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Home + Garden Design Fall 2016
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California Newspaper Publishers Association
OCTOBER 21, 2016 VOLUME 24, NO. 3
www.MountainViewOnline.com
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MOVIES | 28
Moffett Gateway wins council approval HOTEL AND OFFICE DEVELOPMENT SPARKS CONCERNS OVER TRAFFIC, TRAIL IMPACTS By Mark Noack
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hotel and office development at a crucial highway juncture received a unanimous round of approvals from the Mountain View City Council on Tuesday night, despite some concerns over the project’s traffic and environmental impacts. The site, known as the Moffett Gateway, is located at the interchange of highways 101 and 85. The 10-acre property is partly owned by the city and officials have long envisioned it as a lucrative spot for a commercial lease. In 2014, the city signed an exclusive deal with development firm Broadreach Capital, picking it over a dozen other submissions.
Over multiple iterations, Broadreach’s proposal grew to include a 255-room hotel, a six-story parking garage and a separate building with 200,000 square feet of office space. Developing that property wasn’t just a bonanza for Broadreach, said Craig Vought, the firm’s managing director, at the Oct. 18 council meeting. He pointed out that the city is projected to reap about $4.3 million annually from hotel taxes when the project is open for business. In addition, about 2 acres of the site would be dedicated as a public park, he said. “This site has been off-limits to the public for about 50 years; our goal tonight is to put this back in use,” Vought said. “We’d like to think what we’re creating
Hospital CEO’s severance payout could reach $834K By Kevin Forestieri
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he El Camino Hospital board of directors said their goodbyes to hospital president and CEO Tomi Ryba last Wednesday night, approving a severance agreement that guarantees as much as $834,200 in payments to her over the next year. In late August, the board voted 7-0 not to renew Ryba’s fiveyear contract. Though both the board and Ryba, who has led the hospital since August 2011, were
“in agreement” with the decision, according to a statement by the hospital, it’s not been made public why the board Tomi Ryba decided to seek new leadership. The board began the search for a new CEO in August, and picked Donald Sibery of Traverse City, Mich., a longtime executive See RYBA, page 8
COURTESY OF CITY OF MOUNTAIN VIEW
The Moffett Gateway project is depicted as it would appear at night. The City Council voted Tuesday to allow the hotel and office development to move forward.
is a terrific gateway to the community. We hope to see this up and running soon.” In approving the project, the City Council signed off on an extensive environmentalimpact report (EIR), effectively giving its assurance that the project’s benefits would out-
weigh its impacts. The EIR warned the hotel and offices would create significant, unavoidable traffic impacts along Highway 101 from Moffett Boulevard to Highway 237. Project planners were particularly eager to highlight a proposed bicycle-and-pedestrian
bridge to connect Moffett Gateway to the Stevens Creek Trail. In concept, this bridge would serve as a critical link allowing hotel guests or office workers to easily access the trail and head to downtown or North BaySee MOFFETT GATEWAY, page 7
Council seeks to ease parking woes CITY TO EXPLORE PAID PARKING, VALET SERVICES AND RIDE-SHARING INCENTIVES By Kevin Forestieri
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ountain View City Council members agreed Tuesday night to explore a broad range of strategies aimed at freeing up parking in the downtown area, after city surveys showed that every parking lot in the area is packed to the brim, forcing restaurant patrons to circulate endlessly. The survey, which was conducted in April, shows that finding a place to park is next to impossible during lunch and
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evening peak hours in downtown Mountain View on Thursdays and Fridays. Parking occupancy was pinned at 96 percent across all of the nearly 1,600 off-street parking spaces on Thursday at noon, and 87 percent at 6 p.m. The worst time was at 8 p.m. on Friday, when the average occupancy was at 100 percent across all of the parking lots and structures. When it comes to parking occupancy, “practical capacity” is at 85 percent, and marks the threshold at which it becomes
difficult to find a space. The downtown area is well past that threshold, forcing people to circle around the downtown and hunt for a spot, according to Alex Andrade, Mountain Views’ economic development manager. “Given that there’s no parking available, people are forced to cruise for parking, forcing congestion and spillover into our residential neighborhoods,” Andrade said. While the situation is bad See PARKING, page 6
VOTER GUIDE Foothill-DeAnza college board candidates 14
VIEWPOINT 22 | WEEKEND 25 | GOINGS ON 29 | MARKETPLACE 30 | REAL ESTATE 32