Mountain View council blocks home plan

The Mountain View City Council has voted against a proposed 64-unit housing project on 6.4 acres at 450 N. Whisman Road.

The rejection was issued "without prejudice," says city Planning Manager Aarti Shrivastava, which allows the developer, KMJ Urban Communities, the leeway to reapply to build another project on the same site.

In that case, KMJ would be able to use parts of a completed environmental-impact document and site-related engineering work, she said, but would have to complete a second round of city reviews before going forward. The council advised staff to expedite any follow-on application from KMJ, Shrivastava said.

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Mountain View staff recommended denial of the original plan as did the city's Development Review Committee.

Bruce Burman, who represented KMJ before the city, did not return a call for comment.

"It's a very difficult site," Shrivastava says. It is an odd shape, and there is an 80-foot wide easement controlled by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission related to a buried water line. The applicant could build a road over the easement, she says, but utilities could not be placed below the road, as is common.