November 04, 2005

Back to the table of Contents Page

Classifieds

Palo Alto Online

Stanford Theatre gallery's alarming delay

by Bill D'Agostino

If this particular tale had a classic-movie title, it might be "The Alarm That Went Off Too Much."

Or perhaps, "Gone with the Bureaucracy" or "Some Like It Quiet."

Once upon a time, the Stanford Theatre, downtown Palo Alto's classic-movie house, planned to open a gallery next door to the theatre to display movie memorabilia from the Golden Age of Hollywood. Nearly all the posters, scripts, stills and other items were to come from the personal collection of the president of the nonprofit that runs the theatre, David W. Packard. Construction was nearly complete in July, and an October grand opening was planned.

But now in November, the windows are still dark, and Packard -- the son of Hewlett Packard Co.'s co-founder David Packard -- is blaming the city for an unplanned delay in the gallery's opening, citing the city's "strict" interpretation of an obscure ordinance. City officials responded by saying the gallery itself is responsible.

The setback is due to the fact that Palo Alto police officers are no longer responding to the gallery's security alarm.

By city ordinance, officers stop responding to an intrusion alarm after six or more false alarms are triggered in a 12-month period. During the final stages of the Stanford Theatre Gallery's construction, eight false alarms were triggered in three weeks, starting in May 2005.

Without police protection, Packard is not comfortable putting his "unique and valuable" collection in the gallery. The city also fined the theatre $1,450.

"The total denial of protection [to the gallery] for a year (or even six months) is grossly out of proportion to the cost and inconvenience to the City caused by any errors during our construction activity," Packard wrote in a letter to the Palo Alto City Council this week, shared with the Weekly. The fee, he noted, "seems like a reasonable and adequate penalty to reimburse the City and deter future carelessness."

Officers are scheduled to return to responding to the gallery's alarm in March 2006.

The news of the delay was mentioned, in mysterious terms, in the theatre's recent newsletter: "We had hoped to open our new Gallery in October, but the City of Palo Alto has chosen to follow very rigid rules and withhold certain essential services from us until next spring (presumably teaching us a long-needed lesson). Your elected representatives at work!"

Mayor Jim Burch was upset with the newsletter's unexplained allegation.

"He's putting the blame for something he caused on the city, not taking any responsibility for himself. ... I think the city has treated him as well as we've treated anybody else, and fairly," Burch said. "We're not here to keep running out two or three times a week because you're putting in all these false alarms. Somehow I would have expected a more honest response from Dave Packard."

The letter blamed the gallery's contractors for the false alarms, saying there was "faulty communication." Packard noted he himself was responsible for two of the false alarms after a contractor failed to inform him that the security code had changed.

"I immediately called the Police Department and explained the situation," Packard wrote. "I offered to meet the officer on the sidewalk and show my ID. These two alarms were still counted against me."

Due to an increasing number of false alarms citywide, the council toughened its "alarm ordinance" in October 2001, requiring a $35 permit to get a police response and allowing for the revocation of such permits. The council approved the change unanimously, according to minutes posted on the city's Web site.

The change appears to have had its intended effect: False alarms have dropped 40 percent, from 4,464 during 1999-2000 to 2,681 during 2003-2004, according to a city report.

Homes or businesses that trigger more than two false alarms a year also face hefty fees -- $100 for the third false alarm, $150 for the fourth, and $200 for all subsequent false alarms.

Police Chief Lynne Johnson argued that, in addition to costing the Police Department money and time, false alarms give officers a false sense of security when they respond to them repeatedly.

"It's very common for them to let their guard down, and that's when they get hurt," Johnson said.

In September, Packard appealed the ban to the city's Administrative Hearing Officer.

"I expected that the hearing process would provide a reasonable opportunity to present special circumstances (such as construction) and to offer evidence that the problem had been solved," Packard wrote, "but the hearing was limited strictly and rigidly to confirming the fact that the alarms had occurred."

The city denied the appeal, although the hearing officer reduced the ban from a year to six months. Without the adjacent showcase, the theatre had to postpone a festival of Ronald Colman films, planned to open on Packard's 65th birthday on Oct. 7.

In his letter, Packard wrote he would like to open the gallery by Christmas, but attorneys with "close associations with the City" told him a change to benefit the gallery and "all organizations in a similar situation" would likely take "many months."

So now, it appears Packard is hoping for "A Miracle on University Avenue."

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

E-mail a friend a link to this story.