Community center, housing still favored for Mayfield Community center, housing still favored for Mayfield (December 05, 2001)

With JCC moving to Sun site, council regroups about Stanford land

by Pam Sturner

Since the Jewish Community Center announced plans to buy the Sun Microsystems campus in Palo Alto, the question has lingered as to what the city will do with the old Mayfield School site on El Camino Real.

In a brainstorming session Monday a majority of the City Council said it would still like to see housing and a community center built there, even though its original tenant has decided to settle elsewhere.

City Manager Frank Benest initiated the discussion to gauge council members' preferences for Mayfield, a 6-acre site at the edge of the Stanford Research Park. Although the JCC could still move in if its deal with Sun falls through, the council will probably have to revisit its plans there.

At issue is the memorandum of understanding about Mayfield signed in September by the city and Stanford. Under the MOU, the university leases land for a community center to the city for 51 years at $1 a year, and the city grants the university rights to build 100,000 to 130,000 square feet of office space in the research park.

Benest asked the council to consider four options for Mayfield: 1) abandoning the site and the agreement with Stanford; 2) building a community center and housing; 3) allowing Stanford to build a hotel and requiring it to add 240 housing units elsewhere in the research park; and 4) allowing Stanford to build office and housing in the park, with guarantees to add a total of 240 housing units and reduce office space elsewhere.

Benest also took pains to clarify that the discussion was preliminary and did not preempt the JCC's right to occupy the site if it cannot move to the Sun campus. Based on recent discussions with the nonprofit, he thought the matter should be settled by April.

"I'm not asking for a definitive decision tonight; I just want to get an idea of your values," he told the council.

In considering the option to build a community center, Benest added that the council could explore the possibility of a smaller facility than the one planned for the JCC. Such a center might cover 40,000 square feet and contain a gym, a fitness center, dance space and classrooms, he said.

Five of the six council members present supported variations on the plan to build housing and a community center, seeing an opportunity to maximize the number of housing units added and to keep commercial development in the research park at bay.

"A few years ago we did 'try on' the idea of a hotel at that site," said Councilwoman Lanie Wheeler, who supported the housing and community center option. "It just didn't fit then, and it won't any more now."

Pointing out the proximity of Mayfield to public transit and the California Avenue shopping area, Councilman Jim Burch said housing on the site would cut down on local traffic. "We can have people living there who don't need cars to go elsewhere," he said.

Councilman Bern Beecham stood alone in advocating that Stanford be allowed to build office space and housing at Mayfield. He argued that this option -- unlike the one favored by the majority -- guaranteed the addition of 240 housing units and no net gain in office space in the research park. By taking this approach the council would fulfill the intent of the comprehensive plan, he added.

In response to questions from Beecham and Burch, Benest said the Mayfield site alone probably would not accommodate 240 housing units. Owing to setbacks and other development requirements, parcels are rarely built to the full capacity allowed by zoning, he said. The site is also limited by utility easement down the middle.

About a dozen members of the public spoke on the issue, most of them to encourage the development of housing and a community center.

Joy Ogawa, a resident of College Terrace, favored the addition of housing but urged the council to abandon its MOU with Stanford. "If the JCC no longer needs the site, the city should walk away from the deal," she said.

Former Councilwoman Emily Renzel echoed Ogawa's arguments and urged the council to "put a burr in Stanford's saddle" to build housing at Mayfield. "Stanford is a major cause of the housing problem in Palo Alto, and I think they should be a major part of the solution," she said.

Councilwomen Judy Kleinberg and Dena Mossar abstained from the discussion, owing to conflicts. Councilman Gary Fazzino was absent.

E-mail Pam Sturner at psturner@paweekly.com