OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Environmental Planning Commission Meeting - January 22, 2026

City Council — Thursday, January 22, 2026
BodyMountain View, California
SessionCity Council
DateThursday, January 22, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 3:02:33
Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

7 p.m. Good evening, everyone. Welcome to the Environmental Planning Commission meeting of January 21st, 2026.

0:07

We will call the meeting to order at 7 p.m. For those joining us in person, please note that due to our hybrid environment,

0:15

audio and video presentations can no longer be shared from the lectern.

0:18

Requests to show an audio or video presentation during a meeting should be directed to EPC at MountainView.gov by 4.30 p.m. on the meeting date.

0:27

Additionally, due to our hybrid environment, we will no longer have speakers line up to speak on an item.

0:32

Anyone wishing to address the EPC in person must complete your yellow speaker card.

0:37

Please indicate the name that you would like to be called by when it is your turn to speak and the item number on which you wish to speak.

0:43

Please complete one yellow speaker card for each item on which you wish to speak and then turn them into the EPC clerk as soon as possible, but no later than the call for public comment on the item you are speaking on.

0:55

Instructions for addressing the commission virtually may be found on the posted agenda.

0:59

Now I will ask the EPC clerk to proceed with roll call.

1:08

Commissioner Subramanian?

1:11

Here.

1:12

Commissioner Pham?

1:13

Here.

1:15

Commissioner Gutierrez?

1:18

Commissioner Dempsey?

1:20

Here.

1:20

Commissioner Cranston?

1:24

Here.

1:25

Vice Chair Donahue here and Chair Nunez here all Commissioners present with the exception of

1:33

Commissioner Gutierrez okay thank you very much Mr. Clerk all right minutes approval if any we

1:42

will move on to item three minutes approval 3.1 Environmental Planning Commission meeting minutes

1:49

of December 3rd 2025 if anyone in attendance would like to provide comments on the minutes

1:55

please fill out a yellow speaker card and provide it to the EPC clerk.

1:58

If anyone on zoom would like to provide a comment on the minutes,

2:02

please click the raise hand button in zoom or press star nine on your phone.

2:05

Phone users can mute and unmute themselves with star six. Mr. Clerk,

2:10

are there any, we do not have any, um,

2:15

speakers online or requests on in person. Okay. Uh,

2:19

any discussion from commission? No. Uh,

2:24

any motion okay looks like we've got a motion to approve the environmental uh planning commission

2:30

minutes of december 3rd 2025 from commissioner vice chair donahue seconded by uh commissioner

2:36

dempsey uh mr clerk uh can we take the vote

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The motion carries. Four yes and two abstain.

2:55

All right, excellent.

2:56

Then we will proceed to item number four, oral communications.

3:01

This portion of the meeting is reserved for persons wishing to address the EPC on any matter, not on the agenda.

3:07

Speakers are allowed to speak on any topic for up to three minutes during this section.

3:12

State law prohibits the commission from acting on non-agenda items.

3:15

If anyone in attendance would like to provide comments on on-agenda items, please fill out a yellow speaker card and provide it to the EPC clerk.

3:23

If anyone on Zoom would like to provide a comment on on-agenda items, please click the raise hand button in Zoom or press star 9 on your phone.

3:31

Phone users can mute and unmute themselves with star 6.

3:34

Mr. Clerk, any speakers submit yellow cards or on the Zoom list?

3:39

None in person and none online.

3:41

All right. So looks like we have no takers. Then we will proceed to our public hearing for agenda item 5.1, the small business streamlining and other minor zoning code updates.

3:56

We'll first hand it to staff for a presentation. Then we'll have questions from the EPC and followed by public comment.

4:03

At the closure of public comment, the commission will then deliberate and then take action.

4:07

So I think we can proceed with the staff presentation from our assistant planner, Madeline Fall, and assistant community development director, Lindsay Hagan.

4:19

Thank you, and good evening, Chair Nunez and Commissioners.

4:22

I'm Madeline Fall, Assistant Planner, and I'm joined by Assistant Community Development Director, Lindsay Hagen, to present proposed code amendments to City Code Chapter 36, known as the Zoning Code, related to streamlining permit procedures for certain small businesses and other minor code revisions and cleanup.

4:40

the package of proposed zoning code amendments will implement various actions from the city's

4:53

economic vitality strategy with the purpose of eliminating certain barriers to zoning

4:58

sorry zoning barriers experienced by businesses to implement actions 1b7 and 4a6 and strategy

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4.5.D. The proposed amendments remove two of the largest barriers to small businesses in Mountain

5:13

View by streamlining permit procedures and reducing parking requirements. Specifically,

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the amendments remove change of use permits, which disproportionately impact small businesses

5:23

and include reductions in required parking standards for retail and personal service uses.

