Mountain View City Council supports transit-oriented affordable housing to tackle housing shortage
Mountain View, California – In an attempt to solve the housing crisis, Mountain View has approved a ground-breaking affordable housing project on 334 San Antonio Road, once home to a Valero gas station and auto repair shop. Despite the restricted parking availability of the project, the City Council’s unanimous vote on Tuesday to endorse the request of the CRP Affordable Housing to build an eight-story apartment building signals a major progress in helping lower-income citizens.
Not requiring public financing, CRP Affordable Housing’s proposal aims to turn the site into a 100-unit apartment complex mostly serving lower-income people. Of these, 60% will have two or three bedrooms in order to house bigger families. City leaders have responded well to this development plan, which aims to maximize federal, state, and private financing sources.
Emphasizing the possibility of this project to act as a model for next projects, Mayor Pat Showalter welcomed the funding plan.
“The fact that you are going to be able to deliver this without city money is just terrific,” Mayor Showalter said at the meeting, San Jose Spotlight reported.
She hopes that CRP would help other developers create efficient homes using less reliance on city resources.
The proposal also makes use of a recent state law, AB 2097, which lowers parking needs for buildings located half a mile from major public transit centers. The new complex will thus offer just 16 vehicle parking spots.
The decision fits a larger picture meant to promote public transportation use and lower reliance on personal vehicles. Representative from CRP Affordable Housing, Shellan Rodriguez, pointed out that earlier projects with comparable low parking ratios had caused renters to change their vehicle ownership to fit the community’s sustainable living objectives.
Along with providing lots of bicycle storage with 100 long-term and 14 short-term spots, CRP Affordable Housing intends to give new residents a $50 transportation subsidy for the first three years, therefore further supporting this objective. These steps attempt to facilitate the shift to more public and active forms of mobility.
Although some council members expressed concerns about the parking restrictions, but overall the attitude was good. Council member Lucas Ramirez, highlighted the urgent need for affordable homes and the accompanying required concessions in such projects.
“I would imagine folks move into a development like this eyes wide open. They know that they may not have access to a parking space and that’s the tradeoff that they make as well, benefiting from the stability of affordable housing,” he said.
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This project marks a major development in Mountain View’s dedication to provide more sustainable and inclusive homes. By giving accessibility and cost the highest priority, the city intends to create a model that might influence local as well as global urban development plans.
