20 Dittos Lane Project Withdrawn

A controversial low-income housing project was put to rest Monday evening as the Los Gatos Town Council voted to unanimously withdraw the application for the proposed 32-unit apartment complex in the heart of town at 20 Dittos Lane.

The project began in September of 2009 when the Council, acting as the Redevelopment Agency, worked with ROEM Development Corporation to build the units.

However, the issue was met with much controversy. Townsfolk complained the complex would have negative impacts on the environment, create excessive traffic and obstruct the view of the Santa Cruz Mountains.

"We saw this as an overly dense project placed on a small flag-lot, dumping cars within three car lengths of a busy intersection. At the same time the cars entering or exiting had to weave through bikes, pedestrians and baby carriages at the [Los Gatos Creek] Trail head.  Dodging that bullet was mostly an act of fate, but give a ton of credit to a dedicated group of College Hill residents who were still ready to continue the fight in the name of progress,” said resident Jak Van Nada.

This past year, the issue had been muddled further with Gov. Jerry Brown's “Redevelopment Restructuring Acts” affecting the local RDA's ability to fund the Dittos project.

With the uncertain status of the RDA responsible for the project, Los Gatos Mayor Joe Pirzynski and the rest of the Council did not want to approve a project that may or may not have funds to proceed.