HOUSING
The council is in the midst of approving the city's Housing Element, which will lay out Palo Alto's plan for allowing 6,086 new residences to be built between 2023 and 2031. The current document calls for adding more than 1,000 housing units to south Palo Alto, primarily on commercial and industrial sites around San Antonio Road that would be rezoned to allow residential buildings taller than 50 feet. Other strategies include increasing density in multi-family districts, more housing along El Camino Real and more accessory dwelling units.
COMSA
Wants to see the city to target public properties like Palo Alto Airport and Cubberley Community Center for large-scale residential projects and to partner with Stanford University and Simon Property Group to add housing to Stanford Shopping Center.
"We need to be in the driver's seat and not at the mercy of developers …" (PAW survey)
FORSSELL
Supports higher density for housing projects and use of area plans to ensure that green space and other amenities are included as part of new housing projects. Wants to see more planning for housing near the downtown transit center.
HAMACHEK
Supports converting existing office space to housing. Wants to protect single-family neighborhoods from impacts of dense new developments but is open to loosening the 50-foot height limit in some cases where neighbors would support it.
"I think we've also seen projects in other cities that have just gone off the rails and changed the entire character of the city, and I'd be really mindful of that when evaluating any kind of project about higher density." (PAW forum)
LAUING
Wants city to focus on providing affordable housing before considering market-rate developments. As a planning commissioner, he supported the Wilton Court development for low-income residents and he voted to expand the "housing incentives program" to loosen zoning standards for residential developments on San Antonio Road.
"We should look for an area where we can have some large projects and get some benefits from that density." (PAW forum)
LYTHCOTT-HAIMS
Would allow higher density for housing developments and support balancing new developments in north and south Palo Alto. Favors market-rate housing with set-aside affordable housing (inclusionary zoning) rather than 100% affordable housing, except for residents who need services, such as adults with disabilities and unhoused residents,
"I want the entire city to do its fair share." (PAW forum)
SUMMA
As a planning commissioner, Summa has resisted granting developers zoning exemptions and criticized "spot zoning." She voted against expanding the "housing incentive program" to San Antonio Road until the city studies the potential impacts. But she voted for a 48-condo complex on West Bayshore Road and other housing projects. She supports "planned housing zoning" to ensure new housing doesn't negatively affect neighbors and she would raise the 15% set-aside affordable housing in market-rate developments to 20%.
"We don't have a choice. We're going to get denser; it's a given. I think we can do that and still keep a lot of the amenities that people enjoy in Palo Alto." (PAW forum).
VEENKER
Supports strengthening the city's protections for tenants, including rental stabilization that would limit rent increases in a given year. Wants higher density for residential developments, particularly in downtown and in other areas served by public transit.
"I want them to live in a place where they have services and other things to help them. The benefit of that is that it reduces carbon emissions and traffic as well." (PAW forum).
RAIL CROSSINGS
The council continues to plan to separate roadways from train tracks at the city's four rail crossings: Palo Alto Avenue, Churchill Avenue, Charleston Road and East Meadow Drive. So far, the council has determined that it will study Palo Alto Avenue as part of a broader planning effort downtown. It has selected the "partial underpass" as a preferred alternative for Churchill. Its three options for the Charleston and Meadow crossings, which are being evaluated together, are a train trench, an underpass for vehicles and a "hybrid" that raises the tracks and lowers the roads.
COMSA
Though he has said a tunnel was his top preference for East Meadow and Charleston, he now favors underpass options. He believes the partial underpass option at Churchill should be studied in conjunction with traffic improvements on Embarcadero Road
"If money were no option I'd definitely go with a tunnel option … but I'm afraid we have to compromise." (PAW forum)
FORSSELL
Supports designs that would separate bikes and pedestrians from vehicle traffic while still offering cars access across the tracks.
"We mainly just need to pick an option, allocate the funds and get going with construction." (PAW forum)
HAMACHEK
Wants to revisit building a tunnel for trains, an option that has been discarded because of high costs.
"All other options either divide the city in two or create an unreasonable traffic burden." (PAW Survey)
LAUING
Wants the city to continue to refine the "partial underpass" option for Churchill and to wait until Caltrain upgrades its technical standards before making a decision on Churchill and Meadow. Supports bike and pedestrian rail crossings near Matadero and Adobe creeks and near Seale Avenue.
"We have to pick an option that makes fiscal sense, but it starts with safety for pedestrians as well as anyone that's going to cross the rail." (PAW forum)
LYTHCOTT-HAIMS
Though she sees some advantages in the raised viaduct option, which the council had previously considered, she said she supports the partial underpass for Churchill and prefers the underpass for cars at the Charleston and Meadow crossings.
"I believe the visual impact of hybrid will further segment and separate the way of the city from the west." (PAW survey)
SUMMA
Supports an underpass for Charleston and Meadow and a partial underpass for Churchill. Believes three bike and pedestrian crossings should be built before rail construction to facilitate movement.
"For me, safety and traffic flow are first." (PAW forum).
VEENKER
Supports underpass alternatives for both Churchill and the Charleston and Meadow crossings. Wants to see Palo Alto Avenue explored as part of a coordinated area plan.
