MOUNTAIN VIEW — As Google embarks on building a transformative urban village project set to be the second-largest residential development in Bay Area history, the city council is seeking assurances from the tech titan that it can deliver what it has promised.
After the coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc on the construction and development industry across the Bay Area, Mountain View officials are wary of the project’s 30-year construction timeline and are asking Google to negotiate benchmarks and milestones in the development agreement to make sure community benefits are actually delivered.
During a city council meeting Tuesday, Mountain View council members raised concerns about Google’s ambitious plans to build a walkable urban village on 127 acres of office parks in the North Bayshore neighborhood. The development calls for 7,000 residential units and about 3.1 million square feet of office space, as well as room for shops, restaurants, open space and a potential school site.
Second only to San Francisco’s Treasure Island residential development plans in terms of sheer scale, the North Bayshore project represents part of Google’s overall vision to double down on the Bay Area as the center for continued growth in the tech sector amid an exodus by some companies. Its Downtown West development in San Jose is a similarly aspirational project with goals for a walkable, transit-oriented community.
Mountain View-based Google, whose headquarters are located a short distance from the proposed neighborhoods, hopes to obtain a final environmental review and city approval in the first quarter of 2022. Once approved, construction could begin about a year later and take decades to complete.
Before that happens, council members want Google and city staff on Tuesday to go back to the negotiating table to iron out details that would ensure elected officials have a say throughout the project’s 30-year timeline. Once it’s approved, Mountain View won’t have much discretion on the streamlined permitting process to expedite construction, city staff said.
Council members like Alison Hicks are asking for that streamlining to include “regular check-ins with the council, some amendment process and timeframes related to community benefits.”
Councilwoman Margaret Abe Koga said her biggest fear is that three decades from now “nothing is built,” and agreed that city staff need to set up benchmarks every few years to check in with Google. She said the council’s top priority should be how the city can “ensure we get something built.”
“I don’t want half-built neighborhoods or phases,” Abe Koga said. “How can we ensure that if only four phases get built, that it has the complete neighborhoods we want and stays self-sustaining as a neighborhood in the future.”
Abe-Koga also questioned whether the deal the city is getting from Google is the right one, and urged city staff to compare and contrast the current plan with other 30-year agreements in similar cities.
Councilwoman Sally Lieber said she wants to make sure they’re getting “at least as much as other communities.”
Another top priority is making sure affordable housing gets built. Under the current plan, it’ll be up to non-profit developers to build housing in land Google has dedicated for the city’s use. Councilwoman Alison Hicks advocated for the creation of community land trusts for standalone affordable housing.
“It’s less institutional, it’s an ownership form, and there are members of our low-income community who are very active and thoughtful and this is something that they may be interested in,” Hicks said.
Council members also weighed options with the Mountain View Whisman School District for locating an elementary school within dedicated city space inside the project area.
“My greatest concerns are about the expeditious delivery of affordable housing and the disposition of any land intended for a new school campus,” councilman Lucas Ramirez said. “We need to work with the school district to understand whatever concerns and legal obligations they may have and working with them to help them understand what our constraints may be.”
Source: www.mercurynews.com