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There's a reason why just about every leading conservationist and neighborhood leader in Palo Alto is supporting Karen Holman's campaign for City Council.

For years, Holman has been among the harshest critics of the dense housing developments that have cropped up around town and a leading proponent of more transparency in the planning process.

Holman, who lists her job as a "conservation consultant," was born in Missouri and moved to Palo Alto 25 years ago. She is the executive director of the Palo Alto History Museum and has spent the past eight years on the city's Planning and Transportation Commission, which she chaired twice.

As a commissioner, she has cast her hypercritical eye on some of the city's most controversial recent developments. In many cases, she voted against proposals after cataloguing at least a dozen ways in which these projects are inconsistent with the city's Comprehensive Plan or Zoning Ordinance.

She also hasn't been bashful about exposing an independent streak. In January, Holman was the only commissioner who voted against the Treehouse project -- a 35-unit affordable-housing development at 488 Charleston Road. The reason? The architect didn't include any private open space in the design.

Holman said she would not support any affordable-housing development that doesn't include private open space, a component she called "therapeutic" and "critical" to the quality of life of residents.

When discussing Alma Plaza -- a project the commission rejected 5-1 -- she described the limited hours of the proposed community room as "another broken promise" by the developer before voting against it. The community room was one of the public benefits the developer was required to provide to attain approval for the controversial project.

Holman was also one of five commissioners who in April voted against the College Terrace Centre project (which includes a rebuilt JJ&F Food Store). At the hearing, Holman argued the proposed grocery store would be too small to be viable.

Both Alma Plaza and the College Terrace Centre were submitted to the commission under the Planned Community (PC) zoning process, which allows developers to build at greater densities than would otherwise be allowed in exchange for "public benefits" -- an ambiguous phrase that has included everything from statues and plazas to traffic studies and affordable-housing units. Holman has been among the leading critics of the PC zone process, which she says fails to adequately define "public benefits" and fails to enforce the implementation of these benefits.

She currently serves on a commission subcommittee that is reviewing and revising the process.

Holman, who ran unsuccessfully for City Council in 2005, told the Weekly her current campaign will focus on land-use issues, protecting small businesses and bringing more "transparency and accountability" to the planning process. On Sept. 9, she rejected a proposal by three commissioners to eliminate a commission policy that strongly discourages them from talking to applicants and opponents of projects outside public meetings. The three commissioners had argued that the change would make the meetings more efficient.

It surprised no one that Holman sided with neighborhood interests over developer interests and chose openness over efficiency.

"What I hear from the community a lot is that applicants have paid staff, and it's their full-time job to promote a project," Holman argued. "Members of the public are on their free time -- they're involved to the extent they can be.

"What we can do, by holding the same process for applicants and members of the public is to help level the playing field so no one has more access than anyone else."

The proposal was defeated by a 4-3 vote.

Holman has also been heavily involved in shaping the city's policies for attracting businesses downtown and protecting open space. She helped write the SOFA1 and SOFA2 master plans, which laid out the city's plans for the South of Forest Avenue neighborhood in downtown Palo Alto. She has also spearheaded the city's adoption of a "conditions of approval" checklist that developers now have to complete before building projects in the foothills.

While land-use and transparency are the main issues Holman is focusing on, economic vitality isn't far behind. Holman said she hopes to make it easier for people to open small businesses in Palo Alto by coordinating the city's notoriously tangled permitting process.

At a forum sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce earlier this month, Holman told the story of a Palo Alto resident who recently tried to open a small brewery in the city but found the permitting process too difficult and chose Belmont instead.

This, Holman said, needs to be fixed.

She opposes the proposed business-license tax, Measure A, for the same reason: In her opinion, it makes life more difficult for small businesses. The problem with the proposed tax is that if offers no assurances that the proceeds will be used to benefit the businesses that pay it, she said. But she said she would like to see the city complete a business registry, which she said would help identify what types of businesses the city should focus on attracting.

She said her preferred method for trimming the city's projected $10 million budget gap is trimming expenses and holding aggressive audits, such as the recent audit that identified waste in the city's phone contract.

"We need to eliminate waste and look for efficiencies and creative solutions," Holman said.

— Gennady Sheyner

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