Publication Date: Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Guest Opinion: Housing and soccer fields -- everyone wins
Guest Opinion: Housing and soccer fields -- everyone wins
(April 27, 2005) by Paul Garrett
eighborhood compatibility and traffic impacts of the housing component of the Mayfield Development Agreement are naturally of great interest to College Terrace residents.
I would like to offer my opinion on these issues as a resident of Palo Alto since 1948, a homeowner nearby on California Avenue, as well as an active member of the College Terrace Residents' Association (CTRA) board of directors from 2001 until my retirement from the board this March.
Today, the 290,000-plus square feet of commercial development on upper California, between Dartmouth and Amherst Streets, is largely unoccupied. But this is certainly temporary. Any discussion of the future of this 17-acre site needs to start by considering that:
1) The aging office buildings will certainly be replaced between 2008 and 2020, when existing long-term leases expire.
2) Redevelopment on the lower segment of California Avenue has entailed much bigger buildings and more traffic than previous research facilities and book warehouses.
3) Existing zoning for Stanford Research Park allows the conversion to multifamily housing with density up to 30 units per acre (RM30), which would mean 510 units on the 17 acres.
In 2001, members of the CTRA board, under the thoughtful leadership of Kathy Durham, began to advocate for a more compatible transition between the eclectic College Terrace homes on one side of California Avenue and the large Research Park buildings on the other. Our "Issues and Opportunities" paper, issued during the City Council campaign that fall, encouraged housing on both sides of the street as one important way to reduce longstanding friction between our neighborhood and Research Park tenants.
The patient -- but firm -- advocacy of CTRA board members has greatly improved the compatibility of the housing now proposed for the upper California site under the Mayfield Agreement.
In June 2003, when this site was identified as one of the two sites where Stanford University would be required to build 250 units of housing, the maximum density was given as 20 units per acre. By December 2004, when the official terms of the negotiated agreement between the city and Stanford University were announced, this had been reduced to 15 units per acre -- just half of what is possible under current zoning.
Further, in early April the written terms of the agreement were modified to specify that no more than 209 of the 250 required housing units could be located on the upper California site. Translation: Although Stanford will not agree to further downzoning, any proposal to construct more than 209 units (just 12.3 units per acre) would be subject to the city's full discretionary review -- including opportunities for public comment.
This is good news for College Terrace.
I would hazard a prediction that Stanford representatives would choose to be tortured over hot coals rather than voluntarily subject themselves to the vagaries of the "Palo Alto process" on this site.
Written commitments to compatibility with the College Terrace neighborhood and the Peter Coutts residences are already included in the proposed changes to the Municipal Code. The zoning standards also contain provisions to ensure that future housing on the California Avenue edge will fit in with the diverse styles of the detached College Terrace houses across the street.
One more point: The 250 units of required housing will include either 50 or 70 units of affordable housing on the other housing site, along El Camino Real between the Bank of America building and California Avenue. Until recently I also served on the board of directors of the Palo Alto Housing Corporation, and I know the value of 50 to 70 affordable housing units for the community. This is a major opportunity that must not be lost.
What about traffic impacts? Given that College Terrace is sandwiched between the Research Park and the Stanford campus, it's only natural for residents to worry about any potential for increased traffic volume on California or adjacent local streets.
But the traffic study done for the extensive environmental impact report on Mayfield showed there would actually be a significant reduction in traffic with the proposed change from office to residential on upper California. Knowledgeable, skeptical College Terrace residents studied the traffic data and conclusions carefully and checked them with reputable traffic engineers.
What is important now is to monitor actual vehicle trips after the housing is constructed, and to address any unanticipated negative impacts.
Let me also say a few words about the "constructive engagement" model for neighborhood advocacy. This model is based on the CTRA board's successful experiment in working with the Stanford Management Company and its design team on the 2475 Hanover St. (at California Avenue) redevelopment project from early 2001 through March 2003.
Not only was more information available to residents earlier in the process via neighborhood meetings, newsletters and e-news but the result was a project that accommodated neighborhood concerns. The building was set back and a landscaped berm provides a buffer for houses across California Avenue. Stanford officials also felt that community input improved the project, and its architect recently was recognized by the city's Architectural Review Board for excellent design.
Constructive efforts by neighborhood-association leaders to advocate for neighborhood interests over several years often do not to get the media attention given those who show up late in the game with vocal demands. But in this case there are benefits both for the whole community and for our neighborhood.
With the new proposed modifications -- plus required annual reports to the council on housing and consultation with the neighborhood -- these benefits are clearly achievable. City staff effort and outreach on this agreement are commendable.
I urge residents to keep the community-wide benefits of the agreement in the forefront of their thinking: 250 housing units and an outstanding soccer complex are a real legacy for the community.
The remaining issues are all capable of being resolved within the bounds of the agreement as it now stands amended and presented for council action next Monday night.
Paul F. Garrett, now enjoying his second retirement, can be e-mailed at pnjgarrett@earthlink.net. He retired in 1986 as vice president for operations at Alza Corporation in Palo Alto. For more information, see the recently released FAQs on the city's Mayfield Web page: http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/mayfield/. The full CTRA board statement is at www.ctra.org.
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