81 Pepper Drive - Removal from Los Altos Historic Resource Inventory (HRI)

2025101414

City of Los Altos

NOE - Notice of Exemption

2/4/2026

2/4/2026

Brittany Whitehill

City of Los Altos

Senior Planner

Lead/Public Agency

1 North San Antonio Road
Los Altos, CA 94022

(650) 947-2641

bwhitehill@losaltosca.gov

South San Antonio Road and Pepper Drive

94022

170-41-007

SR-82, I-280

Caltrain

Los Altos High, Egan Junior High, Covington Elementary

Adobe Creek, Hale Creek, Permanente Creek, Purisima Creek

Statutory Exemption

Statutory Exemptions. State code number: 15061(b)(3) common sense exemption

The removal of 81 Pepper Drive from the City of Los Altos Historic Resources Inventory is exempt from environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3), which applies when it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility the activity may have a significant effect on the environment, and none of the exceptions under CEQA Guidelines Section 15300.2 apply. The project filed with the City, as defined in Public Resources Code §21065, is comprised of a single action, which is the removal of the subject property from the Los Altos Historic Resources Inventory (HRI). At the time the Historical Commission approved the project, there was no active application to physically modify the site in any way. Furthermore, since approval of the project, no application has been filed. Additionally, at no time has there been an application submitted to the City to demolish the existing single-family home or the detached garage. Under CEQA, the City of Los Altos, as the lead agency, is required to analyze any potential direct or indirect physical environmental impacts of the project as defined in the project application. The city is neither required, nor able, to analyze the impacts of any hypothetical or future project for which an application has not been received. Based on the preponderance of evidence presented in both the Historic Resource Evaluation prepared by Evans & De Shazo and the Historic Resource Evaluation and Peer Review, and subsequent Appeal Response Memorandum prepared by Page & Turnbull, the property does not meet the minimum eligibility criteria for listing on the City of Los Altos Historic Resources Inventory. Furthermore, the property has never been listed on a state or national historic register, nor does any evidence suggest that the property has ever been eligible to be listed on any state or national historic register. For these reasons, the property does not qualify as a historic resource as defined by California Code of Regulations Section 15064.5(a). Because the property does not meet the criteria to be eligible for listing on any local, state or national Historic Resource Inventory, it can be seen with certainty that the act of removing it from the City of Los Altos Historic Resources Inventory will have no significant impact on the environment.