Los Gatos

Los Gatos Town Council to Decide on Fate of 44 Acres of Undeveloped Land

The Los Gatos Town Council will decide Tuesday on what to do with more than 40 acres of undeveloped land--the last parcel of its kind in the town.

The question is whether to put more than 300 homes and commercial space on the orchard between Highway 85 and Lark Avenue. And the debate is growing over how the 44 acres, known as the North 40, should be developed.

For years, the town has been working on the North 40 specific plan, which calls for up to 364 homes to be built on this property, along with 580,000 square feet of commercial retail space.

If approved, that would mean dozens of people would be forced to move, including Lynlee Bischoff, who has lived in the area for 11 years.

"I'd rather not move, which I would have to do, but on top of that, they say they want to preserve the integrity of Los Gatos," she said. "But this plan has compromised the integrity of Los Gatos."

But the senior vice president of developer Grosvenor Americas said the North 40 plan will help an underserved population--seniors and young adults just out of college who want to live in Los Gatos.

"We think in Los Gatos, there is a need for more affordable housing, for millennial and empty nesters to staying in Los Gatos,"  Don Capobres said.

Still, others fear the new housing will add more students to area schools like Blossom Hill Elementary.

"Bringing in additional students in from a development will definitely have an effect on the district, and class sizes will be larger," parent Kelly Duvall said. "That's something I prefer not to see."

She also said she was concerned the development would add to traffic congestion in the area.

Most people agreed keeping the land an orchard is not likely to happen, but the question now is deciding what the land will look like in 20 years.

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