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Neighbors warn a five‑story development at Hellman and Hathaway would strain traffic and emergency access
Summary
Public speakers raised safety and infrastructure concerns about a proposed conversion near Hellman and Hathaway into a roughly 40‑unit, five‑story apartment, citing existing congestion, a nearby freeway, potential fire‑access and utility upgrade costs, and the candidate's claim that Caltrans should have been included in noticing.
Several residents used the public‑comment period to object to a proposed five‑story development at 824 Hellman and Hathaway. Doris Ho described the corner as already congested, noted prior pedestrian fatality nearby, and said a jump from two single‑family homes to a 40‑unit building with roughly 66 parking spaces would overload local streets and slow emergency response times.
Another speaker (El Escido) raised specific technical questions about noticing and code compliance: he said the project's distance to the 10 Freeway required Caltrans notification because property paperwork placed the project within the intergovernmental review threshold; he also argued the street width did not meet a cited 30‑foot/26‑foot fire‑access requirement and that utility poles and overhead lines would force expensive undergrounding under CPUC rules — a developer cost he estimated at $5–8 million. El Escido urged staff to halt plan processing and engage Caltrans on right‑of‑way and traffic impact review.
The transcript records detailed neighborhood opposition and technical claims; staff did not resolve the technical points during the meeting. The council closed public comments and proceeded with other agenda items.
