The crowd witnessed six hours of discussion about the Parks at Monta Vista project and a meeting that began with a dramatic decision by Mayor Richard Lowenthal not to participate. It ended in confusion and with one less residential development in Cupertino.

Lowenthal did not vote, saying living near the proposed development and having a child in the schools involved in the application created a possible conflict of interest.

Lowenthal's annoucement set up a tense council decision at the end of evening, resulting in a 2-2 vote that effectively killed the application by Taylor Woodrow. The project, would have brought roughly $6 million in public benefits to Cupertino.

Council members Orrin Mahoney and Dolly Sandoval voted for the project, and Councilman Patrick Kwok and Vice Mayor Kris Wang voted against it.

"I cannot vote for a project the majority of the neighbors do not want," Kwok said.

Those neighbors turned out in force at the meeting--with those unable to squeeze in peering in the windows. Residents also flooded the email boxes of the council members and the Courier. Kwok said the council received at least 300 emails on the issue just before the start of meeting. At least 38 residents spoke against the project during the public testimony portion of the meeting.

At stake was a proposal by Taylor Woodrow homes to build 94 single-family residences on the former site of Honeywell Measurex. The owners of the property, Grosvenor International, said five manufacturing buildings on the site were obsolete and too expensive to be renovated.

As a result, Taylor Woodrow applied to build the $1 million homes (with 14 available at a below-market-rate of $300,000) on the site. Additionally, the developer also tailored the project to meet local concerns about building height, density and setback. It also promised to build and maintain a city park, restore stagnant ponds and pay local school districts for expenses.

Neighbors of the project had concerns, however.

Their objections included traffic--particularly during peak school hours, possible overcrowding at Lincoln Elementary School, Kennedy Middle School and Monta Vista High School and loss of industrial space.

"Housing is not appropriate in this location," resident Rhoda Parker said. "It's threatening the economic longevity of light-industrial [places] in our community."

"What's going to happen to our schools after [the developer's fees] are exhausted?" Diana Wu asked.

Such opinions outnumbered those for the Parks project, with many that spoke in favor of the project appearing to have business connections to Taylor Woodrow.

Mahoney and Sandoval also found the project had merits of its own.

"As we have grown, there have not been a lot of industrial [businesses] that have come to the city asking for space," said Sandoval in voting for it. "In survey after survey by the city, the number one thing people ask for is more housing."

Wang countered that the city needed to slow down on development.

These differences in opinion led to confusion at the end of the meeting, with the four council members struggling to reach a decision.

Ultimately, they agreed to vote on the first part of the Taylor Woodrow application--rezoning of the 12-acre property to planned residential. With Lowenthal not participating, the split vote ensured the Measurex site would remain industrial, and the Taylor Woodrow development would not go forward. The split vote also reflected the divided opinions on the issue and a divided community.

"There is a double standard here," said resident Shilpa Joshi after the meeting. Joshi, who lives near Vallco Fashion Park on the westside of Cupertino, questioned if the council members were applying an unequal standard in their voting based on where they lived. "They are saying no to projects on the east side of Cupertino, but yes to those on the west side," she said.