September 10
The City Council approved the Development Services Department request on behalf of the Los Altos History Museum to remove 25 apricot trees from the rear yard of the Los Altos Police Department. The reason for the request was that a city-ordered inspection by arborist Terry Welsh of Backyard Orchards had found that the trees were infected with Brown Rot and would infect other healthy trees if not removed. The Development Services Director inserted a 2:1 ratio for replacement of trees, meaning two trees would be planted in other parts of the town for each apricot tree that was removed.
Members of the Preservation Action League Los Altos (PALLA) filed an appeal to the permit. Their main position was that the permit failed to provide adequate justification for removal of trees and loss of tree sites in this location. At the council meeting Mayor Weinberg defined a process for PALLA to explain its position and for staff to explain its reasoning and for rebuttal. The main conflict was over which of several maps of the heritage orchard made over twenty years ago was official and which one was to be used to make a permit decision. By a 4 to 1 vote City Council accepted the permit to remove 25 apricot trees.
The City Council accepted the Environmental Commission recommendations #1, #2, and #5 for accelerating building electrification in Los Altos. In January 2024, the environmental commission strategized on further goals to reduce Green House Gas (GHG)emissions because of fear that the city wouldn’t reach its goals of zero emissions by 2035. In March 2024, the Environmental Commission formed a subcommittee whose task was to work on various ideas to accelerate building electrification. In August 2024, the subcommittee presented its recommendations to the Environmental Commission. Three recommendations were accepted by the council to be acted on now:
- #1 – Partner with an outside third party to ease the process to accelerate electrification of residences.
- #2 – Develop a comprehensive citywide educational/outreach plan.
- #5 – Wait for new California building codes in 2025 before making additional local regulatory changes such as Reach Codes which in their current format are deemed unenforceable.
In alignment with Environmental Commission goal #5, the City Council adopted a resolution to suspend enforcement of the November 2022 city laws and regulations imposing all-electric requirements for new construction or otherwise prohibiting use or installation of gas appliances. The recent Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision makes local regulations unenforceable.
September 24
There have been 14 community engagement events to explain the reasons for moving from at-large to district elections for city council. The City Council held Public Hearing No. 4 to receive a presentation from the City's consulting demographer, Redistricting Partners. They presented information on:
- development of district boundaries with city maps designating unofficial neighborhoods (like old Los Altos, north Los Altos, Highlands), age, income, owner/renter, Asian population
- additional drafted district maps for consideration by the city
- public input on the maps and on the order of elections of the five new districts
- input whether candidates for City Council must be residents and voters in the district in which they seek election for any period of time prior to filing nomination papers and declaring an intent to run.
The maps were designed with the FAIR MAPS Act in mind: equal size of population; contiguous area; easy shape; communities of interest; and compact area. The public comments at the meeting covered questions about
- splitting the districts by main thoroughfares
- concerns about business districts
- concern about renters
- Whether nominees for seats should reside in the district where they run for office
- how the order of election for districts are decided
Council members had similar questions, and the consulting group will keep those questions in mind when revising maps for Public Hearing #5 where a final vote will take place on October 8.
Claire Noonan, Observer