Views - January, 2001

Palo Alto's Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program

By Paul Lomio
Thanks to the College Terrace traffic calming petition that over 200 of us signed back in the fall of 1999, our neighborhood may be early in line for some traffic calming relief under the city's Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program (NTCP). Such relief may include the installation of speed tables, raised cross walks, roundabouts and/or other physical modifications of our roadways to slow traffic.

The NTCP was first unveiled back in February, 2000. The proposed program was developed by the City's Transportation Division, led by Transportation Engineer Carl Stoffel and Chief Transportation Official Joe Kott. Despite its name, the program, as first presented, addressed mainly spot fixes on local streets and did not address neighborhood-wide needs.

In May, 2000 the NTCP went before the Planning and Transportation Commission. These folks sent the draft document back to the Transportation Division for further revision. The Commission did not think that a goal of the NTCP should be to reduce volume of traffic; this, they felt, is an unfortunate fact of Silicon Valley life. The Commission also responded to comments, such as the letter the College Terrace Traffic Calming Task Force advanced, suggesting that the program should be expanded to truly include neighborhood-wide approaches.

The Transportation Division took these comments and did their homework. The new program addresses both spot treatments and neighborhood-wide programs. The criteria for program inclusion have been modified so that sheer volume is not a factor, although it should be stressed that volume of cut-through traffic remains a trigger for program treatment. Other qualifying criteria -- including the presence of a school – make our neighborhood a prime candidate for traffic calming efforts under this program.

The revised NTCP goes to the City Council on Tuesday, 1/16/01 where, we hope, it will be approved. The program is well thought out and will help solve
problems without pushing problem traffic from one street to another. The Task Force will be at this meeting, as members from this group have been at every meeting where the NTCP has been discussed. The program is woefully under-funded, at only $ 100,000 a year, but the funds are there and can be used this year. With a little bit of luck, we might see some calming measures adopted on our streets very soon.

We will have more information about the NTCP at the neighborhood meeting on January 20th, including a report on the latest City Council action.

Share Our Streets As If...

By Kathy Durham

You've seen the banner on the Escondido School fence at Hanover Street. Maybe you've noticed the unusual ads in the Palo Alto Weekly and the insert in your utility bill. Here's your chance to find out more about this innovative approach to making our city's streets safer!

Amanda Jones, Commute Coordinator for Palo Alto, Scott Wong of the PAPD and Phil Turner of the Jacobs Fulton Design Group will join our meeting next Saturday to give an overview of the city's new
traffic safety campaign, designed to reach "people who ignore the usual approach." You'll get to check out new resources and you might even take home a camera in order to take pictures for future "Share Our Streets As If" posters.

But the real goal of this meeting is to engage in a dialogue with College Terrace residents about what we can do, individually and collectively, to reduce the risks we face as "road users", whether we are on foot, on foot-powered wheels, or in motor vehicles.

Join us after the brief CTRA meeting next Saturday -- you'll be glad you did.

The Future of the Mayfield Site

By Joy Ogawa

Contrary to what some newspaper articles have implied, the future of the Mayfield site has not yet been decided. The Mayfield site, the currently vacant property located at the Northwest corner of Page Mill and El Camino, has been caught up in the middle of a rather complex situation that involves the City of Palo Alto, the Palo Alto Unified School District, the Jewish Community Center (JCC), and Stanford. In October, a few weeks before the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors began its public hearing on the Stanford General Use Permit (GUP) and Community Plan (CP), Stanford announced that it was offering to lease the Mayfield site to the City of Palo Alto for the purposes of building a Community Center, for a term of 51 years, at a price of one dollar per year; plus Stanford wanted a "transfer of development rights" for a minimum of 100,000 square feet of additional Research/Office Park development elsewhere in the Research Park. Stanford made its offer contingent upon the County's approval of a
GUP that was acceptable to Stanford.

After the County approved Stanford's GUP in December, Stanford formally made application to the City of Palo Alto, presenting its offer regarding the Mayfield site. City staff is currently negotiating with Stanford as to the specifics of the proposal. The proposal will then be brought forward for consideration by the City Council, and the public will have an opportunity to be heard.

