Apples' 'spaceship' campus comes under scrutiny

Cupetino city officials Thursday night held a public meeting to start the Environmental Reveiw process for a new home for Apple.

The computer giant wants to build on a 176-acre lot that used to belong to Hewlett-Packard.

Apple's plans call for a 3.1 million square foot building - four stories high and round. It's nicknamed the "spaceship".

"It's beautiful, but it's not going to come without an impact," said Patrick Robbins, who lives nearby in Santa Clara.

"As long as they mitigate the traffic impact and do the proper environmental studies and make sure that's taken care of, I think it will be a positive for the neighborhood," said Santa Clara resident Colin Seaton.

People broke up into smaller groups Thursday night to talk about issues that should be included in the Environmental Impact Report. Cupertino officials will incorporate those ideas into a draft Environmental Impact Report that will then undergo further public review.

"Is it a done deal? It's definitely not a done deal," said Cupertino Mayor Gilber Wong. "We have to go through a public process."

That could take a year, and would culminate with a City Council vote on the EIR.