This is why demand for housing outstrips supply. The city policies are anti-development and the prices reflect that.

I believe that 4-6 story apartment developments along El Camino and 101 should be immediately approved.

Why are the fees so high? I have a good idea why. Consultants!!! A one acre park in MTN view has a budget of 1.5 million, I kid you not! The new garden plots at Latham were 1.2 million. This is a budget for some towns in America for a year. Doesn't the city have staff that can design and build a park? I could have hired my own gardeners to do both parks for a quarter of what we tax payers have to pay. It's outrageous how the City spends our money.

Is this the decision that is delaying the possible purchase of the Kohl’s site by LASD?

Park fees are effectively indexed currently against the community "impact" of net new residents. For example, if a residential project will bring in 500 new residents today, then the law allows the city to charge fees to build park facilities to accomodate those 500 new residents.

Alas, the cost to build new parks is driven by two significant things. (1) The cost to acquire land in Mountain View, (2) the cost to improve vacant lots with comparable park facilities.

Both of these costs are effectively driven by supply and demand. With land in Mountain View in such high demand for redevelopment, the cost per acre has increased dramatically over the past few years. Similarly, the cost to find contractors to build park facilities has gone up as demand for workers has increased.