To: Lon Allen, Mayor / Council Member, Marshal Anstandig, Vice Mayor / Council Member, Evert Wolsheimer, Council Member, Walter Huff, Council Member, and Burton Craig, Council Member

Request Monte Sereno City Council NOT Rezone the First Baptist Church Land for 15 Units of Multif...

Please sign on to this Petition if you oppose the Monte Sereno City Council plan to change zoning to allow construction of 15 High-Density Housing Units behind the First Baptist Church located at 17765 Daves Ave., Monte Sereno.

The Monte Sereno City Council is prepared to take final action on Tues. May 17, 2016 at 7pm to open the way for construction of this project. The meeting will be held at the City Council Chambers at Monte Sereno City Hall, 18041 Saratoga-Los Gatos Road, Monte Sereno.

The City Council delayed action at the last meeting, but they are prepared to ignore the input of the citizens of Monte Sereno at their meeting on May 17, 2016, and vote to change the church zoning to allow the development “by right” (without further opportunity for meaningful review or input) of up to 15 units of high-density housing on the one-acre portion of the Church’s property which the council claims is “underdeveloped” “open space.”

- The church is extremely opposed to this zoning change, yet the Council has completely ignored their clearly voiced objections.
- The traffic study the council is relying on claims their will be “no affect” on the already terrible traffic at Daves Elementary when 30 or 40 new cars are added for residences literally across the street.
- The rest pf the Mitigated Negative Declaration the Council is relying on says that such development of a large cluster of townhouse or apartment-type units on the current church and daycare play area at the rear section of the church property will have no negative affect on the aesthetics of the area of single family homes.
- The Council has limited the giving of notice about this project to only the neighbors within 300 feet of the church. They should give time for the whole community to offer input and to come up with more suitable solutions to meet the state Housing Element requirement of new construction in Monte Sereno.
- There will almost certainly be legal challenges to the re-zoning. The council has an obligation not to embroil the City in yet another lawsuit.

Please sign this petition and plan to come to the Council Meeting to voice your opposition to this plan before we have our very own “Sorry, it’s already a done deal” North 40 - type problem that Los Gatos is facing, where there’s nothing that can be done now that the story poles are up at Highway 17 and Lark Ave.

Petition: We, the undersigned, request that the Monte Sereno City Council delay action on the Addendum to the Mitigated Negative Declaration and Zoning changes to the First Baptist Church property to allow more input and to explore better alternatives.

Why is this important?

This issue affects all residents of Monte Sereno as well as the parents, staff and students at Daves Elementary, across the street from the proposed site.