Church zoning for multifamily homes rescinded; election canceled

Monte Sereno’s First Baptist Community Church will once again be zoned for public use after the City Council voted Tuesday night to rescind the church’s zoning for multifamily homes.

The Monte Sereno City Council also agreed to cancel the Nov. 6 election that was scheduled after hundreds of residents who opposed the multifamily zoning called for voters to decide the issue.

The church is across the street from an elementary school at 17765 Daves Ave.

The church’s multifamily zoning was approved two years ago because of a state mandate that requires municipalities zone property for multifamily housing.

But when the city agreed in June to let Hacienda Inn owner Russ Stanley build 21 single-family and 15 multifamily homes, the church zoning was deemed unnecessary.

“The church zoning is no longer needed,” Vice Mayor Evert Wolsheimer said.

Wolsheimer was one of four council members voting to rescind the church’s multifamily zoning and cancel the election.

Councilman Marshall Anstandig voted no and said, “We should give the citizens the opportunity to vote and leave that option our there.”

Monte Sereno was incorporated in 1957 as a city of single-family homes and the multifamily housing debate has been festering for about 10 years. But whenever city officials proposed a site for multifamily housing, vocal citizens said, “Not in my backyard.”

And despite ongoing opposition to multifamily housing at the Hacienda, in 2013 the city prezoned the approximately 4.5-acre site for three homes per acre.

Stanley wanted to build more homes, so he sued the city.

That lawsuit was settled in February and Stanley’s proposal to build 36 homes was approved in June.

A few days later, a Hacienda neighbor sued the city and Stanley, fearing his property would be negatively impacted by the development. A settlement of that lawsuit was approved by the council 3-2 Tuesday night.

The settlement increases the setback between the future Hacienda development at 18840 Saratoga-Los Gatos Road and the neighbor’s property, among other things.

Anstandig voted against the settlement saying it was “reckless” because residents and council members had “very little opportunity” to review the agreement in advance of the council’s vote.

Mayor Burton Craig disagreed, saying the council knew last week that a settlement was in the works.

Craig also warned that the church could come back as a possible site for multifamily zoning in the future because “We will constantly be required to look for places that we need to zone” for multifamily housing.