December 7, 2021
Los Altos City Council members serve as Mayor or Vice Mayor for one year and follow the Council Norms and Procedures for selection. For 2022 Anita Enander will move from Vice Mayor to Mayor. Sally Meadows will serve as Vice Mayor.
December 14, 2021
Los Altos City Council adopted a resolution that included three detailed appendices establishing Objective Design Standards for single family residential zones in the city. The resolution implements State Senate Bill 9 legislation. Compliance to SB 9 takes effect on January 1, 2022.
To form the resolution the council incorporated practices used currently to approve residential dwellings and added modifications after public comment and discussion by council members at earlier council meetings. The most controversial part of SB9 concerns the number of housing units per sub-divided lot. Appendix 3 to the resolution offers detailed guidelines for the variation in number and type of dwellings per sub-divided lot. In another controversy, design for dwelling units built on lots that property owners wish to sub-divide in accord with SB 9 allows for ministerial approval, without discretionary review or hearings by planning commissions or the City. One public comment concern brought up the types of denial that can occur if the sub-divided lot dwellings would have an adverse impact on public health or safety. The public commenter described his very narrow street, suggesting that an increased number of cars on the street would be a safety danger for emergency vehicles.
As the legislation is reviewed and amended, city officials and the Planning Commission will further refine the standards. The City has until May 2022 to issue amendments.
The City Council moved to authorize the City Manager to execute a new Three-Year Contract with Alta Housing (Formerly Palo Alto Housing) for housing services. The agreement is not to exceed $195,000. Alta Housing provides on-going housing services for affordable housing, both current and future, in the City. The council also moved to direct the staff to collect statistical information within sixty days from Alta Housing providers about applicants fitting the criteria for affordable housing at Alta Housing. The information will address concerns from Council and from public comment about discrepancies in applications for admittance to Alta Housing.
Claire Noonan, Observer