Upfront CITY OF PALO ALTO NOTICE OF A DIRECTOR’S HEARING To be held at 3:00 P.M., Thursday, May 8, 2014, in the Palo Alto City Council Conference Room, 1st Floor, Civic Center, 250 Hamilton Avenue, Palo Alto, California. Go to the Development Center at 285 Hamilton Avenue to review filed documents; contact Alicia Spotwood for information regarding business hours at 650-617-3168. 808 Richardson Court [13PLN-00383]: Request by Roger Kohler for Single Family Individual Review of a new two story single family residence. Zone District R-1. Hillary E. Gitelman Director of Planning and Community Environment
Palo Alto Unified School District NOTICE TO SENIOR CITIZENS ABOUT PARCEL TAX EXEMPTION
DEADLINE: MAY 31, 2014 On June 5, 2001, the voters approved Measure D, a special parcel tax assessment of $293 per parcel for five years. On June 7, 2005, voters approved an increase to $493 per parcel and extended the tax through the 2010-11 tax year. On May 4, 2010, voters approved an increase to $589 for six years beginning as of July 1, 2010, with annual two percent escalation adjustments. The funds are used to attract and retain qualified and experienced teachers and school employees, maintain educational programs that enhance student achievement, and reduce the size targeted classes. A parcel is defined as any unit of land in the District that receives a separate tax bill from the Santa Clara County Tax Assessor’s Office. An exemption is available for any senior citizen who owns and occupies as a principal residence a parcel, and applies to the District for an exemption. For the 2014-15 tax year, a senior citizen is defined as a person 65 years of age and older by June 30, 2015. Please apply for the exemption by May 31, 2014. If you were exempt from paying the PAUSD parcel tax for the 2013-14 tax year, you should have received an exemption renewal letter in early April. To renew your exemption for the 2014-15 tax year, please sign and return the letter. If you have any questions about the parcel tax, the Senior Citizen Exemption, or you did not receive your renewal letter, please call the Business Office at 650-329-3980. HOW TO APPLY FOR A SENIOR EXEMPTION s #OMPLETE AN APPLICATION AT #HURCHILL !VENUE 0ALO Alto, Monday – Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. or call the PAUSD Business Office at 650-329-3980 to have an application mailed you.
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trees, including the city’s famous namesake redwood, El Palo Alto. The environmental analysis estimates that about 2,220 trees would have to be removed along the Peninsula, including 177 in Palo Alto. In addition, more than 3,000 trees along the corridor would need to be pruned. Though the 1,000-year-old El Palo Alto would avoid the chopping block, the agency said that minor trimming would be required. Councilman Larry Klein stressed the importance of protecting the tree from damage. Caltrain needs to make sure, Klein said, that “trimming is just trimming and not butchering.” The redwood, which is located near the Menlo Park border, is a registered historical site, he noted. The city’s letter also urges Caltrain to consider more ways to stem traffic problems at four Alma intersections that would be caused by the upgrades. A staff report from city planners notes that “local traffic would increase near Caltrain stations as more riders access the system.” “The increase in the number of trains would result in longer gate times, further affecting local traffic near the corridor,” the staff report states. The city suggests Caltrain looks at adding new amenities, including bicycle and pedestrian facilities, either near the intersections or near the stations that serve as destinations for the drivers. Councilman Greg Scharff also raised concerns about Caltrain’s ridership projections, which he suggested may be on the low side. He noted that many major employers now encourage transit use by buying Caltrain Go Passes for their workers. In Palo Alto, companies are being required to purchase Go Passes as part of the approval of new developments, including the major expansion of Stanford University Medical Center and the Lytton Gateway office building at Alma and Lytton Avenue. Other cities along the corridor, including Mountain View, San Jose and San Mateo, also have strong programs that encourage public transit as an alternative to commuting by car. “I think, if anything, we’re going to have Caltrain capacity issues,” Scharff said. “Caltrain needs to plan for it now.” N Staff Writer Gennady Sheyner can be emailed at gsheyner@ paweekly.com.
