Publication Date: Friday, March 05, 2004
LAND USE
Cautious applause for Hyatt's new plan
Cautious applause for Hyatt's new plan
(March 05, 2004) Downsized hotel, reduced housing gets initial neighborhood support
by Don Kazak
Hyatt Hotels' neighbors, initially critical of hotel expansion plans, are giving cautious praise to Hyatt's revised proposals for a smaller facility with fewer housing units.
"They definitely made a lot of progress in moving toward an acceptable solution," said Deborah Ju, president of the Charleston Meadows Association immediately adjacent to the hotel.
Hyatt met with neighborhood leaders and city staff on Tuesday to unveil revised plans for a "boutique" or specialty hotel with 200 housing units on its 16 acre El Camino Real property, said Mark Solit, Hyatt's representative. This is a stark contrast to the 300 room hotel/conference center with 302 housing units that Hyatt had planned to construct on its site. The original plan was vehemently opposed by surrounding neighborhoods.
Currently, the hotel has 344-rooms and no housing element.
Ju has yet to meet with her neighborhood association board to discuss the new proposal.
"I am optimistic they (Hyatt) will have a project that works well for south Palo Alto and for Hyatt. We're not 100 percent there yet, but I'm appreciative of the movement they've made."
Penny Ellson, representing the Greenmeadow Community Association a bit further away from the hotel site, had a different reason for optimism.
The initial plan for the proposed hotel and housing had two entrances/exits on Charleston Road. Both have been removed from the new plan.
"Greenmeadow's concern has always been about the safety of the school corridor," she said, and removing the Charleston entrances to the site makes the road safer for bicyclists.
"They're moving in the right direction with the reduction in density," Ellson said. "I think they're making an effort to come around."
Ten south Palo Alto neighborhood associations formally opposed the original plans. That former plan and the traffic it may generate was also a reason the city put a nine-month halt to all development projects in the Charleston/Arastradero roads corridor.
The moratorium ended Jan. 31 with City Council approval to narrow about half of the 2.2 mile corridor from four travel lanes to two, with a center median and left-turn lanes.
"We had a real good collaborative effort on the corridor plan, and I really hope that can be extended to the projects, too," including Hyatt, Ellson said. "I think that's good for everyone in the long run."
Ellson, like Ju, noted that she hadn't spoke to her association board yet.
Solit will meet with the neighborhood representatives again on March 15. The City Council will review Hyatt's plans at its April 19 meeting.
The city staff, which was alarmed by reports that Hyatt may move its hotel operation to Menlo Park instead of rebuilding Hyatt Rickey's, is feeling good about the new plan.
"We have the semblance of something that is good for the neighborhood and the city," said Steve Emslie, the city's planning director.
Hyatt has not ruled out building on the 21-acre site on Sand Hill Road next to the I-280 freeway. The Stanford-owned site is in Menlo Park, and both Stanford and Menlo Park officials were eager to entertain any overtures from Hyatt, which Hyatt has made yet.
Don Kazak can be e-mailed at dkazak@paweekly.com
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