All updates
- Blog · MV YIMBY Pre-Endorses James Kuszmaul for Mountain View City CouncilTo the residents of Mountain View, Mountain View YIMBY has pre-endorsed James Kuszmaul for Mountain View City Council in the November 2026 election. We call it a pre-endorsement because it comes ahead of our usual process. For the other candidates, we are reading the record the same way we did in past cycles: our candidate questionnaire, the Chamber of Commerce forum of August 27, campaign website…
- Blog · Single Stair: Asking the City to Explore Local ImplementationRe: Single Stair Dear Mayor Ramos and Members of the City Council: Mountain View YIMBY thanks the city and council for supporting Single Stair Construction Reform in its Legislative Platform. The Legislature, unfortunately, has chosen not to move forward with the bill the city supported on Single Stair, AB 2252 (Lee). It is also unlikely to see state building code reform any time soon. As such, we…
- Blog · Council Adopts the Community Ownership Action Plan and Approves a Downtown Infill Project 6-1At its June 23 meeting the Mountain View City Council unanimously adopted the Community Ownership Action Plan, moving $1.4 million toward preserving naturally affordable and mobile-home housing, and approved a 13-unit, two-thirds-affordable infill project at 333 Franklin Street on a 6-1 vote, with Councilmember McAlister dissenting over the lack of on-site parking.
- Blog · Comments on Council Policy G-3 and the 1992 CEQA GuidelinesRe: Council Policy G-3 and CEQA Guidelines Dear Chair Ramirez and Members of the Council Policy and Procedures Committee: Mountain View YIMBY would like the Committee to include the 1992 CEQA Guidelines (referenced in Council Policy G-3) as part of the FY 2025-2027 City Council Work Plan item on updating council policies. The 1992 CEQA Guidelines dictate how the city follows CEQA, and they were co…
- Blog · Comments on the FY2026-27 EPC Work Plan (Item 5.1)Re: Agenda item 5.1 Dear Environmental Planning Commissioners, We are concerned that the city’s priorities lean towards resisting change rather than encouraging housing. Housing Element programs 1.4 (Religious and Community Assembly Sites for Housing) and 2.6 (Affirmatively Further Fair Housing) were created as the programs to address fair housing concerns under state and federal law by allowing a…
- Blog · Council Adopts an Interim AB 130 Streamlining Ordinance, No Date Set for the Ministerial VersionMountain View City Council voted 7-0 on first reading to introduce city code amendments that let staff approve AB 130 housing projects administratively, without a Council hearing. Council adopted the appeals process we flagged as a risk and declined to set a deadline for the fully ministerial version.
- Blog · Comments on AB 130 Streamlined Approval (Item 6.2)Re: Agenda item 6.2 Dear Mayor Ramos and Members of the City Council, Mountain View YIMBY recognizes that city staff has the tough work of revising a municipal code that assumes significant local discretion with state law that shortens approval timelines and curtails per-project ambiguity. We are concerned that the newly-proposed appeals process can delay project approvals past what they are now.…
- Blog · Council Adopts Citywide TDM Ordinance, Advances BMR Phase TwoMountain View City Council voted 7-0 on first reading to introduce a Citywide Transportation Demand Management ordinance and to advance the Phase Two amendments to the Below-Market-Rate Housing Program.
- Blog · Comments on the Citywide TDM Ordinance (Item 6.1)Re: Agenda item 6.1 Dear Mayor Ramos and Members of the City Council, Mountain View YIMBY supports work on a Citywide TDM Ordinance. A standardized framework with a parking exemption pathway for residential projects is a significant step forward from the current ad hoc, project-by-project approach. We appreciate the exemptions for residential trip caps, travel surveys, and driveway counts, and the…
- Blog · Comments on BMR Program Amendments (Item 6.2)Re: Agenda item 6.2 Dear Mayor Ramos and Members of the City Council, We support the changes that align the BMR program with current economic conditions and past project experiences, specifically Amendments 4 (addressing “exactly 100% AMI”) and 5 (removing obsolete HOA reserve fund). On Amendment 6, we continue to support a graduated fee schedule, given anecdotes of how much the fees have impacted…
- Blog · Comments on the Citywide TDM Ordinance (CTC, Item 5.1)Re: Agenda item 5.1 Dear Chair Hicks and Members of the Council Transportation Committee, Mountain View YIMBY supports work on a Citywide TDM Ordinance. A standardized framework with a parking exemption pathway for residential projects is a significant step forward from the current ad hoc, project-by-project approach. We appreciate the exemptions for residential trip caps, travel surveys, and driv…
- Blog · Comments on Castro Commons (Item 6.1)Re: Agenda Item 6.1, April 28, 2026 City Council Meeting (Mixed-Use Development at 843-903 Castro Street, 700 West El Camino Real, and 750 Fairmont Avenue) Dear Mayor Ramos and City Council, Mountain View YIMBY recommends that Council approve the project known as Castro Commons, including approving the vacation of a portion of Fairmont Avenue. The project has had a long history, starting as a 16 u…
- Blog · AB 2252 Heard in Assembly Housing CommitteeAB 2252 (Lee) got a presentation-only hearing this afternoon and no vote. The six-story single-stair bill is done for this session, and no four-story fallback is coming.