If you decide to complete the application in person, you will need to bring: s 9OUR !SSESSOR S 0ARCEL .UMBER FROM YOUR PROPERTY TAX bill) s ! COPY OF PROOF OF BIRTH DATE only one of the following: driver’s license, birth certificate, passport, or Medicare card) s ! COPY OF PROOF OF RESIDENCE only one of the following: driver’s license, utility bill, Social Security check, or property tax bill)
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2014
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News Digest Rock climber seriously injured in Yosemite A 26-year-old Palo Alto man who was seriously injured on Sunday, April 20, after falling 30 feet during a climb in Yosemite National Park was transferred to a hospital in the Bay Area from Modesto Wednesday, April 23, his family said. Blake Parkinson, a Stanford University admissions officer, was climbing on Higher Cathedral Spire with a partner when he fell. He was wearing a rope at the time and had already scaled 130 feet up the spire face, he told the Weekly Wednesday. “It’s hard to remember the fall and the moment before it. We were climbing through a difficult section of the route when I fell. Given the position where I fell — on a ledge — I hit my back on a large, protruding boulder,” he said. Parkinson fractured five small bones in his lower lumbar region and in his sacrum, at the base of his spine, and has some bruising but did not injure his spinal cord. He is expected to heal in six weeks. Parkinson said he was conscious the entire time after the accident. Two climbers below him contacted emergency services. He was rescued by Yosemite Search and Rescue and CHP Air Operations, which put him into a full-body splint to protect him during transit. N — Sue Dremann and Bay City News Service
Business registry proposed in Palo Alto With offices filling up in downtown Palo Alto and parking shortages spurring tension between employees and residents, city officials are proposing to start a business-registry program that they hope will help them solve the growing problem. The proposal, which the City Council will consider Tuesday, April 29, would require local businesses to participate in the Business Registry Certificate program, which would require annual updates on data like employee count, square footage occupied and the number of employees who live in Palo Alto. Businesses would be able to register and make their updates through an online database that the city plans to set up. A February memo by four council members recommends an online business registry, with fees limited to cost recovery. The staff proposal aims to have such a registry in place by the end of this year. A report from the office of City Manager James Keene notes that Palo Alto is one of a small number of cities in the state that do not have a business registry or a business tax. The city’s attempt to institute a business tax fizzled in 2009, when voters rejected a proposal that would tax businesses based on gross receipts. Keene’s report notes that as the demand for office space in Palo Alto has increased, so has the density of use in commercial space, particularly in high-tech offices. Currently, a business that is occupying a commercial space in Palo Alto is required to take out a one-time “Certificate of Use” for a fee of $413. Unlike in the 2009 proposal, the business registry would not come with a tax on receipts but would include an annual fee of $35 to $75, provided the business is in compliance with the certificateof-use requirement. N — Gennady Sheyner
‘Our Palo Alto’ launches with local demographics lessons An attempt by Palo Alto officials to get out of City Hall and engage residents in a two-year conversation about the future launched on a hopeful note Wednesday night, with a standing-room only crowd packing into the Downtown Library to hear a panel of experts take up the question: Who are we? The city developed the effort, known as “Our Palo Alto,” in response to growing anxieties in the community about growth and development, issues that were at the forefront of last year’s polarizing election battle over a proposed housing complex on Maybell Avenue. It was also launched in conjunction with the city’s update of its Comprehensive Plan, the land-use bible that will outline the city’s vision until 2030. So who are Palo Altans? According to the panel — which included Steve Levy, an economist with the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy; David Evan Harris from The Institute for the Future; and Ann Dunkin, chief technology officer at the Palo Alto Unified School District — local residents are by and large a smart, innovative and affluent bunch. The city boasts a larger percentage of residents 65 or older than most other area cities and, thanks to Baby Boomers, the ranks of seniors will continue to grow in the next decade. The city has also become more diverse, with immigrants responsible for much of recent population growth and the school district now enjoying a student population where the majority of students are from minority populations. N — Gennady Sheyner