City forges compromise in prolonged dispute over Ellsworth Place home

Palo Alto settled one of its most complex and contentious land use disputes earlier this month when it granted a Midtown property owner its permission to build a home on a site that neighbors maintain was never meant for housing.

The fight over Nitin Handa’s plan to build a home at 702 Ellsworth Place has been brewing for years, spanning countless public hearings, legal threats and arguments over traffic safety, fence heights and delivery drop-offs. The parcel is located at Middlefield Road and Ellsworth, at the entry point to the Ellsworth, and has served for many years as a parking lot, used by residents, visitors and delivery vans.

When Handa purchased the property, the city’s zoning maps had indicated that the zoning can accommodate a home. Later, however, city officials learned that the maps were inaccurate and that the property is, in fact, part of a “planned community” zone that was approved more than half a century ago — a custom-made zoning district that specifies which uses are allowed and which are forbidden.

Ellsworth residents have maintained throughout the process that there are good reasons for not developing the lot. Ellsworth is already difficult to see from Middlefield Road and neighbors believe putting a home in the entrance would make conditions even more hazardous for bicyclists at that intersection.

“During the day, if it’s quiet, it’s OK,” Jake Margolis, a resident of Ellsworth Lane, told the council at the Dec. 11 meeting. “But if it’s a really active time of the day when the kids are commuting and what not and wearing earbuds, I think the more visibility the better for everyone involved.”

To address this concern, the council attached numerous conditions to its approval, including one requiring tactile sidewalks at Ellsworth Lane, a space for a delivery truck on Ellsworth and a requirement that the fence around Handa’s new home be no higher than 3 feet. This was a revision from the council’s prior direction, which recommended a 12-inch fence to preserve sight lines for passing vehicles and bicycles.

Handa strongly opposed this requirement at the Dec. 11 hearing.

“I have a 4-year-old son and he can easily cross the 1-foot (fence) and go to Middlefield Road and that will make it very unsafe,” he said.

The biggest point of dispute was over street width. To ensure visibility and adequate space for cars coming in and out of Ellsworth, neighbors and council members had insisted that the street be widened from 21.5 feet to 26 feet. Handa agreed in September to give up four feet from his property, enabling 24 feet of width, but his team suggested that it will not go any further.

Ken Hayes, an architect representing Richard Dewey, owner of 2901-2905 Middlefield Road, has been trying for years to get the city to sign off on Handa’s plan over the neighborhood’s opposition. In his presentation on Dec. 11, he expressed some exasperation with what he felt are the city’s and the neighborhood’s escalating demands.

“Everyone seems to be take, take, taking and we are the only ones who appear to be giving,” Hayes said. “We’re trying to work toward a solution but there’s only so much we have to give.”

Neighbors, however, argued that safety should come first and noted that it’s not their fault that Handa bought a property based on inaccurate information and is now seeking to build something that the council had never intended to allow in this area. They also rejected a proposal from Handa’s team to have delivery trucks park on Sutter Avenue, which is further away from the Ellsworth residents.

Kristen Van Fleet, an Ellsworth resident who has been at the forefront of opposition, suggested at the December hearing that the developer’s plan still had major problems, including inadequate accommodation for delivery trucks, insufficient light-of-site near Matadero Creek and an insufficiently wide street.

“We’re not trying to make this difficult on them, we’re just trying to keep our neighborhood safe,” Van Fleet said.

The council proved sympathetic to these arguments and voted 6-0, with Council member Vicki Veenker absent, to approve two new planned community districts, one for Handa’s property and another for the rest of Ellsworth and the property at 2901-2905 Middlefield Road. It also specified that the new plan must include a UPS-approved delivery spot on Ellsworth, which may require the relocation of an existing utility pole.

In a concession to Handa, it raised the height cap on the fence to 3 feet, though it required that this be grade fencing (with space between vertical bars) that allows “adequate transparency.” And even though Handa declined to give up an additional foot of his property to widen Ellsworth, the council was able to get to 26-feet after Dewey agreed at the meeting to give up a foot from his side of Ellsworth.

“Everybody knows this has been a tough project for all the reasons we’ve already said,” said Council member Pat Burt, who crafted the motion to approve the project. “The city is stepping forward on a couple of these aspects, to share in the cost of addressing legitimate concerns so that the public safety issues are addressed and the ability to continue to have reasonable delivery service in an area where that’s increasingly important is critical,”

“Sometimes there is a compromise that has to be struck in order to be able to move forward,” Burt said.