By Linda Taaffe

Los Altos placed its first neighborhood ban on two-story homes in a four-block area that lies between city hall and Los Altos High School under the city’s new single-story overlay ordinance.

The Los Altos City Council approved the city’s first overlay zone application June 12 after an overwhelming majority of the homeowners voted in favor of temporarily prohibiting the construction of two-story homes or additions in the neighborhood bounded by Merritt Road, East Edith Avenue, Beverly Lane and North Gordon.

The neighborhood application partially fulfilled the requirements of a new city ordinance that allows residents to overlay the city’s existing zoning regulations with a seven-year ban on two-story homes. This is the first application the city has received since the council passed the overlay ordinance in May 2000.

Under the ordinance, at least 50 percent of a defined neighborhood must support the new zoning application and 75 percent of the existing houses must be single story in order for the application to be eligible. Once a neighborhood is defined, each homeowner is allowed to cast a vote through secret ballot. A 70 percent majority is needed before the council will consider re-zoning the area.

Eighty-one percent of the homes in the Merritt-Gordon neighborhood defined in the zoning application are single-story. Eighty five out of 110 voters, or 72 percent, voted in favor of the overlay zone.

The neighborhood may renew the zoning in seven years.

The ordinance was part of the council’s plan to revamp the city’s design guidelines and provide a more clear-cut solution that would eliminate some of the conflict between those who want to build two-story homes and those who want to preserve the rural character of their neighborhoods.