Locavore hot spot WEEKEND | 16
JUNE 19, 2015 VOLUME 23, NO. 21
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MOVIES | 19
School board postpones Whisman school decision By Kevin Forestieri
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COURTESY OF THE CITY OF MOUNTAIN VIEW
The Mountain View council approved a 600-home subdivision, which includes more than 200 row houses expected to sell for around $1.15 million each.
City approves 600 new homes for South Whisman SUBDIVISION WITH ROW HOUSES AND APARTMENTS IS LARGEST HOUSING PROJECT IN RECENT MEMORY By Mark Noack
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n what would essentially create a new neighborhood in the South Whisman area, Mountain View leaders on Tuesday night approved a 600-home subdivision that is the city’s largest residential development in recent memory. The plans, which involve
two development firms and five landowners, are focused on a 38-acre swath of land off Ferguson Drive near Highway 237. One of the applicants, the Atlanta-based Pulte Homes, pitched building just under 200 for-sale row houses as well as a new 2.75-acre public park along the western portion of the property. Meanwhile a second firm, EFL
Development, proposed constructing nearly 400 stacked rental apartments as well as about 3,000-square feet in commercial space along the eastern side of the property. The council approved the project in a 6-1 vote with Councilman John Inks dissenting. The scope of the project was nothing new for city officials, some of whom recalled reviewing past iterations of the plan nearly a decade ago. Since that time, the project took a hit in the recession and struggled to move forward. The area is currently occupied by a series of old industrial buildings that would be See NEW HOMES, page 8
esidents urging the Mountain View Whisman School District to open a new school in the Slater and Whisman neighborhood area retain a glimmer of hope after the school board decided to postpone a vote on school boundaries that could have killed the chances for opening a new school. The district’s Boundary Advisory Task Force, formed to advise the district on balancing enrollment at schools, recommended that the district not open a ninth elementary school, citing a lack of student enrollment that would strain operational costs and compromise the academic programs at neighboring schools. A decision to accept the recommendation at the board meeting on Thursday, June 11, would have precluded, at least in the short term, building a school in the northeast quadrant of the city. About 700 students currently live in the area and are without a nearby public school. After hearing an avalanche of opposition by residents in the Whisman and Slater neighborhood area, the board decided to punt the decision until later this year.
“We are very happy with the decision,” said Tamara Wilson, one of the parents who led the charge to keep the new school option alive. Board president Chris Chiang said he changed his opinion on the task force recommendations after hearing from the community, and said that there were a number of flaws in the process that troubled him. Chiang said it was wrong for the board to assign the task force restrictions that constrained the number of options for opening a new school. “We made these walls that did a disservice to that committee,” Chiang said. Among some of the restrictions was that no existing school could be closed or moved. Trustee Greg Coladonato, who consistently had said the task force should have everything on the table, agreed that the process should have been less “artificially restrained.” “I don’t think that’s a good way to think about this situation at all,” he said. Decisions put off until the fall include whether to move the boundaries in the Whisman area and switching residents in the See WHISMAN SCHOOL, page 9
Trustee resigns from board to head recall campaign for MV Whisman school board member CHRIS CHIANG SAYS HE CAN NO LONGER SERVE WITH CONTROVERSIAL BOARD MEMBER STEVE NELSON By Kevin Forestieri
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chool board president Chris Chiang announced Friday night that he will step down from his post with the Mountain View Whisman School District over what he called insults, harassment and bullying by
INSIDE
trustee Steve Nelson toward district staff, parents and community members. On Monday, he said resigning will allow him to head the recall campaign to replace Nelson. In a June 12 email to the school board, Chiang stated that after the June 11 meeting he could
no longer serve on the board “in good conscience” while a fellow board member “insults and bullies fellow board members, staff, teachers and families.” His resignation will be effective June 22, but he said he will not attend See TRUSTEE RESIGNS, page 10
VIEWPOINT 13 | GOINGS ON 20 | MARKETPLACE 21 | REAL ESTATE 23
VOICE FILE PHOTO
Board president Chris Chiang announced that he would be stepping down to head a recall campaign against trustee Steve Nelson.