MVCSP comments on Google North Bayshore Master Plan to City of Mountain View City Council
Mountain View MVCSP
Mountain View Coalition for Sustainable Planning
c/o Aaron Grossman
817 Montgomery Street
Mountain View, CA 94041
June 13, 2023
City of Mountain View City Council
City Hall, 500 Castro Street
PO Box 7540
Mountain View, CA 94039-7540
Re: Google North Bayshore Master Plan
Dear Mayor Hicks and Members of the City Council:
The Mountain View Coalition for Sustainable Planning (MVCSP) appreciates the opportunity to respond to the Google North Bayshore Master Plan. After over 10 years of advocacy for transforming North Bayshore from a typical auto-oriented suburban business park to a vibrant, walkable mixed use place, MVCSP strongly supports the Google North Bayshore Master Plan (Master Plan). However, there are several changes to the Development Agreement (DA) that are needed to ensure that the vision and goals of both the Master Plan and Precise Plan are realized.
The following are our primary reasons for our strong support:
Google has done an exemplary job of community outreach over a very long period of time. MVCSP appreciates the numerous opportunities to review and comment on various iterations of the Master Plan. Our comments, along with those of our affiliated organizations, have been responded to and often incorporated into the product before you tonight.
The planning process has exceeded the vision of the North Bayshore Precise Plan. Google planners have crafted an outstanding blend of urbanism and ecology into a strong sense of place. All of the urban design of the planned built environment and connected open space networks with almost 36 acres of integrated public and private open space successfully blend into an “ecology of place.”
The inclusion of 7,000 new residential units with 15% or approximately 1,050 affordable units will make living and working in North Bayshore a real possibility in three complete neighborhoods. While we are disappointed that the 5% inclusionary affordable housing is not included in the final Master Plan, we are pleased that Google is planning to dedicate approximately 50% of affordable housing acreage in Phase 1, including the largest parcels.
Internally within the North Bayshore Project Area, the active transportation network is very well thought out, and residents and employees can easily walk or ride a bike to the many exciting destinations. The social spine when completed will be an award winning feature of the plan.
For the Development Agreement, MVCSP was able to suggest several changes to both City and Google staff that were incorporated into the redline version approved by the Zoning Administrator on May 10, 2023. There are several important issues that still need to be resolved in the Development Agreement (DA). The following are changes we would like to see:
While it is important to provide Google with flexibility in the phasing of the project to address changing market conditions, there need to be sufficient guardrails to protect the public interest so that the public benefits from the Master Plan are achieved. Section 3.5.1.1 of the DA provides Google with the unilateral ability to change phases at their discretion. While issuance of any office or residential building permit will now trigger the three affordable housing parcels in Phase 1, another 1.4 acre parcel for affordable housing is currently scheduled in Phase 2. The dedication of this affordable housing parcel should be categorically exempt from any future change in the phasing plans by Google.
As was discussed extensively at the May 3rd Environmental Planning Commission meeting, the loss of the 5% inclusionary zoning came with a significant loss of community benefit value. In order to compensate for this loss in community value, we would like to recommend that the 0.83 acre parcel JN6 be moved from Phase 7 to Phase 2. Therefore, two parcels totalling 2.23 acres would be dedicated for affordable housing in Phase 2. Both parcels should be categorically exempt from future changes in the phasing plan.
In the DA TDM Plan Agreement in Exhibit R, Google is proposing a Trip Cap Implementation Plan that, once approved, supersedes all other trip cap requirements at the gateway and site specific trip caps for the Landings and East Charleston. Google is proposing to aggregate all Google occupied office buildings into a single TDM plan subject to a trip cap number that would be based on the full buildout of office in North Bayshore. Such a Trip Cap Implementation Plan for aggregate office buildings was not set forth in either the Precise Plan or the Master Plan itself. From a transportation planning perspective, MVCSP supports the Trip Cap Implementation Plan framework. However, we would like performance milestones to be established between the approval of the DA and full buildout of office in the Master Plan to ensure that the car-light vision is being achieved as the 8 development phases proceed.
With no methodology proposed in the DA for the Trip Cap Implementation Plan, the DA should require Google and the City to jointly hire an independent third party to 1) develop the methodology, 2) propose interim performance milestones by phase including a gradual reduction of current SOV rate to 35% SOV rate by project phase, and 3) determine the trip cap number at full buildout. The key assumptions and findings of the third party should be peer reviewed and taken into account in the decision making process by both the City and Google, who would need to approve all 3 steps above.
As the implementation of Master Plan goes forward with implementation, we would like special attention paid to the following:
While it is difficult to see the removal of almost 2,900 trees, the fact is that 40% of the trees are not in good health and many are non-native trees. The replanting of trees integrated with the development of the pedestrian and bicycle network provides an opportunity to develop a green street network with significant biodiversity that will be a model throughout the Bay Area.
In our December 2021 letter to the City Council, we stated: “We have asked the Google development team to consider new lighting standards as provided by the International Dark-Sky Association (https://www.darksky.org/) and others. These new standards are essential to support both wildlife and human health needs. While not required by the North Bayshore Precise Plan, we ask Google to voluntarily adopt these standards as phases are developed. We have found the team to be very open to this direction. Ultimately revisions to North Bayshore and East Whisman Precise Plans should incorporate the new lighting standards.
Thank you again for the opportunity to comment.
Sincerely,
Cliff Chambers and Bruce England
for the Mountain View Coalition for Sustainable Planning
cc:
Diana Pancholi, Principal Planner
Aarti Shrivastava, Assistant City Manager / Community Development Director
Kimbra McCarthy, City Manager
Heather Glaser, City Clerk
About Mountain View Coalition for Sustainable Planning
The Mountain View Coalition for Sustainable Planning is a local volunteer-based organization dedicated to making Mountain View as beautiful, economically healthy, transit, bicycle, and pedestrian accessible, and affordable as possible. MVCSP member interest and expertise covers areas such as housing, transportation, the environment, the economy, and beyond!
For more information, see http://www.mvcsp.org.
To contact us, send email to mvcsp...@gmail.com.