exit driveway on Fremont Road, an increase in parking from 108 to 114 spaces and a modified campus circulation pattern. Senior planner Jonathan Fox summarized the planning commission’s unanimous recommendation and noted added conditions intended to reduce neighborhood impacts, including motion‑sensitive exterior lighting and a prohibition on pickleball courts.

Neighbors and alumni provided several hours of public comment. Supporters—students, alumni and adjacent residents—praised the school’s outreach, campus design and proposed traffic improvements. Other residents pressed the council to ensure robust traffic management, strict construction logistics, limits on amplified outdoor sound and protections for pathways and heritage trees.

The architect and traffic engineer described design changes intended to reduce front‑age impacts and lengthen on‑site queuing for drop‑off and pick‑up. The traffic consultant said the intersection of Fremont and Weston would continue to operate at an acceptable level of service with the revised circulation and that the school’s plan would move many trips off the four‑way stop by providing the new exit drive.

Council members asked for explicit commitments on construction management, debris control, limits on hours and events and continued neighborhood notification. The council adopted two specific additions before approving the CUP: (1) incorporate construction management safeguards from a previous 2004 condition (updated to remove vendor references) addressing delivery windows, dust and road cleanliness; and (2) require the applicant to return to the Planning Commission with a traffic report six months after operations begin to assess real‑world impacts and propose further mitigation if necessary.

The conditions also clarify limits on outdoor amplified sound and require modern, distributed PA technology and operational caps for outdoor amplification tied to community events. The council’s approval includes typical CEQA categorical exemptions cited by staff.

The council’s action makes the project approvable subject to implementing the conditions of approval and the additional traffic‑monitoring requirement; construction permitting and a phased construction management plan will follow.