June 16, 2004

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Palo Alto Online

The sky's the limit?

by Bill D'Agostino

A sacred Palo Alto limit on the height of buildings could be lifted for a huge real estate development in south Palo Alto.

The ambitious proposal to build a 12-acre campus with around 400 units of housing and a multifaceted Jewish Community Center in South Palo Alto got a warm welcome from the City Council Monday night.

The most controversial portion of the proposal, located at 901 San Antonio Road, is the suggestion that part of the community center and some of the housing be constructed a little higher than 50 feet, which is generally forbidden by city laws. Developers can request to exceed that limit if certain criteria exist. Among those, there must be unique circumstances.

This project's architect, Rob Steinberg, argued it is exceptional because the land is both subject to flooding and located near a plume of contaminated groundwater. That means none of the housing can be built on the ground floor, and none of the land can be excavated for first-floor parking.

Although some council members called the 50-foot height limit "sacrosanct," they also said the project appeared to be worth an exception because of the unique circumstances.

Vice Mayor Jim Burch called that immunity "common sense." However, longtime community activist Betsy Allyn warned that, in her view, there was "no acceptable reason" to exceed the 50-foot height limit.

Currently on the land is a 96-foot office building, the former home of Sun Microsystems. Other council members noted that industrial buildings mostly surround the project, although some residential homes are nearby.

To go forward as planned, the development will also need the council to grant exceptions to the land's zoning. A congenial council appearing willing to eventually go in that direction, but the project still has a long path to navigate.

"My hope is that you'll move forward, to put it in Palo Alto terms, as quickly as feasible," Councilman Jack Morton said.

Council members aren't the only ones embracing the project. Some typically development-phobic residents are also falling in line to support it -- with some caveats. Larry Mitchell, who lives nearby on Grove Avenue, joked that the development was turning him from a NIMBY ("Not in My Backyard") to a BIMBY ("Build in My Backyard.).

Monday's night meeting gave the nonprofits behind the project an early chance to make sure their vision wasn't markedly different from what decision-makers desired. It also gave the City Council a chance to shape the project before it begins winding its way through the complex city-approval process, much of which is done without any council oversight.

The developers would like to get the go-ahead to build the various pieces of the project by the end of 2005. Monday night's early input was viewed by city officials as especially important because this project falls under "planned community" zoning, meaning the developers will try to win the ability to build a bigger project by offering "public benefits."

Currently, the land is zoned to allow 530,000 square feet of office and housing. But the various developers of the 12-acres want to build a total of 665,000 square feet. Of that, 550,000 square feet would be housing and 115,000 square feet would be the Jewish Community Center.

The public benefits the developers are offering include affordable housing for seniors above and beyond what's the city requires, facilities available to the community, and a cafe.

Technically, the proposal is two separate projects. On the four-acres closest to Highway 101, a nonprofit housing developer would like to build 65 units of rental apartments for seniors and 165 condominiums and townhouses.

One the other eight-acres, various Jewish groups want to build the Campus for Jewish Life, with meetings rooms, studios, a preschool, a gym, a town square and a performance space -- as well as another 165 units of housing for seniors. $122 million of private money needs to be raised to develop this portion of the project.

According to early figures, most of the units for seniors will have an entrance fee costing between $400,000 to $500,000, with some costing as little as $50,000. Subsidized units will make up an estimated 30 percent of the facility's units, 10 percent more than what the city requires.

The entire project came about after the Palo Alto Jewish Community Center lost its long-time home in 2002, when Terman Middle School re-opened as a school.

Despite its moniker, the JCC-portion of the land would be open to anyone who wanted to purchase a membership. During the meeting Monday night, a few council members suggested the city go even further in making some of the facilities open to the entire community by waiving city-imposed development fees in exchange for making some of the facilities readily available to the city.

"It would be a very important asset to the immediate area," Councilwoman Dena Mossar said.

The last project that got such an early look by the City Council was 800 High St. The council's approval of that project was ultimately placed on the ballot by disapproving residents. It narrowly won approval from voters, and is now under construction. That project was also zoned for a "planned community," and much of the controversy came because some doubted the value of the supposed public benefits.

Staff writer Bill D'Agostino can be e-mailed at bdagostino@paweekly.com

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