■ View a map of the proposed shopping center renovation.

Just weeks after a lawsuit regarding Palo Alto's Edgewood Plaza was settled, a public meeting about redeveloping the Joseph Eichler-built shopping center has been scheduled for next Tuesday (Nov. 17) from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Palo Alto Golf Course clubhouse.

But residents of the Duveneck/St. Francis neighborhood can hardly wait for progress. They're calling the historic yet dilapidated center a dump and an embarrassment.

Opinions vary on what the final outcome should look like, but most people said that it needs to change.

"Rip it out and start over again," Duveneck/St. Francis resident Jim Mulvey said Wednesday.

Nakul Correa, another resident, said the development should be denser with an urban feel.

"Maybe it'll be a little better. It started out as a bad idea, and it's probably just going to be another one," he said.

The 4.49-acre center, Eichler's only retail development, is bordered by Embarcadero Road, St. Francis Drive, Channing Avenue and West Bayshore Road. Eichler homes abut it on two sides.

The center includes a gas station and four buildings, including one that used to house a grocery store and an office that is now a yoga center.

Since Albertsons closed in August 2006, the center has languished. But a few shops remain.

"You haven't talked to anybody who's against it, have you?" asked Leith Anderson, proprietor of Golf Lab, one of the few storefronts open at the trash-strewn center.

Anderson said Golf Lab plans to move once redevelopment starts, but he is still in favor of the plan.

"The neighborhood really needs it," he said.

Redevelopment first came under fire in 2006, after the property's owners, Ho Holdings No. 1, LLC of San Mateo and Sand Hill Property Company of Palo Alto, announced they would tear down the small shops and replace them with an L-shaped building that would include retail space on the ground floor and 17 homes above. An additional 25 two-story townhomes were proposed for the site.

That plan irked historic preservationists and neighbors.

Three residents, known as the Architectural Control Committee for Tract 1641, filed suit against Edgewood's owners on Aug. 5, 2008.

They alleged Ho and Sand Hill Property were in violation of the housing tract's 1955-1956 covenants, conditions and restrictions (CC&Rs), which limit the amount of development within the housing tract.

The tract's CC&Rs limit residences to one-story detached homes and restrict the two Edgewood lots for retail, restaurant, office and similar commercial uses, the suit alleged.

The CC&Rs require that construction plans must be approved by the architectural-control group, whose members were appointed by Ned Eichler, the son of the developer.

A court settlement between the owners and the group was reached last month to preserve the 53-year-old shopping center.

The two Eichler retail buildings will be restored in accordance with federal Secretary of the Interior's standards for rehabilitation of historic structures. The project plan will require approval by Palo Alto's Historic Resources Board.

The grocery store building will also be retained, though part of the added warehouse area could be removed to meet contemporary building standards.

The compromise plan addresses a 3.58-acre parcel, excluding the gas station and yoga center. It reduces the number of new homes to 10 on the site and adds a 10,400-square-foot (0.25 acre) park.

The 1,810-square-foot homes would be two-story with 25-foot setbacks from the street. Large front yards along Channing will "create a pleasant experience for the neighborhood," a joint press release from the residents and Edgewood owners stated.

The proposed park/plaza at the corner of St. Francis Drive and Channing Avenue would connect the neighborhood and shopping center. The park would be named Eichler Park, according to the release.

The center's owners remain committed to bringing a grocery store to the plaza, the release stated.

The plan would include 143 parking stalls in the shopping area -- nine more than required under city standards. Twenty-five residential parking spaces would be added, two more than required.

The plaintiffs said they were pleased with the settlement.

"It was never our intention to prevent Sand Hill Property from redeveloping Edgewood Shopping Center. We just wanted to be sure that the neighborhood had a voice in the planning," Diane Sekimura said.

John Tze, asset manager for Sand Hill Property, said the compromise showed a common vision.

"No one wins in a neighborhood dispute. We have come together now in support of a revised plan for Edgewood Shopping Center that deserves broad support from the neighborhood," Tze said.

But some people have been unhappy with the complications of getting a plan through.

"I've been to all the meetings. I feel bad for the developers," resident Marianne Bowers said.

"The more elaborate plan would have been even better," Anderson, the Golf Lab owner, said.

Sand Hill has hired Palo Alto developer Jim Baer as project manager for the Edgewood redevelopment, which must go through public hearings and city approval before development can begin.

Baer said he is optimistic the new plans will move through the city approval process without controversy.

"We have learned many lessons by observing the conflicts that have surrounded other grocery store applications such as Alma Plaza and JJ&F Market. A developer must earn the support of neighbors by proposing a plan with few homes and with future retail viability. The Edgewood Project Concept Plan achieves these goals," he said.

The plan will require at least two hearings before the Planning and Transportation Commission and one or more meetings before the Architectural Review Board, plus two City Council meetings.

A comprehensive application should be submitted by December, after meeting with neighbors, Baer said.

Karen White, Duveneck/St. Francis Neighborhood Association president, said she was thrilled to learn of the compromise.

"I think it's a fabulous resolution. It meets the needs of everyone I've talked to, regardless of their perspective.

"I'm so gratified. We'll see a center the entire community will be proud of," she said.

View a map of the proposed shopping center renovation. (Note that the street labeled as Highway 101 is actually Embarcadero Road.)