"We're looking at projects over in plazas 7 and 8, and that is the first domino to fall," Councilmember Larry Lang said at the April 8 meeting where the City Council voted to fund a fundraising effort for a downtown theater. "That is forcing us to make plans across downtown."
Those plans have now reached the ballot. On November 3, 2026, Measure D asks whether the city's 10 downtown parking plazas should be protected by a voter-approval requirement. The debate has focused on parking spaces and housing numbers. A closer read of the measure points to something else. The one project the measure exempts outright is the affordable housing proposal on Plazas 7 and 8, which the city expects to come first. The park and theater proposals that initiative backers named as their motivation would need their own election. Measure D mainly decides which downtown projects go back to the ballot. It does not decide whether downtown changes at all.
Ten Lots in Three Clusters
Most people know the plazas as the lots behind the storefronts, not by number. The city's 9212 impact report, dated June 15, 2026, sorts them into three groups and lists each one by street. The city's parking-stall map puts the southern group on the Main Street and San Antonio Road side, the central group between Main and State, and the northern group north of State Street.
| Plaza | Street listed in city report | Group | What has been proposed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | First Street | Southern | Downtown park concepts |
| 2 | Second Street | Southern | Half for a performing arts center, the rest in park planning |
| 3 | Third Street | Southern | Downtown park concepts |
| 4 | First Street | Central | No project identified in current coverage |
| 5 | Second Street | Central | No project identified in current coverage |
| 6 | State Street | Central | No project identified in current coverage |
| 7 | First Street | Northern | Affordable housing |
| 8 | Second Street | Northern | Affordable housing |
| 9 | Fourth Street | Northern | No project identified in current coverage |
| 10 | Fourth Street | Northern | No project identified in current coverage |
The city's downtown park website names Plazas 1, 2 and/or 3 as the possible park and parking-improvement area. The Town Crier places Plazas 7 and 8 between First and Third streets, Edith Avenue and State Street. Every downtown public project now in discussion sits on one of these lots, which is why one ballot question covers all of them.
What the Ballot Question Says
The full question, as printed in the city's notice of measure:
"Shall the Ordinance, which prohibits the City of Los Altos from selling, leasing, conveying, or declaring as surplus land the ten City-owned Downtown Parking Plazas for any reason, or from authorizing new uses or physical alterations that would diminish protected trees or parking availability, access, or convenience, unless separately approved by a majority of voters, except that two Parking Plazas may be developed for affordable housing without a vote, be adopted?"
City Attorney Jolie Houston's impartial analysis spells out what would need a majority vote. Without one, the city could not sell, lease or convey the plazas. It could not declare them surplus or change their use in a way that reduces public parking. It could not build a capital project that permanently reduces parking, add levels, harm protected trees or tree canopy, or sign a development agreement letting a third party do any of those things. Maintenance, repairs, the farmers' market and similar short-term events would not need a vote.
The analysis states the outcomes in two sentences. A yes vote prohibits "selling, leasing, conveying, declaring surplus, or permanently repurposing the Parking Plazas for any use other than surface parking without a majority vote of the City's voters." A no vote "will preserve the City's discretion to use the Parking Plazas for any use permitted by local, state, and/or federal law."
The Exception Covers the First Project
Plazas 7 and 8 are where the city expects to build first. The ballot question exempts affordable housing on those two lots from the vote requirement. The 9212 report adds a caveat. It says it is "not clear if mixed-income housing or other development programs that include affordable housing could be approved without a subsequent Ballot Measure." So the exception is clear for a fully affordable project and unsettled for anything else.
The exception also does not keep the parking. At a September 18 meeting of the Los Altos Community Coalition, City Manager Gabriel Engeland said his "best professional guess" was that housing on Plazas 7 and 8 would reduce the roughly 250 parking spaces there. He added that the measure could affect a shared-use agreement for the Safeway parking garage if nearby parking falls below a set threshold.
The Projects That Would Need a Vote
Plazas 1 through 3 are a different case. They have two proposals in early stages, and neither is covered by the exception.
The park comes first. Draft designs went to the City Council on February 24, 2026. Council told the design team to drop underground parking, to pursue only options that keep or add parking, and named Meadow and Garden as the preferred themes. In July, a community coalition meeting reviewed five revised options. Four pair a park with a three-level garage, and one only improves the parking. All five were described as keeping or adding parking. The project site estimates a "conservative 4+ years" ahead and says no construction timeline has been set. The impartial analysis lists "adding additional levels" among the actions that would need voter approval. Under Measure D, the garage options would likely face a ballot vote even though they add parking.
