Controversial Downtown Apartment Project Tabled

The much-anticipated Los Gatos Town Council meeting on April 4 to decide the fate of a controversial has been tabled until June. 

Town Manager Greg Larson said in consultation with Mayor Joe Pirzynski that the council had decided not to consider the project next month, pending final state action on redevelopment and affordable housing funds by Gov. Jerry Brown.

Larson said the postponement will allow town staff and the applicant, ROEM Development Corporation, time to consider and respond to comments raised by the public and the .

On Monday evening, Los Gatos resident Chris Bevis, who lives on College Avenue, used the public portion part of the meeting to urge the council not to renew ROEM's contract, which expires March 31. 

Residents have complained that the environmental impact report on the project, which would be built with Redevelopment Agency money, is inadequate and inaccurate. Other residents have said the project, between College Avenue to the south and the Los Gatos Creek Trail and Highway 17 to the north, is too dense and unsafe, would obstruct views of the mountains and create a traffic and parking nightmare around Main Street leading to Maple and Dittos lanes.

"ROEM is not an appropriate developer for this site," he said, adding that he had been in communication with Habitat for Humanity Silicon Valley and that the agency is interested in developing the site for affordable housing.

He said he's surveyed his neighbors on College Avenue and that there are about 40 residents ready to volunteer to help with a Habitat project, if the town considers it.

On the stopdittoslane.com website, the administrator posted Monday evening that the uncertainty of RDA money could impact the town's ability to pursue the project. The website said story poles erected on the site indicate the development will occupy the entire 1.49-acre lot, that surrounding trees would be cut and that adjacent properties will lose sunlight, views and insulation from the sound of Highway 17. It also said the project could add about 90 residents to the neighborhood.