Upfront
Local news, information and analysis
College Terrace development earns key approval Dense project would include offices, apartments, new JJ&F Food Store
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by Gennady Sheyner
proposal to expand and rebuild the popular JJ&F Food Store as part of a dense, office-heavy development on El Camino Real earned long-awaited
support from a previously skeptical Planning and Transportation Commission Wednesday night. But project applicant Patrick Smailey still has to clear a series of
procedural hurdles before he gets the city’s final approval for the controversial College Terrace Centre. After a nearly six-hour discussion spanning topics such as parking time limits; elimination of a rooftop gazebo; implementation of special fines for noncompliance; creation of drawings for a hypothetical expansion of JJ&F; and conversion of
ground-floor office space to retail, the commission voted 5-2 to support the zone change requested by the applicant. Commissioners Karen Holman and Susan Fineberg dissented. The commission’s approval, which included more than 10 amendments and conditions, came about six months after it vehement-
ly rejected a similar proposal from the applicant. In April, the commission argued the project was far too dense and that the grocery store it includes would be too small to be viable. But on Wednesday night most of the members agreed that the (continued on page 14)
election ’09
Palo Alto revising business-tax guidelines Planned changes include policies to exclude minors, nonprofits from filing statements
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Veronica Weber
virus, a Stanford press release said. Meanwhile, the first doses of the H1N1 flu vaccine arrived in Santa Clara County Oct. 6. The initial shipment of more than 14,000 doses of the vaccine in nasal form (FluMist) went to “a limited number of private and public medical providers in the county, as well as to the Public Health Department,” the Santa Clara County Public Health Department announced. Early supplies should go to healthy children between the ages of 2 years and 10 years, since they are at a high risk for illness from H1N1, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease
alo Alto officials are revising the rules for implementing a proposed business-license tax in response to criticism from a vocal group of small-business owners. The tax, listed as Measure A on the Nov. 3 ballot, would be based on employee count and would have varying rates for different business types and a ceiling of $30,000 for large firms. But while Measure A cements the method of taxation and the tax rates, it also gives the City Council and staff leeway to refine exemption rules and repeal parts of the ordinance even after it is enacted. With three weeks to go until Election Day, staff and council members are already thinking about changing the rules for collecting the tax. The changes include a new policy that excludes minors who are working from having to file statements declaring their exemption from the new tax, Senior Assistant City Attorney Cara Silver said. The ordinance currently exempts teenagers, nonprofit organizations and some disabled veterans, but specifies that anyone claiming an exemption must file a sworn statement. Silver said staff has decided to issue an “administrative guideline” specifying that minors engaged in a business — babysitting or yard work have been used as examples — would not need to file any statements. Staff is also considering doing the same for nonprofit groups, Silver said. She said the council under the or-
Singin’ in the rain? Pedestrians walking along University Avenue during Tuesday’s storm clutched their umbrellas close, as winds howled, branches fell and everyone just got wet.
health
Stanford study: Early flu shots save lives, money Many saved by October versus November shots, math model says
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by Chris Kenrick
tarting a vaccination campaign a few weeks earlier could save nearly 600 lives and more than $150 million in a city the size of New York, according to a study by the Stanford University
School of Medicine. Under mathematical models that tested many alternative assumptions, researchers concluded that vaccinating in October would save more lives and money than in No-
vember and that vaccinating in November would save 1,468 lives and $302 million in New York City compared to no vaccination campaign at all. “To put it simply, the most costsaving and life-saving strategy is to vaccinate as many people as possible as soon as possible,” said the study’s first author, Dr. Nayer Khazeni, an instructor of medicine in pulmonary and critical care. She also is an associate at Stanford’s Center for Health Policy and Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research. “The study makes a compelling case for the benefits of vaccinating sooner rather than later” relative to current concerns over the H1N1 flu
by Gennady Sheyner
Palo Alto Weekly • October 16, 2009 • Page 3