5:31

For certain small businesses, small footprint land uses, the amendments waive requirements for

5:36

conditional use permit and from new or additional parking. Identifying and

5:41

addressing these issues will support businesses that offer goods and services

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Economic Development█████████████████████████████29%
Affordable Housing█████████████████████████25%
Engineering And Infrastructure████████████████████20%
Procedural███████████11%
Transportation Safety███████7%
Community Engagement███3%
Parks and Recreation███3%
Finance And Investments██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Environmental Planning Commission Meeting – January 22, 2026

Note: The raw transcript begins with a meeting date of January 21, 2026, but the provided date for this summary is January 22, 2026. The summary below uses the specified date.

The Environmental Planning Commission (EPC) met on January 22, 2026, to consider two major agenda items: a package of zoning code amendments aimed at streamlining small business permits and reducing parking requirements, and a proposed mixed-use residential development at 490 East Middlefield Road. Both items received commission recommendations for city council approval. Commissioner Gutierrez was absent at roll call but later participated. The meeting lasted from 7:00 p.m. to about 10:03 p.m.

Consent Calendar

  • Minutes Approval (Item 3.1): The EPC approved the minutes from its December 3, 2025 meeting with a vote of 4 yes, 2 abstentions. No public comment or discussion was offered.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Item 5.1 – Small Business Streamlining: Two speakers addressed the commission. Tim Vago, President of the Nicholson Company (operator of the Rengstorff Center), expressed support, citing a recent instance where a potential tenant chose Sunnyvale over Mountain View due to burdensome permitting. Peter Katz, President and CEO of the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce, also voiced strong support, highlighting the need to remove zoning barriers and make Mountain View more business-friendly. Both urged extension of the changes to precise plan areas.
  • Item 5.2 – Mixed-Use Project at 490 East Middlefield Road: No public comments were received in person or via Zoom.

Discussion Items

  • 5.1 Small Business Streamlining and Other Minor Zoning Code Updates: Assistant Planner Madeline Fall and Assistant Community Development Director Lindsay Hagan presented a package of zoning code amendments to implement the city’s Economic Vitality Strategy. Key proposals included:
    • Creating “small footprint land use” provisions for retail, restaurant, personal services, and indoor recreation/fitness uses under 4,000 square feet, exempting them from use permits and additional parking requirements.
    • Reducing the minimum parking standard for retail and personal services from 1 space per 180 square feet (the highest among 10 regional cities surveyed) to 1 space per 250 square feet.
    • Eliminating the requirement for change-of-use permits.
    • Making various code cleanups, including adding/renaming land uses, updating parking standards, and modernizing definitions.
    • The proposed changes would not initially apply to precise plan areas, but staff indicated future work could extend them.
    • Commission members largely supported the effort but expressed concerns about the exclusion of business services and precise plan areas. Commissioner Cranston moved to remove the “Processing production” section (affecting business services) from the proposal, arguing the parking standard changes would harm businesses like his printing company. The motion lacked a second and failed. After further deliberation, Commissioner Gutierrez moved to recommend approval of the staff proposal as amended by the desk item modifications. The motion carried 6 yes, 1 no (Commissioner Cranston dissented).
  • 5.2 Mixed-Use Residential Project at 490 East Middlefield Road: Senior Planner Jeffrey Sumura and Principal Planner Diana Pincholi presented a proposal for an eight-story, 460-unit apartment building with 9,371 square feet of ground-floor commercial on a 2.86-acre site. The applicant (represented by Brian Griggs and Andrew Jacobson) sought a planned community permit, development review permit, heritage tree removal, and use of state density bonus law (27.5% density bonus for 15% affordable units). Key features included:
    • 55 affordable units (at or below 80% AMI) plus five additional units at 90-100% AMI per a proposed community benefits package.
    • Request for one concession (allow BMR units to be the smallest floor plan type) and six waivers from development standards (e.g., paseo easement, open space dimensions, bike parking).
    • Removal of 29 heritage trees with 173 replacement trees (6:1 ratio) and increased canopy coverage.
    • Ground-floor retail, a second-floor courtyard, and upper-level roof decks.
    • A development agreement (not before EPC) would be reviewed separately by the Zoning Administrator.
    • Commission discussion focused on: lack of a community meeting (applicant declined to hold one), delivery/loading access concerns (especially for retail and the lobby), the unit mix (limited two-bedroom affordable units), and the adequacy of bike parking and open space. Commissioner Cranston suggested creating a curb cut for deliveries, but no formal motion was made. After deliberation, Vice Chair Donahue moved to recommend approval with the staff-proposed modifications to conditions of approval. The motion carried 6 yes, 1 no (Commissioner Cranston dissented).

