The most controversial, of course, was the shared parking issue. The public was allowed to speak first before the Commissioners asked their questions or made any comments on the matter, and it quickly became clear that the public wants shared parking and they want The Milk Pail to stay right where it is!
In my own comments to them, I emphasized that it makes no sense to require that each individual business have its own parking and that shared parking should be mandatory in order to maximize the efficiency of traffic moving throughout the center.
After hearing all the public comments, Commissioners Cox, Matichak, Fernandez and Trontel all expressed their desire that the language in the new Precise Plan that states shared parking will be required. I did not hear any of the other commissioners address the issue.
However, the new commissioner, John Scarboro, appeared to be completely lost when discussing this important topic. He suggested such things as making parks for children or creating community gardens in the greenspace when the green soace area itself has yet to be defined. He also said that he wants Mountain View to beat Palo Alto in tree canopy and make pacchetti more walkable and a more pleasant experience from the Caltrain station. Pacchetti is already one of the more walkable areas and it is only some of the suggested changes by the project that would make it less so.
It is pretty apparent that Mr. Scarboro has not attended many, if any, Council or EPC meetings on this issue. I hope that he gets up to speed soon. There are too many very important issues that will be up for votes soon and the residents deserve to have representative that make well informed decisions.
I also hope the that Council will listen to the recommendations of the majority of the EPC and retain the mandated shared parking that was part of the 1989 precise plan.
Jim Neal
Candidate, Mountain View City Council
https://electneal.org (Campaign Website)
info@electneal.org
