March 12
The City Council adopted the Los Altos Police Policy on the funding, acquisition, and use of military equipment as discussed on February 27. See Februrary 27 Los Altos City Council notes for details.
The City Council accepted grant funds from the State of California for Green Downtown projects. The city manager will amend the fiscal year 23/24 budget to appropriate the grant revenue to the current Green Downtown Project.
The City Council heard the results of a first ever external evaluation of building, maintenance, and engineering fees collected by the city. Matrix Consulting Group found that the city had not collected close to $1.9 million of the fees possible. Many fees have been subsidized from other funding sources in the city. Council members are concerned about increasing costs for electrification that is a high priority, and costs for historical preservation in order to recover the money. Staff will study ways to balance the cost of recovery and also avoid exorbitant fees for residents. Proposals for recovery will be decided at the March 26 meeting.
The City Council discussed three possible new mission statements after it had been discussed at the February 13 meeting that the former statement wasn’t inclusive of the people who now lived in Los Altos. Also, it didn’t reflect the goals of the city’s actions on behalf of the residents. After review and final amendments, a vote will be taken at the March 26 meeting.
March 26
The City Council received the annual progress on housing report for 2023 – called the Sixth Cycle Housing Element Report – required by the State to identify steps forward to increase housing. Council members were advised of land use changes made in the city to encourage more housing while also trying to maintain single-family neighborhoods. Increased potential for high density housing has been established in commercial areas. Also, the process for review of developments has been streamlined. In 2023 the city issued 120 permits for new units, but 119 were designated ‘above moderate market rate’ and only one was ‘low market rate’ housing. Also, 109 of the units were ADU’s of which only 49 had been completed. A downtown parking study, when completed, may increase housing possibilities. There are eight programs identified in the report that must be implemented. For instance, allow housing on certain public and community facilities sites and facilitate housing on religious institution properties.
The City Council approved a new fee schedule for fiscal year 2024-25 as discussed on March 12 to recover the loss of revenue for building, engineering, and planning services. The new schedule will recover most of the money by minimizing subsidies used in the past. Some exceptions that may be made would be to continue to incentivize residents to use climate friendly options such as electrification in their homes.
The City Council chose a new mission statement after three versions were discussed at the March 12 meeting. The former statement wasn’t inclusive of the people who now lived in Los Altos. Also, it didn’t reflect the goals of the city’s actions on behalf of the residents. The new statement reads: “The city’s mission is to be a sustainable, vibrant and inclusive community in which to live, work, visit and play.”
Claire Noonan, Observer