- Blog · State Legislative Priorities for the Cities AssociationDear Mayor Ramos and Council Members, Mountain View YIMBY would like to offer our bill priorities to the City and the bodies the city participates in, including the Cities Association and League of California Cities. AB 2252 (Lee) on Single-Stair Reform AB 2252 directs the state to allow single-stair projects in buildings of up to six stories in the building code by 2028; it would also allow local…
- Blog · EPC Advances AB 130 Streamlining, Sends TDM Ordinance to CouncilEPC recommended the AB 130 administrative approval ordinance 6-0 and gave comments on the draft TDM ordinance. Our two letters from earlier this week saw mixed results.
- Blog · Comments on the Citywide TDM Ordinance (Item 6.1)Re: Agenda item 6.1 Dear Chair Nunez and Members of the Environmental Planning Commission, Mountain View YIMBY supports work on the Citywide TDM Ordinance. A standardized framework with a parking exemption pathway for residential projects is a significant step forward from the current ad hoc approach of imposing TDM requirements project-by-project. We appreciate the exemptions for residential trip…
- Blog · Comments on AB 130 Streamlined Approval (Item 5.1)Re: Agenda item 5.1 Dear Chair and Members of the Environmental Planning Commission, Mountain View YIMBY supports Item 5.1 and urges the Commission to recommend the proposed amendments to Council. The administrative approval process in the draft ordinance is well designed. It eliminates the public hearing requirement for projects qualifying for the AB 130 statutory CEQA exemption, which is the mos…
- Blog · Two Major Housing Projects Advance in East WhismanMountain View City Council approved a 460-unit mixed-use development at 490 E. Middlefield Road and a 195-unit rowhouse project at 515-545 North Whisman Road, adding over 650 homes to the rapidly transforming East Whisman neighborhood.
- Blog · Council Advances R3 Zoning Update, Sets Legislative PrioritiesMountain View City Council voted 5-1 to advance a comprehensive R3 zoning overhaul with form-based standards, and adopted a 2026 legislative platform that includes single-stair reform and condo liability reform.
- Blog · Comment on Legislative Program Priority IssuesDear Mayor Ramos and Council Members, Mountain View YIMBY appreciates the opportunity to comment on Mountain View’s Legislative Program. There is a consistent theme that Mountain View advocates for maximum local control, especially on land use and housing. We urge the Council to ensure its positions on these issues are unambiguous and to avoid assisting “bad actor” jurisdictions that abuse their p…
- Blog · Comment on SB 79 and AB 130 ImplementationDear Mayor Ramos and City Council, SB 79 Mountain View YIMBY supports harmonizing local development standards with the provisions of SB 79, as much as feasible, to provide clarity for developers and the community. We believe that such standards should incorporate existing work, specifically from the Moffett Boulevard Precise Plan, the Downtown Precise Plan Update, and the R3 Zoning Update, to make…
- Blog · Comment on EPC Agenda Item 5.1 - R3 UpdateRe: Agenda item 5.1 Dear Chair Gutierrez and Commissioners, Mountain View YIMBY strongly supports efforts to update the R3 Zoning District. We appreciate Staff’s extensive work to transition toward objective, form-based standards. This update is a critical step in fulfilling the Housing Element’s commitment to ensuring multifamily projects are economically feasible and can achieve their allowed de…
- Blog · Council Approves Housing Element Rezonings, Advances Homeownership StrategyIn a marathon meeting ending at 12:30 AM, Mountain View City Council approved key rezonings to meet Housing Element goals and held a study session on strategies to support low- and middle-income homeownership.
- Blog · Agenda item 7.1 – Homeownership StrategyRe: Agenda item 7.1 Mayor Kamei & City Councilmembers, Mountain View YIMBY supports the City in identifying barriers to condominium development and implementing Housing Element programs related to homeownership. In the past we have supported efforts to reduce city fees on SB 684/SB 1123 starter home projects and the ability for ADUs and SB 9 DUOs to be subdivided. The City’s recent feasibility ana…
How we work
Reform the rules
Back zoning reform and streamlined permitting so more homes are legal to build, especially near transit and jobs.
Educate & engage
Turn out residents to the meetings that matter and make it easy to take a pro-housing position on local projects.
Build partnerships
Work with neighbors, labor, faith groups, and builders toward a shared abundant-housing agenda.
Mountain View YIMBY is a chapter of YIMBY Action.
One of the local groups organizing for more homes across the country, backed by the national team.