Now is the time for residents to become informed, to let the City know our opinions about the development of the Mayfield site, and to voice any concerns we may have. While some Palo Alto residents have welcomed Stanford's offer as a win-win-win situation, others have expressed concerns, including concerns about the appropriateness of such a development at the busiest intersection in Palo Alto on a property that is currently zoned Multiple Family Residential, concerns about the 100,000-plus square feet of Research/Office Park development rights that Stanford is asking to have "transferred" to a site elsewhere in the Research Park, and concerns about impacts on adjacent residential neighborhoods (especially College Terrace). Many details will need to be worked out before any deal is concluded, including determining the role the JCC will play in any new Community Center that may be developed.

Furthermore, Stanford could still terminate the offer if any litigation arising from the GUP/CP is not finally resolved by March 31, 2001.

How will Stanford University's development affect College Terrace in the next decade?

By Kathy Durham

On December 13th, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors approved a
compromise version of the General Use Permit that will govern Stanford University's development for the next 10 years. The major outlines of this
plan received extensive news coverage and will not be repeated here.

Regardless of our individual opinions about this agreement, however, there is no question that College Terrace residents will be affected by the University's projected 4.8 million square feet of academic and housing construction in the next decade. In particular, since 1395 new units of graduate housing will be just north of our neighborhood in Escondido Village, and since Stanford plans to move quickly to build these units, we can expect lots of activity beginning this spring!

The good news is that, thanks to Supervisor Joe Simitian and the neighbors who watch-dogged the public process, some important mitigations favoring College Terrace were added to the conditions of Stanford's General Use Permit. A few highlights:

> Neighborhood Traffic Study: Up to $50,000 will be contributed by Stanford toward a study to determine the university's share of cut-through traffic in and around College Terrace. If new development at Stanford causes increases in these traffic levels, "reasonable identified mitigation
measures" may be required.

> Permit Parking: Up to $100,000 will be made available to the City of Palo Alto in order to design and initiate a residential permit parking program in College Terrace, to reduce the "spillover parking" from Stanford University.

> Construction regulations: For construction within 150 feet of the Palo Alto city limits, construction hours will be limited to 8:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. weekdays and 9:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. on Saturday. This is the overlap between the County's rules (which allow construction to start at 7:00 a.m.) and Palo Alto's.
Off street parking for construction vehicles will be provided, and delivery routes and times will minimize impact on Stanford Avenue and other residential streets.

> Runoff: Whenever new construction occurs, the amount of rainwater runoff increases. Stanford is prohibited from allowing any increase in peak runoff and must provide facilities to retain any additional water on their land.

> Events/Fireworks: In the future, Stanford will have to follow the normal County permitting process if they wish to use fireworks more than twice per year. In addition, they must develop an event traffic management program and a hotline and website publicizing special events.

For more info, come to the CTRA meeting on Saturday, January 20th, or check our website (www.ctra.org/Stanford)

Protecting Retail Business

By Pria Graves

A very disturbing trend all over Palo Alto is the replacement of retail businesses with office space. One local example that got a lot of press is the building where Jose's was: when the dust settles, we'll have yet another a bank.

The reason is simple: office rents are higher – currently much higher. Retail space starts in the $3 – 5 range (per square foot) while office space is currently renting for $10 – 12 or even higher. Dot.coms, patent lawyers and other Silicon Valley businesses will pay a premium for space, much more than a local store or even a chain can afford.

Although the city's zoning code is currently under revision, that process is expected to take two years or more to complete and the city staff and many residents feel that we cannot wait this long. Last fall the City Council agreed to take steps to address this problem.

There are two pieces to the proposed solution:

> First, the areas limited to retail on the ground floor will be expanded. Currently only University Avenue and California Avenue have this restriction. The proposal would add parts of El Camino Real, the Charleston Center and parts of Midtown.

> Second, the proposal would do away with the roll-over of non-conforming uses. Currently, if an office is in a building, another office can locate there. The hope is that this change would allow retail to move back into spaces vacated by offices.

Our area (California Avenue and part of El Camino) are not in the first phase but the City is already planning meetings with local property owners and business owners so we can hope for some relief this year.