Publication Date: Friday, October 22, 2004
Mayfield agreement expected early November
Mayfield agreement expected early November
(October 22, 2004) Deal between Stanford and Palo Alto calls for larger playing fields and possibly more housing
by Jocelyn Dong
Palo Alto and Stanford University officials expect to announce a long awaited agreement to jointly develop playing fields and housing the first week of November, Palo Alto Planning Director Steve Emslie said this week.
The agreement has been anticipated since June 2003, when Stanford made the offer to lease the Mayfield property at El Camino Real and Page Mill Road to the city for 51 years for a rent of $1 per year. In exchange, Stanford will receive additional development rights in the Stanford Research Park.
The overall plan calls for two playing fields and one practice field on 5.9 acres at the corner of El Camino Real and Page Mill Road, housing along El Camino and California Avenue, and expanded development in the research park.
Under the official name of the Stanford/Palo Alto Community Playing Fields, the plans call for side-by-side athletic fields suitable for adult as well as youth sports. One field would be 330 feet by 210 feet. and another 300 feet by 180 feet, with a practice field of 165 feet by 60 feet placed between the two. Artificial turf has been proposed.
Plans to be submitted to the city's Architectural Review Board also propose 70-foot-tall lighting poles, where 50-foot poles were originally envisioned, according to project manager Beth Bourne.
A parking lot with 92 spaces would line El Camino Real and Page Mill Road. Room for 38 bicycle parking spaces has been planned, along with a "snack shack" with storage and restroom facilities.
The Planning and Transportation Commission and the Architectural Review Board are expected to vet the plans in November. The development agreement could reach the City Council by early January, according to Emslie.
A draft report on the environmental impact of the project is also expected to be released early November. The council recently approved spending an additional $206,000 on the report, to research additional project possibilities: up to 345 housing units (a minimum of 250 had been originally proposed), retail space in addition to housing at El Camino Real, the reconfigured fields, taller lighting poles, possible driveways off of El Camino Real and the selection of a site on Hillview Avenue for 100,000 square feet of relocated development.
The playing fields are expected to be a boon to the city, where athletic space has been in a severe shortage in recent years, as participation in youth and adult sports has increased.
Senior staff writer Jocelyn Dong can be reached at jdong@paweekly.com.
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