"The cost is always a factor, but we should deal with this quickly. There is a sense of urgency because there are historic federal and state dollars available if we can do it quickly." (PAW forum)
SUSTAINABILITY
Palo Alto has an ambitious goal of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2030, with 1990 as the baseline. To meet this target, the city is looking to accelerate the city's switch from natural gas to carbon-free electricity. Current plans include providing subsidies for programs that focus on conversion of local water and space heaters from natural gas to electricity. At the same time, the city is preparing to modernize its aged electric grid to ensure it can meet the growing demand from customers.
COMSA
Supports using financial incentives to support electrification.
Wants the city to prioritize getting people to switch to electric water heaters, which he says is much cheaper than transitioning to electric space heaters. Prioritizing water heaters, he said, would have a greater near-term impact.
"To have an immediate impact ??" we have to address the big consumers of natural gas, about 45%, which are gas-based water heaters." (PAW forum)
FORSSELL
On électrification, the city should provide financial incentives and remove restrictive permitting and inspection processes for solar panels and battery systems. She also believes new housing developments should be all-electric.
"We need to skate where the puck is going, not where it's been." (PAW forum)
HAMACHEK
Wants the city to continue investing in renewable energy sources such as solar and to offer financing to residents to ensure that gas appliances aren't being replaced with other gas appliances.
"Just helping with financing upfront would be one great way to help with the transition." (PAW forum)
LAUING
Wants the city to require all new residential and non-residential construction, including accessory dwelling units, to be "all-electric." Wants the city to expand charging infrastructure for electric vehicles and require electric heat pumps and water heaters when an existing heater is being replaced as part of an addition or a remodel.
"We're definitely not ready to be turning off the gas right now. We have to plan that out to a reasonable timeframe and not have that be a threat hanging over the head of our citizens." (PAW forum).
LYTHCOTT-HAIMS
Wants to see a city mandate to get away from gas by 2035. This would include providing subsidies for residents to make the switch to electrification. She also wants to have discussions with Stanford and large corporations and innovators to design "the environmentally sustainable city of the future."
"Let's put it on the bill: on-bill financing, subsidies for lower families." (PAW forum)
SUMMA
Believes the city needs to upgrade its grid to ensure there is sufficient green energy to support the broad move from gas to electric appliances. Does not support forcing residents to switch from gas, given the potential high costs of the transition.
"The timeframe has to not leave people behind and we have to do it in a manner that we are sure our local infrastructure and state infrastructure can handle." (PAW forum)
VEENKER
Wants to change the city's building codes to create pathways for commercial businesses to transition from using gas to electricity. Supports expanding the city's pilot program on transitioning home heating in multi-family buildings from gas to electricity.
"We do need to move rapidly to move away from fossil fuels in our homes, buildings and in our cars." (PAW forum)
PUBLIC SAFETY
The city's police and fire departments both saw major staffing reductions in 2020 as the city's revenues slumped. Over the past year, the City Council has restored some positions in both departments thanks to a recovering economy and a federal grant that temporarily funds five fire department positions. As council members consider long-term fixes to staffing problems, the Police Department is working through numerous reforms under new Chief Andrew Binder, including increased oversight from an independent auditor and a new program called PERT (Psychiatric Emergency Response Team) that pairs a local officer with a county clinician on calls involving health emergencies.
COMSA
Wants to purchase license plate readers for police officers and use artificial intelligence technology to develop the best ways to deploy staffing. Believes it's critical for the city to restore department staffing.
"I truly believe technology like license plate readers, if supported by the community, would be a great addition to the tools that the police department can use." (PAW interview)
FORSSELL
Supports increasing staffing in the Police Department and working to implement recommendations of the independent police auditor pertaining to ensuring that officers keep their body-worn cameras on and follow department protocols when deploying K-9 units.
"We still have work to do on use of force and profiling." (PAW forum)
HAMACHEK
Strongly supports the department's recent decision to decrypt police radio transmissions. Believes the department is heading in the right direction when it comes to its interactions with the public. Says his biggest concern when it comes to police is staffing levels.
"If we want the police department to be operating at its best ability, we need to support them and we need to get their staffing levels back to where they used to be." (PAW Forum).
LAUING
Wants to see much more gender and ethnic diversity in the city's police force. Supports adding civilian staffing to handle some of the duties currently being fulfilled by sworn officers. Wants to see new ways of deploying officers to address "brazen street crimes" that he said have put many in the community on edge.
"I'm not impressed when people tell me that stats haven't changed. I don't care about the stats; I care about the crimes." (PAW forum)
LYTHCOTT-HAIMS
Wants the city to hold unconscious bias training for all first responders and create a system to track whom officers stop and why. Supports either eliminating use of K-9 units or limiting them to drug searches. Believes city officials should not avoid talking about race.
"We can't tame what we can't name. We have to be able to talk frankly about these things." (PAW forum).
SUMMA
Supports the newly created PERT program and the recent decision by the department to stop encrypting radio communications. Wants to increase staffing in the police department and increase the frequency of independent audits of police accountability and use of force.
"I think there is a perception in Palo Alto that it's not as safe as it used to be." (PAW forum).
VEENKER
Supports the recent creation of the PERT program, which she believes will improve the department's response to incidents that involve individuals with mental health issues.
Said she would like to see ongoing diversity training in the department to avoid biased and unfair practices that the city has seen in the past.
"(PERT) will de-escalate these situations and avoid criminalizing poverty or mental or behavioral health." (PAW forum).
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