Stanford's plans may clutter open space, increase traffic
By Elaine Goodman

A 154-acre piece of open space at the corner of Junipero Serra Boulevard and Alpine Road would become cluttered with buildings as a result of Stanford's development plans for the next 10 years, according to a report released yesterday.

The environmental analysis also says Stanford should be required to build new housing at the same time or before it adds new academic buildings to avoid adding to the region's housing crunch.

And there's no guarantee that Stanford's plans to construct 4 million square feet of new buildings on campus won't make local traffic worse, the report says.

Those are three of the conclusions reached by a consultant in a two-volume, 3-inch-thick environmental impact report released yesterday. The consultant was hired by Santa Clara County to help evaluate Stanford's development proposals for the next 10 years on the university's 4,000 acres of unincorporated county land.

The environmental analysis isn't final. Stanford and members of the public have until Aug. 7 to comment on the report, which will then be finalized before the county Board of Supervisors decides whether to approve Stanford's plans.

But as it stands now, the environmental report finds that Stanford's development could have impacts on the open space character of a piece of land the university calls the Lathrop District. The 154-acre area is between the Dish hiking area and Alpine Road just west of Junipero Serra Boulevard.

In the next 10 years, Stanford is proposing 20,000 square feet of new buildings in the Lathrop District. That alone wouldn't clutter the open space area if the buildings are clustered near the golf course club house or behavioral sciences building that are already there, the report says.

New housing needed

But by changing the designation of the land from "academic reserve and open space" to "academic campus," the report says Stanford would open the door to more intense development of the area. The new development could lead to the relocation of the Stanford golf course.

Larry Horton, Stanford's director of government relations, said last night he didn't have any comment on the EIR because he hadn't reviewed it yet.

On the housing front, the report says Stanford needs to guarantee it will build 3,018 new homes mentioned in its development plan. Otherwise, the university's 2 million square feet of new academic development will add to the area's housing crunch.

What about traffic?

The report says Stanford should be required to build 1,000 units of student housing, 175 units of housing for hospital interns or postgraduate researchers, and 335 homes for faculty and staff by the time half the new academic buildings are in place.

In terms of traffic, Stanford's new development could increase delays at 17 local intersections where traffic already backs up. The intersections include El Camino Real and Middle Avenue, and Middlefield and Willow roads in Menlo Park; and El Camino Real and Churchill Avenue, Middlefield Road and University Avenue, and Junipero Serra Boulevard and Page Mill Road in Palo Alto.

The report says the impacts could be avoided if Stanford uses a car-trip reduction program or if steps are taken to improve the intersections, such as by making turn lanes longer. But the report says the county can't require Stanford to use a trip reduction program and that the intersection improvements need approval from cities, so there's no guarantee traffic won't get worse.

The county planning department will hold a meeting to hear comments on the environmental report at 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 3 at Palo Alto City Hall.