By Linda Taaffe

The Los Altos City Council agreed to move forward last week on the three-pool complex planned for Rosita Park without conducting further environmental studies, despite a pending neighborhood lawsuit that alleges the city must perform a more detailed review under state law.

Council members said the city’s draft environmental study satisfactorily addressed environmental issues related to the pool project and agreed in a 3-2 vote to accept a mitigated negative declaration, which requires no further studies under the California Environmental Quality Act.

A mitigated declaration is a statement that a proposed project will not have a significant effect on the environment because mitigation measure will be included to reduce potential effects.

The council also accepted a business plan that requires the pool programs to be self-supporting.

Attorney Jeffery Hare, who is representing the Rosita Neighborhood Coalition that is protesting the complex, said the city’s initial study allegedly contains discrepencies that legally warrant an Environmental Impact Review.

He said the traffic count is allegedly inaccurate and the pool group that intends to build and operate the complex did not know about or agree to building a sound wall included in the study to potentially mitigate pool noise - both are factors that could significantly impact the neighborhood, according to residents.

Based on the proposed pool schedule, neighbors estimated that the 32,000-square-foot complex will generate about 2,000 car trips on their streets, about 800 more than the city’s traffic report shows.

Neighbors said they had not filed a lawsuit last week but were considering their options.

Neighbors have maintained that they are not against a pool, but rather the size and location of the planned complex.

Pedestrian safety for neighborhood children is the key driving force in their battle, according to neighbors.

“Litigation is our only recourse to stop this,” said Rosita neighbor Marty Collins.

An Environmental Impact Review would delay the project for at least six months. The added time is something Collins and other coalition members say is needed in order to collect more accurate data on the pools’ impact.

Covington School and a daycare center are scheduled to open at the site this fall, which could dramatically increase traffic in the neighborhood.

Senior City Planner Jim Mackenzie said a review would provide a more intense analysis of specific areas based on the findings of the initial study but wouldn’t necessarily provide new information or prohibit the project, since the council is allowed to weigh the public benefit against the project’s potential impacts.

“I think we should ask staff to go back and look at things rather than spend thousands of dollars on experts and an EIR,” Councilman John Moss said at last week’s meeting, which drew a standing-room-only crowd.

SPLASH, the non-profit group raising funds for the pool project, is committed to ensuring that the pool is a good neighbor, said spokeswoman Kathy Englar.

SPLASH is scheduled to proceed with design plans and could break ground by the end of this year.