Dining Out Guide INSIDE THIS ISSUE MAY 22, 2015 VOLUME 23, NO. 17
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Days numbered for city’s small RV park RESIDENTS DISPLACED AS PARK IS SLATED FOR TOWNHOUSE DEVELOPMENT By Mark Noack
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ozens of residents living in a North Whisman RV park fear that they could be forced out of Mountain View now that the property is being sold to a residential developer. Located just off Fairchild Drive, the land in question consists of two separate RV parks, listed under the names Bayair and Bayshore. But essentially, both parks are
treated as the same business since they are managed by the same owner and are located right next to each other. Together, the Bayair/Bayshore parks hold 30 spaces for RVs or trailers, most of which are currently occupied at a monthly rents hovering around $850 a month. Also on the chopping block are two occupied single-family homes as well as a vacant eight-room
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Cinthia Ayala, a Google employee who lives at the soon-to-close Bayshore RV Park, says she’ll likely have to move back to Modesto and face a two-hour commute to Mountain View.
See RV PARK, page 9
MV council declines to revisit El Camino bus plan SPLIT COUNCIL’S SUPPORT FOR VTA’S BUS RAPID TRANSIT PROJECT CAUSING CONTROVERSY By Mark Noack
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proposal to dedicate lanes of El Camino Real for bus traffic continues to be a lightning rod of controversy in Mountain View, but council members indicated they weren’t
inclined to revisit the issue in the coming weeks. On Tuesday, the City Council came to a 2-2 stalemate over a proposal by Councilman Lenny Siegel to quickly hold new talks over the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) plan. The council considered the
issue during an April 21 meeting, at which a narrow council majority voted to endorse the bus plan from the Santa Clara County Valley Transportation Authority. Siegel, who opposed the plan, said on Tuesday that he wasn’t seeking to redo the decision.
Instead, he explained that he wanted to schedule more discussion as a way to elaborate on Mountain View’s position on matters such as what other vehicles could use the dedicated bus lanes. “I’m not proposing a reconsid-
eration but a clarification,” he said. Siegel, the council’s appointee to the BRT Advisory Board, explained that it would be helpful to have that clarity before the See BUS PLAN, page 8
City toughens up water restrictions COUNCIL APPROVES TWICE-A-WEEK LANDSCAPE WATERING LIMIT By Kevin Forestieri
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Street median landscaping can no longer be watered with drinkable water under new state laws, among other new water-use restrictions.
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eeping your lawn alive just got a little more difficult. Following state-mandated requirements to reduce water use, Mountain View City Council voted 5-1 Tuesday night to adopt a plan that would reduce the city’s water usage by restricting, among other things, landscape irrigation to
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only two days per week. The city of Mountain View will be required, by the state to reduce its water use by 16 percent compared to 2013, which amounts to about 500 million gallons over the next nine months. The number sounds daunting, but the city has already reduced its water usage by 13 percent and would only need to save an additional 180 gallons on top of what
residents have already saved. To get over the hump and avoid a daily fine from the state of $10,000 for failing to comply, the city imposed restrictions that would only allow landscape watering two times a week beginning in June. Odd-numbered addresses will be able to water on Monday and Thursday, and See DROUGHT, page 7