Key Outcomes

  • Item 5.1: The EPC voted 6–1 to recommend that the city council adopt the ordinance amending Chapter 36 (Zoning) to implement small business streamlining, reduced parking standards, and code cleanups, finding the amendments exempt from CEQA.
  • Item 5.2: The EPC voted 6–1 to recommend that the city council conditionally approve the planned community permit, development review permit, and heritage tree removal permit for the 490 East Middlefield Road mixed-use project, with the modified conditions of approval presented as a desk item (amending conditions #5, 25, 33, 34, 45, 50, 67, 81, 84, 85, 127, 136, 138, 150, and 155). The project is scheduled for a Zoning Administrator hearing on February 11, 2026, and city council consideration on March 10, 2026.

Meeting Transcript

7 p.m. Good evening, everyone. Welcome to the Environmental Planning Commission meeting of January 21st, 2026. We will call the meeting to order at 7 p.m. For those joining us in person, please note that due to our hybrid environment, audio and video presentations can no longer be shared from the lectern. Requests to show an audio or video presentation during a meeting should be directed to EPC at MountainView.gov by 4.30 p.m. on the meeting date. Additionally, due to our hybrid environment, we will no longer have speakers line up to speak on an item. Anyone wishing to address the EPC in person must complete your yellow speaker card. Please indicate the name that you would like to be called by when it is your turn to speak and the item number on which you wish to speak. Please complete one yellow speaker card for each item on which you wish to speak and then turn them into the EPC clerk as soon as possible, but no later than the call for public comment on the item you are speaking on. Instructions for addressing the commission virtually may be found on the posted agenda. Now I will ask the EPC clerk to proceed with roll call. Commissioner Subramanian? Here. Commissioner Pham? Here. Commissioner Gutierrez? Commissioner Dempsey? Here. Commissioner Cranston? Here. Vice Chair Donahue here and Chair Nunez here all Commissioners present with the exception of Commissioner Gutierrez okay thank you very much Mr. Clerk all right minutes approval if any we will move on to item three minutes approval 3.1 Environmental Planning Commission meeting minutes of December 3rd 2025 if anyone in attendance would like to provide comments on the minutes please fill out a yellow speaker card and provide it to the EPC clerk. If anyone on zoom would like to provide a comment on the minutes, please click the raise hand button in zoom or press star nine on your phone. Phone users can mute and unmute themselves with star six. Mr. Clerk, are there any, we do not have any, um, speakers online or requests on in person. Okay. Uh, any discussion from commission? No. Uh, any motion okay looks like we've got a motion to approve the environmental uh planning commission minutes of december 3rd 2025 from commissioner vice chair donahue seconded by uh commissioner dempsey uh mr clerk uh can we take the vote The motion carries. Four yes and two abstain. All right, excellent. Then we will proceed to item number four, oral communications. This portion of the meeting is reserved for persons wishing to address the EPC on any matter, not on the agenda. Speakers are allowed to speak on any topic for up to three minutes during this section. State law prohibits the commission from acting on non-agenda items. If anyone in attendance would like to provide comments on on-agenda items, please fill out a yellow speaker card and provide it to the EPC clerk. If anyone on Zoom would like to provide a comment on on-agenda items, please click the raise hand button in Zoom or press star 9 on your phone. Phone users can mute and unmute themselves with star 6. Mr. Clerk, any speakers submit yellow cards or on the Zoom list? None in person and none online. All right. So looks like we have no takers. Then we will proceed to our public hearing for agenda item 5.1, the small business streamlining and other minor zoning code updates. We'll first hand it to staff for a presentation. Then we'll have questions from the EPC and followed by public comment. At the closure of public comment, the commission will then deliberate and then take action. So I think we can proceed with the staff presentation from our assistant planner, Madeline Fall, and assistant community development director, Lindsay Hagan. Thank you, and good evening, Chair Nunez and Commissioners. I'm Madeline Fall, Assistant Planner, and I'm joined by Assistant Community Development Director, Lindsay Hagen, to present proposed code amendments to City Code Chapter 36, known as the Zoning Code, related to streamlining permit procedures for certain small businesses and other minor code revisions and cleanup.

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