Los Altos Hills Open Spaces Are Under Threat
City Council is quietly trying to redesignate Open Space Preserves, starting with O’Keefe,
by masquerading it as a “Citizens Initiative” to bypass legally mandated environmental review
How we got here
California requires every city to plan for more housing—including affordable housing. That requirement is important and it matters
LAH Town’s 2023 housing plan relied on too few sites, many of which later proved unavailable—something the Council has admitted as a mistake
Oct 2025: The State warned that the Town could lose compliance if the currently listed sites did not show sufficient progress by Jan 31, 26
This triggered a rushed and illegal response
Facing deadlines from the state, City officials are now proposing to place housing on the O’Keefe Open Space Preserve—land that voters explicitly set aside as a permanent open space
City Council’s Backroom Politics
The problem is not housing. Housing solutions exist. They require careful planning, lawful process, and time
There are other locations that housing can be placed that doesn’t affect any of our natural spaces
The problem is how these decisions are being made
The City is masquerading a city-written plan as a “Citizens Initiative.” This allows the proposal to go to the ballot quickly—without a legally required environmental study for impacts to wildlife, water, traffic, or the surrounding neighborhood, and without transparent public review
A Citizens Initiative is meant to come from residents — not from the City Council. In this case, the City planned the proposal and now urging residents to submit it, circumventing timely environmental review
This is Serious and affects Everyone
Los Altos Hills exists because residents chose to protect places like O’Keefe, Byrne Preserve, Juan Prado Mesa Preserve, amongst others
These lands form a connected system of trails, wildlife habitat, and natural refuge that defines our community
Environmental advocates warn that this conduct represents more than a procedural dispute — it reflects a site selection failure with lasting environmental consequences
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) exists to protect communities before irreversible decisions are made — not after
If the City succeeds here, it sets a dangerous precedent
Decisions are made first
The process is hidden
The public is asked to approve it later
Residents are calling for
An immediate halt to all unlawful initiative activity
A full and honest CEQA review — before any ballot measure
No back-room deals. No sham “Citizens Initiatives”
Today it’s O’Keefe. Tomorrow it could be any land residents believed was permanently protected.
Voter-protected open space should not be sacrificed through unlawful City shortcuts.
What is O’Keefe and Why it Matters
O’Keefe is not vacant land
It is an 8-acre open space preserve protected by voters and legally set aside as permanent open space as part of the city’s 2002 Open Space Initiative. It includes wildlife habitat, Purisima Creek, public trails, and magnificent heritage oak trees
Residents have worked to clean up the preserve on multiple occasions, including through agency grants
This land was preserved so it would never be treated as a development site
That protection is now at risk due to city shortcuts
Protect open spaces.
Protect O’Keefe.
Protect the vote.
