Notice of Environmental Impact Report Preparation: Multifamily Housing and the Environmental Impact Report Process

Multifamily rezoning in Los Altos Hills represents an opportunity to strategically increase the residential density in Los Altos Hills to keep up with increasing housing demand and meet State housing allocation outlined in the 6th Cycle Housing Element. The process is held to the standards of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) which aims to preserve as much of the pre-existng environmental characteristics of an area as possible through the development process and mitigate the ongoing impact of developement. With the CEQA process comes a formal Environmental Impact Review (EIR). This review is subject to public comment and participation is encouraged throughout the environmental analysis process.

The Notice of Preparation (NOP) is a publicly-noticed document, which begins the process for the preparation of an Environmental Impact Review. From the publication of the NOP, there is a 30-day window for public comment on the document and process. The Public comment window for this NOP ends on Monday, October 14th.

The Notice of Preparation for the upcoming EIR can be found here.

Public comment can be submitted directly via email to Interim Community Development Director Jay Bradford at jbradford@losaltoshills.ca.gov or by filling out the public comment form.

There are currently three sites which have been identified for prospective rezoning to permit the future development of higher density multifamily housing. Those sites are Twin Oaks off of Arastradero, the Foothill College campus, and portions of St. Nicholas School off of El Monte. These zones all have characteristics that are favorable for strategic density increases and will be subject to the upcoming EIR.

Town Staff will be working with the Planning Commission and the City Council to provide as many opportunities for public comment, review, and feedback, as possible over the course of the CEQA process. Please see the column at the right for important dates regarding opportunities for resident engagement. Additionally, regular updates will be put in the City Manager's Weekly Newsletter and in the Community Development Weekly Reports.

Further information on CEQA can be found here. If you have questions regarding the EIR, public engagement, or upcoming meetings, please contact the Planning Department at planning@losaltoshills.ca.gov.