Council rejects appeal of 800 High St. Council rejects appeal of 800 High St. (December 03, 2003)

Design appeal last gasp for project opponents

by Don Kazak

ow it's over. When Palo Alto voters narrowly approved the 800 High St. project in the Nov. 4 election, the battle over the project wasn't quite finished.

An appeal of the project's placement and design of the below-market-rate units had been filed with the city. It was rejected by the City Council on a 6-2 vote Monday night.

"We're pretty much at the end of the road and we'd like to build some housing," said Developer Doug Ross.

The fight over the 60-unit condominium project had ignited passions in the city, which was evidenced Monday night. While several residents wanted to discuss the placement of the below-market-rate units, interim City Attorney Wynne Furth said the only basis for any council decision Monday night were the design elements changed and approved by the city's Architectural Review Board and city staff.

But that didn't stop residents from discussing it anyway.

Joy Ogawa, a resident who filed the appeal, said she was upset with the size and placement of the project's 10 below-market-rate (BMR) units. Ten of the units in the 800 High St. project will be BMR units, but the two-bedroom and three-bedroom BMR units are smaller than the two- and three-bedroom market-rate units. And four of the 800 High St. BMR units will be one-bedroom, while none of the market-rate units are.

Bob Moss angrily told the council Monday night that the 800 High St. BMR units defy the original intent of the BMR program. The units are intended to be indistinguishable or "largely comparable," to market-rate units.

"The BMR units shall be comparable in all aspects to the market-rate units," Moss said, citing the program as it was first adopted in 1978. "I'm appalled to hear that we will not address the BMR issue."

Under the BMR program, a developer has to set aside 15 percent of the total housing units for people who meet specific income guidelines. The program is administered by the Palo Alto Housing Corporation, a nonprofit. There is a long waiting list of people hoping to qualify to purchase such units.

But the city has approved many projects over the years with somewhat smaller BMR units, said Lisa Grote, the city's chief planning official.

And that seemed to trigger some unease on the council. "It's high time we get this done," said Councilwoman Judy Kleinberg. But she added her concerns over the BMR issue even though the council couldn't really address it Monday night.

In the end, Councilwomen Hillary Freeman and Yoriko Kishimoto voted to support the appeal of 800 High St., saying they were still unhappy with some design aspects, bringing about the 6-2 vote with Councilman Jack Morton absent.

"This is one of the most discussed projects we're ever had," Councilwoman Nancy Lytle noted. "The voters did approve the project and we did agree to accept that."

Don Kazak can be e-mailed at dkazak@paweekly.com

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