Publication Date: Wednesday Feb 2, 2000

OPEN SPACE: Preserve to get visitor center

Call them rooms with a view. Individuals heading to the Arastradero Preserve trails from their urban homes may soon know what it's like to have a house in the hills.

The plan to build a visitor's center at the preserve has been given unanimous support from the Palo Alto Planning Commission and is now awaiting the City Council's final approval.

The proposed gateway facility will sit near the entrance of the 613 acres in the southern Peninsula foothills, but will take up only 1,177 square feet, the size of a small single-family house.

"The average Los Altos home is actually probably three times that size, so it will not be all that noticeable," said Luke Connolly, a senior planner for the city.

It's hard to believe that such a small structure could offer so much, but the plans show a gateway that will have more than a few essential services. Boasting three buildings, the main one will act as a visitor center and meeting space, a mecca for hikers, bicyclists, and equestrians alike. This will be connected by breezeways on either side to the two other buildings with restrooms, drinking fountains, and an office area for stewards and volunteers.

"The office space will be used mainly by the ranger who is out there now and just doesn't have a place to be in," Connolly said. "The term 'office' maybe throws people, and they think of an office building, but it's nothing like that."

The cluster of single-story, rustic buildings were designed so they would blend in with the foothills. Connolly said the structures, with their simple style, will be built to resemble little homes.

Their folksy charm will come from what Connolly described as "wood siding, deep overhangs, and low-pitched roofs." The traditional wood frame will be mixed with an innovative and energy-efficient straw bale construction technique. The roofs were designed with deep eaves that will shield visitors from both the sun and inclement weather.

Some of the materials for the gateway facility will be recycled from the Arastra House, a large ranch house and barn that used to sit atop the preserve. When the unoccupied residence was torn down in the summer of 1997, the City Council recommended the construction of a facility to be designed with input from the community.

The Arastradero Task Force was formed in September 1997 and worked with city representatives and consultant teams to hold public workshops and meetings to talk about design, sitting, and use of the proposed facility.

The modest, unadorned design did not pose much of a problem. The Architectural Review Board, who approved the initial plans after referral from the City Council, suggested only minor changes in landscaping. Deciding exactly where the gateway buildings would sit was a little more complicated.

City code requires that any new structure along scenic corridors, like Arastradero Road, be set back at least 200 feet from the road, to keep buildings from blocking picturesque views.

The gateway buildings are designed to be closer than 200 feet away from Arastradero Road, with one as close as 75 feet. The Planning Commission would have to approve a variance for the facility.

If the design was altered to conform to the 200-foot setback, the buildings would be more visible on the hillside, take up more land, and be further from existing facilities--including the parking lot.

Having the buildings closer to the roadway will also emphasize its role as a "gateway" to the Arastradero Preserve and place it lower down the hillside where it will be less visually prominent.

"It's intended to blend in with the landscape and be as unobtrusive as possible," said Planning Commissioner Owen Byrd. "I think it's terrific. The design is sensitive, the location is appropriate, and the need is clear."

But those that visit the Arastradero Preserve must be prepared to wait a while before they'll have the center and the bike lockers, benches, informational signs, and drinking facilities for dogs and horses that go along with it.

The project is tentatively scheduled for review by the Architectural Review Board on Feb. 17 and should then go before the City Council for final approval on March 20.

Back up to the Table of Contents Page