The Los Altos City Council approved a second round of zoning changes at its Nov. 14 meeting to comply with the city’s state-certified housing element update.
The latest changes ease building restrictions at Loyola Corners, allow housing where offices are located on San Antonio Road and rezone Village Court Shopping Center to allow housing. A previous round of zoning changes allowed for mixed-use development at Rancho Shopping Center.
The changes are all part of an effort to meet a state-imposed Jan. 31 deadline for housing element implementation. Part of the general plan, the housing element is a strategy for cities to provide their fair share of housing. Los Altos must add nearly 2,000 new housing units by 2031.
To do that, the city must create conditions to attract development. That includes upzoning to allow for four stories or more in some locations, as well as removing what are seen as impediments to the building approval process.
The city, for instance, discontinued its story-pole regulation to better comply with state demands.
Some residents are concerned about the possibility of multistory housing next to single-family homes, such as those near El Camino Real.
