Upfront TRANSPORTATION
Average daily traffic volumes at Palo Alto intersections – 1999 vs 2013
Traffic numbers prompt council head-scratching
1999 17,050
Planning department graph shows less traffic now than a decade ago
2013
University Ave & Lincoln Ave
24,400
by Eric Van Susteren
PC zones
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“Saying PC zones are the culprit of ‘too much development too quickly’ is misguided,” he said. He noted that only two of the 21 major developments the city has in its pipeline involve a PC zone — the Jay Paul development, a massive two-office-building complex at 395 Page Mill Road that would come with new police headquarters for the city; and a four-story mixed-use building at 2755 El Camino Real. “We need to quit just finding the bogeyman and look at the
traffic volume isn’t the sole determinant of congestion, citing factors such as conflicting movement of vehicles and the capabilities of traffic signals. Councilman Pat Burt said he was incredulous about the traffic numbers. A population increase from 58,598 in 2000 to 64,403 in 2010 and an increase of jobs in the city from 75,000 to 90,000 in the same time period couldn’t possibly amount to a 20 percent reduction in traffic, he said.
“I understand there are other factors, but they can’t explain this,” he said, highlighting the need to re-establish trust with development-weary residents. “If the data isn’t correct or doesn’t pass the smell test, we’re not establishing credibility within the community. This is as off as any data I’ve seen.” In suggesting a solution to traffic woes, Burt favored establishing a business registry for companies in Palo Alto aimed at helping the city determine what the company’s effects on traffic and parking are. Using the registry, the city could levy a business-license tax on larger companies that exceed
a cap on employees and therefore contribute more to congestion. Though he said he thought the city had made progress on parking issues, Mayor Greg Sharff said he was still frustrated that the city hadn’t built a new parking garage downtown, which he said would be critical in the short-term to easing downtown’s infamous parking shortages. Scharff said he agreed with Burt in that the council has to be able to trust the data that city staff supplies it. “You can’t make decisions without the right data,” he said, pointing out that flaws in the staff report — such as listing the Buena Vista Mobile Home Park as a planned-community zone — makes residents question the correct information. Scharff put part of the blame on the heavy workload on the city’s planning department, with 21 proposals for development, a stiff deadline to complete the city’s contentious “housing element” plan before facing harsh state penalties and the ongoing slog to update the city’s Comprehensive Plan. He proposed that staff come back with a plan to increase staffing in the department to handle the extra workload. City Manager James Keene defended the use of the data in the Comprehensive Plan discussion. “We didn’t draw any conclusions from the data. In fact, we were careful not to,” he said. The graphs were intended as more of an illustrative aid to put the Comprehensive Plan discus-
real problems,” he said. “And it’s tough; it’s complicated.” However, he said, the city needs to be sure that the process isn’t abused. The Jay Paul proposal, for example, is “way outside of anything we should consider,” he said. The city should have input on the proposed developments much earlier in the process and should be able to put parameters on projects early so that the council isn’t left late in the process asking itself: “We’ve got a bad project. How do we make it less bad? We want good projects,” he said. Councilwoman Gail Price said
she was “absolutely opposed to a moratorium on PC zones as it relates to economic vitality,” saying it was the council’s job to be nimble and flexible and find ways to make competing views work. Instead, she advocated slowing down the flow of projects and focusing on “accelerating the conversation on how to make them better.” Citing a rift between the community and the council over the latter’s alleged lack of transparency, Councilwoman Karen Holman came out in favor of a moratorium on PC zones, saying they have often resulted in what people felt were broken promises
‘It’s ... funny, driving around town seems to take longer, even though traffic is down 20 percent.’ —Greg Schmid, councilman, Palo Alto
24,737
Page Mill Rd & Hansen Wy
38,700 27,126
Oregon Expy 43,400 & Louis Rd
13,415
Middlefield Rd & Lytton Ave
14,900 13,869
Charleston Rd & Nelson Ave
18,100 25,778
Alma St & Charleston Rd
31,100 24,100 - > Ê ÀiÞ]Ê`>Ì>ÊvÀ Ê ÌÞÊ vÊ*> Ê Ì
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ew would say that traffic in Palo Alto has been getting better in recent years, yet that was what graphs in a city staff report appeared to depict, which raised red flags and frustrations for some City Council members Monday night. The issue came up during a meeting about local development, scheduled in an effort to reach out to residents following the fractious referendum on Measure D. That measure, which was defeated, asked the public to affirm rezoning of a site on Maybell Avenue to include dense senior housing and market-rate single-family homes. As part of a discussion on the city’s update of its Comprehensive Plan, which guides development, staff included a graph that showed traffic totals in Palo Alto falling, along with graphs that depicted a rising number of jobs, housing units, population and development. For several council members, the traffic graph didn’t pass the “smell test.” Councilman Greg Schmid was first to sound the alarm. “It’s ... funny, driving around town seems to take longer, even though traffic is down 20 percent,” he said. Schmid’s own analysis, using base measurements from 1996 to 2009, found that the delay was actually increased 19 to 20 percent, he said. Palo Alto’s new planning director Hillary Gitelman acknowledged that the results could be seen as counterintuitive but said
Alma St & Embarcadero Rd
28,000 12,574
Alma St & Palo Alto Ave
15,400
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20
30
40
50
Number of cars (thousands)
sion into focus, he said, and extensive traffic numbers would require a different degree of data and research. “You have to consider what that kind of data initiative is going to look like — it can’t be just traffic numbers for one year, it’s got to be for 50 years,” he said.
“There’s got to be some tolerance that sometimes (the information is) not going to be perfectly right, and if it is (going to be perfect), we’re going to have to slow down the process.” N Online Editor Eric Van Susteren can be emailed at evansusteren@paweekly.com.
and overblown developments. Holman also favored the idea of the council taking “a hiatus” on all the city’s development proposals until commissioners and council members receive training on CEQA and planning compatibility, an area where she said she sees “a lack of understanding.” With many of the broad development issues still to discuss, the council voted Monday to continue the discussion of re-examining PC zoning to January or February. There will be more “community conversation” meetings about new development and its impacts
over the next few weeks. On Monday, Dec. 9, the council is scheduled to discuss a proposed “transportation demand management” program aimed at reducing solo commuter trips to the city’s primary business areas. On Dec. 16, the council is set to consider a proposed framework for residential permitparking programs aimed at providing relief to Professorville, Downtown North and other areas that have been inundated with cars parked by downtown employees. N Online Editor Eric Van Susteren can be emailed at evansusteren@paweekly.com.
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