Much ado about mulberries WEEKEND | P.14 JULY 13, 2012 Volume 20, NO. 25
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MOVIES | 17
Google housing axed in city’s general plan By Daniel DeBolt
tech companies in the area and was supported strongly by the ouncil members were Chamber of Commerce, which not moved Tuesday night posted a YouTube video and by last-minute efforts whose members largely support by the Chamber of North Bayshore Commerce and the housing, said presimayor to keep housOscar Garcia. ‘Housing by dentCouncil ing as an option for memfuture development ber Tom Means was of Google’s neigh- companies went the sole opponent borhood north of the general plan out with the to Highway 101. adoption. Mayor Council members mining towns.’ Mike Kasperzak voted 6-1 in a final and John Inks approval of Moun- COUNCILMAN JAC SIEGEL supported the tain View’s 2030 motion although general plan, a kind they opposed the of road map for redevelopment removal of housing in North in key areas of the city and the Bayshore. culmination of four years of meetings, and a “community A company town visioning” process in 2008. Council members had some Largely by increasing allowed fiery comments after having building densities and heights, been called on by residents to it encourages redevelopment explain their position against along El Camino Real, in the East housing in North Bayshore. Whisman area, North Bayshore “One thousand units of single(north of Highway 101), Moffett occupancy rooms, that’s not a Boulevard and the San Antonio community, that’s dorms,” said Shopping Center area. council member Ronit Bryant. Council members removed an “It’s done a lot in China. Huge allowance for as many as 1,100 factories, huge apartment blocks, apartments along Shoreline Bou- I don’t think everyone lives haplevard between Highway 101 and pily ever after.” Charleston Road. The housing “Housing by companies went would likely have been used by See GOOGLE HOUSING, page 8 employees of Google and other
C MICHELLE LE
LET THE SUN SHINE
Bits of blue sky are visible through the mostly stripped skeleton of Hangar One at Moffett Field. Work to remove the toxin-laced siding from the massive hangar at Moffett Field is nearing completion, as seen in this view from South Akron Road.
MV driver arrested in deadly pedestrian crash By Nick Veronin
F
amily members of the man killed in a grisly car accident last month reacted with relief Tuesday to the news that police have arrested the driver of the vehicle that killed William Ware as he waited for his bus on the morning of June 21. Shortly before 9:30 a.m. that day, police say 21-year-old Mountain View resident Matthew Pumar allegedly sped through a
red light, swerved to avoid a truck entering the intersection and lost control of his car. The vehicle jumped a curb, plowed through a pole, two trees and smashed into William Ware, killing the 50-year-old Matthew man who was Pumar waiting at the bus stop. The car finally came
to rest near the intersection of California Street and Escuela Avenue, according to Liz Wylie, public information officer for the Mountain View Police Department. Pumar turned himself in to officers at the Mountain View Police Department on July 10, Wylie said. Pumar was accompanied by his attorney and a bail bondsman. After See DEADLY CRASH, page 8
Historic home may be razed for office building By Daniel DeBolt
C
ity Council members put the fate of a historic downtown home into the hands of developer Roger Burnell on Tuesday night, allowing him to demolish it if it can’t be moved elsewhere. The council voted 5-2 to allow Burnell to build a four-story office building on a quarter-acre site at 902 Villa Street, current site of the Pearson House, built
INSIDE
in the 1870s and one of the first homes built downtown. Council members said after several failed attempts to save the house failed, it was time to move on even if it meant demolishing it. Some expressed interest in moving the house onto a nearby downtown parking lot until a new site could be found, or to Shoreline Park where it could be restored near the Rengstorff House. But saving the house was not made
a requirement for Burnell, and neither he or the council made any promises Tuesday night. “Everyone wants to save the house but nobody wants to take it,” said council member Laura Macias. “If you want a house, it seems that Roger has a house for you.” The Michelin star-rated gourmet restaurant next door, Chez TJ, switched from opponent to MICHELLE LE
See HISTORIC HOME, page 6
VIEWPOINT 13 | GOINGS ON 18 | MARKETPLACE 19 | REAL ESTATE 22
The Pearson house dates to the 1870s.