Upfront
CityView A round-up of
Palo Alto government action this week
City Council (Nov. 16)
California Avenue trees: The council voted to approve a staff plan to plant new trees along California Avenue, between the Caltrain station and El Camino Real. Planting would begin in late December. Yes: Unanimous Downtown zoning: The council voted to adjust zoning rules in the downtown area to give downtown property owners on peripheral downtown blocks more flexibility in choosing ground-floor tenants. Yes: Drekmeier, Morton, Klein, Burt, Barton, Espinosa, Schmid, Yeh No: Kishimoto
Board of Education (Nov. 17)
Extended summer school: The board voted to extend the four-week summer school for some courses to six weeks, making time for offerings of full-year credit or threeweek, single semester credit. Yes: Unanimous Labor agreements: The board approved contracts with the Palo Alto Educators Association and the California School Employees Association covering the 2009-10 year. Beyond scheduled increases based on seniority and graduate units there is no pay raise. Both the school district and employees will contribute to increased healthcare costs. Yes: Unanimous
Parks and Recreation Commission (Nov. 17)
Dog facilities: The commission held a community meeting to discuss recreational opportunities for dogs, including more areas for dogs to be allowed to run off leash. The commission will continue its discussion of the issue at its meeting on Dec. 15. Action: None
Planning & Transportation Commission (Nov. 18)
Palo Alto Bowl: The commission voted to approve the tentative map for a proposed development at 4329 El Camino Real, which includes 26 houses and a 167-room hotel. The new development would replace Palo Alto Bowl. Yes: Garber, Keller, Holman, Fineberg, Lippert, Martinez Absent: Tuma Ming’s Hotel: The commission voted to recommend approval of a zone change and approved the site and design for a new four-story hotel with 143 rooms on the site of Ming’s. Yes: Garber, Keller, Lippert, Fineberg, Martinez Absent: Tuma Abstained: Holman
Architectural Review Board (Nov. 19)
385 Sherman Ave.: The board discussed a proposal by MF Sherman, LLC, to build a four-story, 55,566-square-foot building at 385 Sherman Ave., which would include three floors of office space and two residences on the fourth floor. The board asked the applicant to consider the shade impacts of the building on Sarah Wallis Park. Action: None
Vacancies
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“ground floor protection” from downtown properties along Alma and High, just south of University. Properties around University Circle, which connects University to Alma, will also now be open to groundfloor office use, as will three parcels along Kipling and Cowper streets, north of University. But while the peripheral downtown streets would get more flexibility, the heart of the district would remain dedicated to retail. In fact, property owners along University will now have less flexibility than before when it comes to switching from retail to other uses. Before Monday’s vote, property owners along and around the downtown stretch of University Avenue were required to house retail on the ground floors of their buildings. But the city’s regulations had also allowed property owners to request groundfloor office use if the downtown vacancy rate climbs above 5 percent. But as the downtown vacancy rate crept toward double digits this year, planning staff and downtown landlords have grown concerned about the prospect of offices gradually replacing retail downtown, turning the city’s vital shopping area into more of a business district. Recent departures of two major University Avenue retailers — Z Gallerie Home Furnishing and Magnolia Audio Video — and scores of smaller shops
further exacerbated these fears. The council shared staff’s concerns and voted to eliminate the 5 percent rule, essentially guaranteeing that any future ground-floor tenants in the heart of the downtown district would be retailers. The council also mandated that future downtown developments be designed in such a way as to be compatible with retail use — a proposal supported by prominent downtown property owners Charles “Chop” Keenan and Jim Baer. Keenan, Baer and fellow property owner Fred Thoits all attended the council meeting to express support for the staff-recommended changes. “We all want to enrich the retail in the (downtown) core,” said Keenan, whose many downtown properties include those that house the Aquarius Theatre, Miyake Restaurant and Borders Bookstore. “Where we have properties that aren’t good for retail, those can be offices and customers of the (downtown retail) core.” The council voted 8-1, with Yoriko Kishimoto dissenting, to adopt the new rules. Kishimoto and Councilman Greg Schmid both argued that properties on Alma, between Hamilton and University, should be required to have retail tenants on the ground floor. Schmid argued that the 500 block of Alma, which includes the clothing store Patagonia and the restaurant Pampas, is both too vibrant and too centrally located to have its retail designation revoked. “It’s so important as an entry point,”
Schmid said. “This is where you turn in (to University Avenue). Having lights and action on the ground floor makes a big difference.” But the proposal to exempt these properties, as well as a handful of others, from the retail requirement was voted down by the rest of the council. Baer and Keenan, who have developed much of downtown Palo Alto over the past three-plus decades, both said they were optimistic about the downtown’s economic recovery. Baer said he’s been encouraged by the resurgence of interest in downtown space in recent months. The video-game store GameSpot is planning to move into 370 University Ave., former site of Golden Loom rug store. Another tenant has expressed interest in leasing the large space at 340 University Ave., formerly occupied by Z Gallerie (Baer said a new tenant could be announced next month). Best Buy — which owns Magnolia and which holds the lease to 180 University Ave. — has fielded offers from several potential tenants but has not yet committed to any of them, Baer said. Meanwhile, the cyber-security company Palantir Technologies has moved into the old Facebook headquarters at 156 University Ave. The company is now attracting the same type of young, brainy, casually dressed technologists that previously flocked to Facebook. N Staff Writer Gennady Sheyner can be e-mailed at gsheyner@ paweekly.com.
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