By Linda Taaffe

Pinewood School leaders learned the hard way last week that even stellar educational programs could be too much of a good thing in certain Los Altos neighborhoods. The Los Altos City Council rejected a proposal that would have allowed the private school, a longtime fixture in the neighborhood, to increase its enrollment and expand its lower campus on Fremont Avenue farther into the Costello Acres neighborhood, an area recognized for its large lots and rural character.

Some say these same larger-than-average size lots that have made the neighborhood one of the most beautiful in Los Altos are also responsible for making the neighborhood vulnerable to nonresidential entities. The neighborhood is home to Pinewood’s lower and middle campuses and shares the same streets with Covington School and a proposed swim complex.

Some neighbors called the proposed expansion “death by 1,000 cuts” and urged the council cil not to put an unfair burden of activities on their streets.

“I can find only one compelling issue to deny this - its cumulative impact,” Councilman King Lear said. “How much can you have of this type of use in a fairly defined neighborhood before the identity of the neighborhood is irreparably harmed.”

The decision means Pinewood will have to submit new plans if school officials want to upgrade the campus.

The school may also have to reduce its enrollment. During the planning process, city officials discovered that the school’s conditional use permit allows 108 students; it has 125 students enrolled - a number that school administrators have never tried to keep secret and say prior city officials allowed.

The council is set to look at how to restrict nonresidential uses citywide to preserve neighborhood atmospheres. Planning Director James Walgren said churches, libraries, schools and similar facilities in areas zoned for public community facilities could be limited by stricter regulations.

Pinewood President Scott Riches, whose family founded the school in 1959, had worked over the past year on plans to upgrade the school, expand the campus and create a better traffic flow. Part of the plan included adding a prekindergarten program for 35 additional students, pushing enrollment to 160.

Walgren said Riches started an outreach campaign early in the process, inviting immediate neighbors to participate.

The final plan met all city guidelines and would not have increased traffic under an agreement with the school to require parents to carpool.

Riches said he was surprised by the decision, especially since the planning commission had approved the project 4-1.

“We always knew there was a group who opposed (the expansion); but we worked with the neighborhood and felt we had enough support from others,” he said.