Plans to convert some of the tennis courts at Los Altos High School into a parking lot have been postponed.
At an Oct. 13 meeting, the Mountain View Los Altos Union High School District Board of Trustees declined to make a motion to vote for a $15,000 study on the traffic impacts of a new lot, bringing the plan to convert courts into parking to a standstill.
Instead, trustees asked district staff to return with more information on the need for parking at the Los Altos campus and to collaborate with the city on other potential solutions.
“I’m not ready to commit to parking until I actually understand what is the need and how we define that need and what is the need at Los Altos,” said Trustee Vadim Katz.
The district had requested approval of an agreement with Quattrocchi Kwok Architects for a new parking lot traffic study of two options for a new parking lot. Option one would create 78 parking spaces with existing driveway access to Jardin Drive, and option two would create 76 parking spaces with a new driveway access to Jardin Drive. Both would result in the permanent elimination of four of the 12 tennis courts currently at the school.
The study was set to determine which of the options would be the most appropriate related to vehicular traffic, pedestrian safety and bicyclist safety.
Trustee Alex Levich estimated that the school likely only needed up to 30 new spaces to meet the need.
“Maybe the plans of converting multiple tennis courts are too grand for our actual needs,” she said.
Trustee Thida Cornes urged the district to seek a formal relationship with the city to inform parking and transportation planning outside the plan for a new parking lot.
“A more comprehensive approach is needed,” she said. “This is an opportunity to create the collaborative approach that will serve us best going forward.”
Principal Tracey Runeare said in a phone interview that there were 384 spaces currently available on campus. The parking includes 166 spaces for staff, 148 spaces for students, 31 electric vehicle charging spaces, 23 spaces for visitors, 10 ADA-accessible spaces and six for school transportation vans.
There are eight spaces currently occupied by construction equipment and unavailable, she said.
Runeare said she felt parking was adequate for the school’s needs at this time.
“We have as a school been very responsive to the need for parking in that we’ve adjusted and added spaces at every opportunity,” she said.
The school grants permits to students who apply for parking and prioritizes those who live approximately one mile from the school. She said out of 247 applicants, 186 were granted permits. About 93% of those who were granted permits live outside the boundary, she said.
Superintendent Eric Volta said parking availability for students was strained when Los Altos city officials established two-hour parking limits from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. on the north side of the school. He said the Los Altos campus was still 75 spaces short of the amount of parking in Mountain View after creating a temporary lot with 47 spaces.
“We are not committed to continuing with the parking lot. It is not a final deal,” Volta said at the meeting. “That is way down the road.”
For the past six years, four of the 12 tennis courts at LAHS have been used as a material storage area for the recent Measure E school bond. At an Aug. 18 special meeting, district officials noted Measure E school bond construction projects were nearing their conclusion, potentially opening up the four courts for use again.
Multiple members of the public came out in opposition to the parking lot at the Oct. 13 meeting.
Terry Barton, chair of the Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee in Mountain View, said the district needed more information to understand the breadth of demand for parking and vehicles at the school.
“This is a path to an unskilled decision,” he said. “This is not a parking problem, it’s a problem of too many staff and students choosing to drive in single-occupancy vehicles.”
Steve Apfelberg, the head tennis coach for the girls junior varsity team, previously told the Town Crier that there are no other nearby courts or parks in North Los Altos that people can walk to and play tennis. There are 42 female players this year, Apfelberg said; 21 girls on varsity and 21 girls on junior varsity.
