Mountain View officials have approved the rezoning of commercial offices on Miramonte Avenue to mixed use despite a neighborhood effort to stop it.
The City Council approved updating the zoning of the sites during a meeting on Dec. 16 with a 6 to 1 vote. Councilmember John McAlister cast the dissenting vote.
The changes update the zoning of 1702 and 1704 Miramonte Ave. and 777 Cuesta Drive from commercial office to neighborhood mixed use, which allows up to 30 units per acre of development. The areas, currently surrounded by mostly single-family homes, are currently used as dental and medical offices.
Councilmember Chris Clark noted that approval would align the city’s housing plan with state mandates and preserve some level of local control over the possibility of housing development.
“Putting mixed use in there instead of pure residential or pure commercial allows us the greatest level of flexibility,” he said. “It provides a pathway to preserve the existing businesses while recognizing that housing is already allowed there.”
The zoning changes are prescribed as part of the city’s Housing Element, a planning document which guides new housing growth. The state-mandated housing target dictates that the city must develop more than 11,000 new units through 2031. The Environmental Planning Commission voted unanimously at a meeting Nov. 5 to recommend to the City Council passage of zoning updates. The sites now have the possibility for housing or redevelopment to be proposed there, though city officials have noted that no development plans have currently been put forward.
Kristen Lenart, a nearby neighbor, and her supporters have argued that the area is not viable for rezoning. They recommended that city officials remove the intersection from the list of potential housing sites and find alternatives.
“We’re asking the City Council to see these issues from a more holistic view. Every decision has an impact,” Lenart said at the meeting.
The neighborhood group has garnered 1,175 petition signatures in support of the effort to void the zoning plan. The petition said that the state’s density bonus law could increase development beyond the zoning restrictions, and also presented concerns related to traffic, student safety and the elimination of small businesses at the sites.
McAllister, the lone dissenting vote, said the city should take more onus in protecting Mountain View residents from housing-related mandates.
“We’re saying we can’t push back, we can’t push back. Sometimes, we need to,” he said.
According to the city’s Housing Element, the parcel size at 1702 Miramonte is 0.75 acres. It was not included in the city’s prior Housing Element from 2015 to 2023 and is zoned for 15 units priced for the city’s moderate income level. The site currently includes a one-story dental office built in 1955.
Councilmember Pat Showalter sought to acknowledge the efforts of the community group and noted that local elected officials should seek out more mechanisms to avoid a “one size fits all” housing policy.
“I think we are very, very concerned about what’s the best way to maintain the maximum amount of local control,” she said.
