Upfront
High-speed rail
COMMUNITY
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Parking-permit program a success, residents say College Terrace streets open up as nonresidents seek to avoid fines by Sue Dremann
A
long-awaited parking-permit program in College Terrace is finally relieving residential woes, according to residents. A two-hour limit for street parking in the area from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays has been instituted, along with a new pilot program that allows residents to purchase a license and park on the street for longer than the limit. Residents who live between Stanford and California avenues and west of El Camino Real could opt into the pilot program on a blockby-block basis. Of 704 addresses in College Terrace within blocks opting into the program, 447 addresses applied for the permits, according to Shahla Yazdy, the city transportation engineer overseeing the program. Enforcement began in December. Residential streets in College Terrace were overrun with parked cars and traffic from Stanford University and employees at Stanford Research Park prior to the permit program, residents said. The city issued 147 citations from Dec. 7 to Jan. 6 for overtime parking, Yazdy said. Neighborhood leaders said they are mostly pleased. “It’s like night and day,� said Susan Rosenberg, secretary of the College Terrace Residents’ Association, who lives on Stanford Avenue at Dartmouth Street. “Once the grace period was over, nobody was parking there. It’s very successful,� she said. Brent Barker, Research Park observer for College Terrace, said that parking has improved on side streets adjacent to the industrial park, but that more must be done. “There is a sense of relief. There are still a lot of visitors, but there is a sense of hopefulness,� he said. Parking lots that were once relatively empty on the Facebook campus are now well used, he added.
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“The two-hour limit is forcing people to park in the lots. Most have picked up on the spirit of it. They want to be good neighbors and comply,� he said. Facebook’s recent announcement that it will move half its employees to another building with a parking lot could also reduce parking pressures, he said. Diane Finkelstein, chair of the “working group,� a citizen task force that works with the city on the permit program, said people are mostly pleased but that some hot spots still need to be worked out. “There are still some concerns about Facebook. We haven’t put our finger on it yet. They seem to get an inordinate amount of visitors,� she said. Zoning issues could also be contributing to some problems in the Lower Terrace, she said. “We’re still concerned about the CN zone,� she said, where the neighborhood borders a retail area. One side of a side street near El Camino Real is part of the program, but the commercial-building side is not in the program, she said. “We’re working with the city to work out the bumps,� she said. Finkelstein said the pilot program is being subsidized in part by $100,000 from Stanford, as mitigation for impacts when Escondido Village was built. Residents are concerned the $15 a year they currently pay for permits will go up when the subsidy runs out — and they don’t
know by how much, she said. In theory, revenue from citations is supposed to cover the additional cost, but the working group is concerned it might not be enough, she said. But the program has created at least one fringe benefit: many parents who transport their children to Escondido Elementary School are less harried, she said. “It’s easier for parents who drive kids to Escondido to find a space where they can stop for a short time to pick up their children. You don’t see people in front of fire hydrants or blocking intersections. It has opened things up,� she said. A program evaluation will last into April, after which the results will be reported to the Palo Alto City Council, Yazdy said. But parking problems are only getting worse in adjacent neighborhoods, Evergreen Park residents said. Evergreen Park, which is across El Camino from the research park, experiences considerable overflow parking by employees, according to David Schrom, neighborhood association president. At a recent Architectural Review Board meeting, at least one resident wanted a parking-permit program for that neighborhood, according to Yazdy. The city evaluated nonresident parking there 10 years ago, when there was a midday average of 200 (continued on page 6)
