By Town Crier Staff Report

An initial environmental study of the pool complex planned for Rosita Park is scheduled to begin within the next three weeks.

The Los Altos City Council last week hired consulting firm EIP Associates to evaluate the possible traffic, lighting, noise and parking impacts that a three-pool complex at Rosita Park could generate.

The proposed plan for the Los Altos Community Aquatic Center includes a 25-meter-by-25-yard competition-sized pool, a recreational pool, a wading pool and a locker room on a 32,000-square-foot site adjacent to the former St. William’s Parish Hall and Covington School.

A group of Rosita neighbors calling themselves the Rosita Community Pool Coalition urged the council to table the pool study until after the effects of Covington’s reopening are known. The Los Altos School District plans to re-open the school next year, as well as a child care center at the site.

More than 300 residents signed a petition protesting the new pool center, saying it could create a 400-600 percent increase in traffic each day along Rosita based on the pool’s revenue projections.

The city swapped a 26,000-square-foot portion of land at its municipal center with the school district in exchange for an equal portion of land at the Covington mini park. SPLASH, a nonprofit group of local swimmers, will fund the $3 million estimated to construct the new pool complex.