The theater is the second proposal. On April 8, the council voted unanimously to give $300,000 to the Los Altos Mountain View Community Foundation to hire professional fundraisers for a performing arts center. Supporters propose a 25,000-square-foot, 160-seat building with a targeted budget of $25 million, on Plaza 2 behind the Main Street storefronts between First and Second streets. Mayor Pete Dailey said the theater MOU covers half of Plaza 2, and the rest of Plaza 2 plus Plaza 1 are being considered for the park. "If there is to be a performing arts facility, the park and the performing arts facility should be designed coherently," he said. The Los Altos Stage Company board has pledged $200,000 over five years. A follow-up Town Crier report said the steering committee expected to make an offer to a fundraising firm by the end of July. None of the coverage reviewed for this post confirms that a firm was hired.
At the June 23 council meeting, Friends of Los Altos president Jon Baer described what drove the initiative: "You folks are committing three of our acres to a performing arts center, a park, which we really don't need in downtown, and a parking garage." Those three acres are on the plazas without an exemption.
The Housing Element Question
A housing element is the state-approved plan showing where a city has room for new homes. This is the most contested part of the debate, and it comes down to a range of estimates. Los Altos' plan for 2023 to 2031 calls for 1,958 units. It includes about 640 units of surplus capacity and counts the 10 downtown plazas as housing sites worth 124 units. Engeland said an August technical assistance letter from the California Department of Housing and Community Development told the city it would have to amend the housing element if Measure D passes.
City officials estimated that the replacement capacity needed could run from about 124 units to about 1,000. Engeland said the higher figure comes from a legal theory put forward by YIMBY Law, not from any court or regulator. The 640-unit surplus might not cover even the low end, because it is divided among income categories. Officials named downtown, El Camino Real, commercial corridors and multifamily areas as places where capacity could be added. They also noted that about 80% of the city is zoned single-family.
Both sides agree on one point. City officials said passage alone would not automatically trigger Builder's Remedy. The Yes campaign's rebuttal says the same and adds that the measure does not itself change the certified housing element. The impartial analysis notes a cost that would apply if the measure passes and is challenged. The city would have to pay to defend it, and the money would come from the General Fund. The 9212 report attached a June 15 letter from YIMBY Law saying it is "prepared to sue Los Altos the instant this measure is adopted."
Who Signed Each Argument
The Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters posts the full arguments and rebuttals.
- Argument in favor: signed by C. Andrews, B. Loebner, L. Martinez Fennell and C. Lu. It presents voter approval as a way for residents to keep a say over permanent changes to the plazas. The filing lists Lou Becker, Ron Packard, Mel Kahn, Draeger's Market and Dan Haley as supporters.
- Argument against: signed by Shannon Geary, Mary Prochnow, Jolee Crosson, Peipei Yu and Crysta Krames. The listed titles include Los Altos Village president, former mayor, and CEO of the Los Altos-Mountain View Community Foundation.
- Rebuttal to the argument against: signed by Anita L. Elander, Mark Srebnik, Dan Haley and T. J. Fennell.
- Rebuttal to the argument in favor: signed by Gary Hedden, Claudia Coleman, Curtis Cole, Brooke Lopez and Herb Marshall. It names the League of Women Voters and the Los Altos Village Association.
The Town Crier has run opinion from both sides. A September 22 piece by J.T. Fennell and Cindy Andrews called the 9212 report relatively inconclusive and argued for voter approval before permanent changes to downtown public land. The paper's September 29 editorial recommended a no vote. In a candidate Q&A, council candidates Larry Lang and Anky van Deursen said they oppose the measure. Lynette Lee Eng said voters should have a meaningful voice and did not give a direct yes or no.
October Downtown, Either Way
Because the measure exempts events, maintenance and the farmers' market, the downtown calendar for the rest of this month does not depend on the vote:
- Witches & Warlocks Wine Stroll, October 23, 6 to 9 p.m., with 16 wineries and eight bands. Check-in is at Veterans Community Plaza and 333 First St.
- HEAD WEST Marketplace, October 25, on State Street between Second and Fourth streets. This is its last fourth-Sunday date of the season.
- Farmers' Market Fall Fest, October 29. The market runs on State Street on Thursdays from 4 to 8 p.m. through that date. Fall Fest adds a pumpkin-weight guess, costume treats for children and a vendor decorating contest.
- A BOO-tiful Downtown Halloween, October 30. Trick-or-treating starts at noon, with games at Veterans Community Plaza from 2 to 4 p.m.
The longer-term questions sit on the lots behind those storefronts. Those include the park design, the theater fundraising and the affordable housing on Plazas 7 and 8. A yes vote would add an election before any project the exception does not cover could move ahead. A no vote would leave those decisions with the City Council.
If you own property near downtown and want to talk through what the plaza plans could mean for your block over the next several years, the Kiersten Ligeti & Patricia Karoubi Team can walk you through the public record and what we see locally. Book an appointment when it suits you.