from the public sector to attract private investment.� It also pointed out that the state bond that voters approved for the project in 2008 expressly forbids public subsidies for the system’s operations. The LAO report stated that the new business plan is more informative than the 2008 version. But analysts also faulted the plan for having an “uninformative timeline,� and an inadequate discussion of project risks. “We find there are significant issues still inadequately addressed in this business plan,� Eric Thronson, an LAO analyst, said at the Tuesday hearing. “The plan’s discussion of risk is incomplete and inappropriate for a project of this magnitude.� The new business plan was released at a time of major transition for the California High-Speed Rail Authority. Earlier this month, the authority announced that Mehdi Morshed, its executive director, will retire at the end of March, and began its search for a new chief executive officer. The rail authority had also hired a consultant to evaluate its operating structure, said Curt Pringle, chair of the High-Speed Rail Authority Board of Directors. In the coming weeks, the agency plans to reorganize its leadership structure and hire new staff. The new structure would include a highranking official charged with risk management, Pringle told the Senate committee at this week’s hearing. The project has attracted great scrutiny on the Peninsula last year, when residents learned that highspeed trains would glide through their communities, possibly along elevated tracks. More than a dozen residents and elected officials from Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Atherton and Burlingame attended Tuesday’s Senate hearing and a similar one in
the Assembly on Jan. 11, to demand more information and criticize the current business plan. Elizabeth Alexis, a Palo Alto resident who co-founded the grassroots group Californians Advocating Responsible Rail Design (CAARD), attended both Sacramento meetings and publicly criticized the rail authority’s plan to have a private company operate the system once it’s built. Former Palo Alto Mayor Mike Cobb argued at the Jan. 11 hearing that the rail authority’s plan to get more than $4 billion in local funds for the project is unreasonable, given that cities such as Palo Alto are already facing severe budget shortfalls. Assembly members shared residents’ concerns about the rail authority’s plans to pay for the system. Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan questioned the high-speed rail’s assertion that the system would be profitable and its projection that the state will receive billions of federal dollars for the project. Assemblyman Roger Niello was even more blunt. He said he has “huge concerns� about the proposed high-speed-rail project and the authority’s plan to pay for it. The authority is banking on more than $10 billion in private funding; more than $17 billion in federal grants; and more than $4 billion in local grants to fund the project. That’s in addition to the $9.95 billion California voters approved in November 2008, when they passed Proposition 1A. Niello called the rail authority’s plan for the new system a notion that becomes increasingly troubling upon closer examination. “I wake up from my romantic notion and I see something next to me that’s not as attractive as it was when I was entertaining my romantic notion,� Niello said. N Staff Writer Gennady Sheyner can be e-mailed at gsheyner@ paweekly.com.
19th Annual Photo Contest Coming Soon!
Look for rules and entry form starting Friday, January 29 in the Palo Alto Weekly or online at www.PaloAltoOnline.com
Woodland School Open House January 23, 2010, 1:00-3:00 Preschool through eighth grade Visit our beautiful 10 acre campus in Portola Valley and learn about our strong academic and enrichment programs in the areas of the arts, science, math and technology. You‘ll see why Woodland School was voted Best Private Day School in the San Francisco Bay Area by Bay Area Parent Magazine.
Please call our Admissions OfďŹ ce at 650.854.9065 Reservations recommended. Woodland School 360 La Cuesta Drive, Portola Valley www.woodland-school.org
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2010
14th Annual Juana Run
A fun family and competitive road race with events for all ages. A complimentary pancake breakfast courtesy of the Pancake House for all 8K participants immediately follows the race.
EVENTS:
UĂŠn ĂŠ>ĂŒĂŠn\ÎäÊ>“]ĂŠÂŁÂ‡Â“ÂˆÂ?iĂŠÂŁÂŁ\£äÊ>“ UĂŠ ˆ`ĂƒĂŠĂ€>ViĂƒĂŠÂŁĂ‰Ă“ĂŠ>˜`棃{ĂŠÂ“ÂˆÂ?iĂŠÂ}Ă€>`iĂƒĂŠ* ‡xŽÊ£ä\ääÊ>“Ê >ÂŤÂŤĂ€ÂœĂ?°ÊiĂ›iĂ€ĂžĂŠÂŁĂ¤ĂŠÂ“ÂˆÂ˜Ă•ĂŒiĂƒ LOCATION: Juana Briones Elementary School, Palo Alto PARKING: Gunn High School (780 Arastradero Rd. Palo Alto) CONTACT: Juana Run, 3530 Whitsell St., Palo Alto, CA 94306 RACE HOTLINE: (650) 599-3434 ON-LINE REGISTRATION: www.JuanaRun.org EMAIL: juanarun@aol.com COST: 8K race $25 before 1/25/2010; $30 before 2/10/2010; $35 race day 1-mile race $15 before 1/25/2010; $20 before 2/10/2010; $25 race day Kids races $10 before 1/25/2010; $13 before 2/10/2010; $15 race day
Entry includes a t-shirt, ďŹ nisher ribbon (kids), age group prizes, rafe and free food and drink. Scholarships are available for kids races.
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