We, the undersigned residents of Los Altos and the surrounding impacted neighborhoods, respectfully petition the City Council to fully evaluate traffic flow and validate feasible safety mitigations before advancing the proposed 8-story, 85-unit condo building on a 0.42 acre lot at 4898 El Camino Real. We welcome responsible development which considers street/traffic safety on a narrow one-lane road Jordan Ave. 

The developer is seeking waivers and concessions from state law to bypass our local 5-story(55ft) zoning limit and potentially eliminate all on-site parking. While state law encourages development, it explicitly allows the City to deny such requests if they would have a "specific, adverse impact... upon public health and safety".   

This project is a textbook example of such an impact. We urge you to deny the project based on the following evidence:

• Unsafe Ingress/Egress and Traffic: The project proposes to funnel all traffic for 85 high-end condominiums through a single driveway directly onto Jordan Ave. This is a single lane road lacking a proper sidewalk that is already congested due to kids, bikes, cars, delivery vehicle, etc that travel on it daily. Directly across from this project, the City has already approved an additional 33-unit development with its own driveway onto Jordan Avenue. The City failed to evaluate the combined traffic and safety impacts on the community, provided no meaningful mitigation, and relied on an incomplete or insufficient CEQA analysis. The site places a 6’5” transformer-screening fence directly next to the only narrow driveway, waiving the City's 4 feet height within 15 feet of a driveway visibility standard. This creates a blind-spot hazard for pedestrians and middle-school cyclists who use Jordan Ave daily to reach school. 
• Lacking adequate CEQA emption analysis. While the staff report concludes that the project will not result in significant impacts related to traffic, noise, air quality, water quality, or utilities, the record does not provide the underlying analysis necessary to support these findings under CEQA Guidelines §15332(c) and (e). For example, no evidence is provided regarding compliance with applicable noise thresholds, proximity to sensitive receptors, construction noise levels, air-quality screening criteria, vehicle trip generation, water-quality BMPs, or service-capacity confirmations from utility providers. CEQA requires substantial evidence demonstrating that these environmental factors will not result in significant impacts, not merely a statement of conclusion. Additional analysis or citation to existing technical information is needed to substantiate the findings for these criteria and to ensure a complete and defensible Class 32 determination.
• No Space for Deliveries, Garbage, or commercial vehicles: The project waives required loading space, forcing delivery trucks (for 85 units scale of building) to stop in the single travel lane on Jordan Avenue. The City overlooked a developer-paid traffic report that downplayed documented pedestrian and school-traffic congestion during peak hours. Without an on-site loading zone, where will residents, guests, Amazon delivery vans, Uber Eats drivers, and garbage trucks stop? They will be forced to stop in the new bike lanes or the active lanes of traffic, directly endangering pedestrians, cyclists, and other drivers on a known "high injury network".  
• Failure to Plan for Basic Services: The 8-story, high-density design leaves no functional space for on-site logistics. The Planning Commission has previously set a safety standard for this corridor, noting the "Need to provide for loading spaces," "Look at a delivery area," and "Explore a better location for garbage". This project fails to provide any of these, forcing all essential services into the public right-of-way, which is a direct threat to public safety. 

Overwhelming Combination of Developments Without Infrastructure Improvements: This 85 unit development is on top of 196 units currently being built at 5150 El Camino, an approved 33 unit development at 4896 El Camino (Jack in the Box across the street), and a new Los Altos school site north of El Camino. There is no safe way to overcrowd a 0.42 acre lot given the circumstances.

Unsafe Parking Plan: The developer's mechanical parking lifts are not instantaneous (taking up to 3 minutes) and will create their own hazard: a long queue of residents waiting for their cars, which will inevitably back up onto the sidewalk and into the active traffic lanes and block Jordan Ave. The developer would also need to add 70-80 more spots to adequately handle 85 units.

A History of Neglect: This is the same applicant and property that the Los Altos City Council was forced to formally declare a "Public Nuisance" in August 2024 due to the owner's failure to maintain the site. This history does not inspire confidence in a complex, high-impact project.   

THEREFORE, WE, THE UNDERSIGNED residents, urgently call on the Los Altos Planning Commission and City Council to protect the health and safety of our community.

We ask you to make the legally defensible finding that this project's requested waivers for height and parking create a "specific, adverse impact on public health and safety" regarding traffic, pedestrian safety, and emergency access—impacts that cannot be mitigated. 

This project, as currently proposed, is grossly out of scale with the adjacent residential neighborhoods and is inconsistent with the City's own General Plan. It will create an overwhelming burden on our local infrastructure, specifically:

Extreme Traffic & Congestion: The project will add hundreds of daily car trips to local streets (including Jordan Ave and Marich Way) that are already at capacity and were never designed for this level of density.
Neighborhood Character: An 8-story condo tower is incompatible with the character of our community and will set a dangerous precedent for future out-of-scale development.
Public Safety: The resulting gridlock and street parking overflow will impede access for emergency vehicles, putting residents at risk.
We believe in thoughtful development that respects the character of our city. This project does not meet that standard.

We strongly urge you to grant our neighborhood's appeal and deny this project as proposed.