By Linda Taaffe

Los Altos officials were still waiting Monday morning to hear whether Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Leslie Nichols would give the city the go-ahead to move forward on the community pool complex proposed for Rosita Park. He ordered the city in 2003 to conduct more environmental studies after a neighborhood group, called the Rosita Neighborhood Coalition, filed suit against the city to halt the project.

Nichols was scheduled to determine Friday whether the city had complied with his order. After listening to three hours of testimony from both sides, Nichols said he had not come to court with a prepared decision. The judge wanted to listen to all sides.

He anticipated making a decision by Monday.

If Nichols ruled that Los Altos did comply, the city will be able to move forward with the pool project. The next step would be to convene the citizens taskforce that Mayor David Casas formed this year to determine the size of the pool complex.

The Los Altos City Council certified the Final Environmental Impact Report last December, legally enabling the city to build as much as a three-pool complex at Rosita Park. The project is included in the city’s 2005-06 Capital Improvement Projects budget even though the project’s size and timeline remain unclear.

The coalition maintains that there are unresolved traffic and noise issues identified in the report.

“The city is taking the position that it has (complied), and wants the court to make a ruling to that effect,” Roy Presley, a coalition spokesman, said last December. “The (coalition), obviously, disagrees.”

If Nichols rules that the city needs to conduct further studies, the project will continue to be on hold.

“The proposed pool project has been thoroughly studied … and with ample opportunity for public input. I think citizens want it to be complete and to satisfy the terms of the lawsuit,” said pool proponent Kathy Englar.