By Linda Taaffe

Mountain View

Mountain View could lose a stretch of land along Shoreline Boulevard zoned as open space to a housing project intended for city employees.

The Mountain View City Council is considering rezoning the four city-owned sites near Eagle Park from a Public Facilities district to a Residential District as part of the city’s Housing Element update.

Rezoning the land would enable the city to build housing for its firefighters, police officers and other city employees. The four parcels range from 10,400 square feet to 34,800 square feet each.

All four areas are currently undeveloped and contain numerous Heritage trees, according to a staff report.

The city acquired the parcels in the 1960s as part of the widening of Shoreline Boulevard.

A coalition of neighbors calling themselves the Shoreline West Association of Neighbors started a campaign last week to halt any rezoning plans. They say the city had promised to partially landscape and improve the open space as part of a land-use plan six years ago and allegedly failed to inform neighbors of last month’s pending decision.

Neighbors said the open space provides a sound buffer from Shoreline’s traffic.

Under state law, the city’s Housing Element update must be put in place by the end of this year.

For more information about the Shoreline West Association of Neighbors, go to www.saveshorelineopenspace.org