Palo Alto scrutinizes Stanford development plan
By Greg Brazeal

The debate over Stanford's groundbreaking 10-year development plan took a step forward Monday as the Palo Alto city council finalized its recommendations for changes to an environmental study of the controversial proposal.

Santa Clara County's Board of Supervisors will have the final say over the Stanford plan in late October, but before it delivers a verdict it has invited comments from the communities most affected by University expansion.

Palo Alto Mayor Liz Kniss called Stanford's proposal "the most important county land-use project in the coming decade." "

Stanford is proposing a new city of four million square feet," council member Gary Fazzino said.

While the council roundly agreed that the county's environmental study was well-prepared, they recommended several changes, many of them regarding open space preservation.

"What we're looking for is an affirmative analysis of the environmental benefits of permanent open space protection," said council member Judy Kleinberg, pointing out that the study focuses primarily on the negative results of development.

Once completed, the county's study, known as the Environmental Impact Report (EIR), will be the primary resource in deciding the limits of Stanford expansion. It was paid for by Stanford but prepared by a private consultant appointed by the county.

Palo Alto has long demanded that Stanford expand its housing to help defuse the area's housing crunch and reduce traffic but wants the University to achieve these goals through intensified development and in-filling on the core campus, without sacrificing open spaces.

Kniss also suggested expanding public transportation like the Marguerite shuttle service as a partial solution. "More use of that kind of transportation around campus of course would be desirable," she said.

The city's staff report suggests that the county should make open space preservation a condition of accepting Stanford's plan.

"The EIR does not discuss the inevitable growth that will occur in the foothills as the core campus approaches build-out," the report says. "Absolute assurance of conservation of the foothill open space areas must be linked to the substantial amount of development being proposed."

Stanford's personnel growth over the last 10 years has far outpaced its housing expansion, and council members applauded the 3,018 dwelling units included in the plan. But they expressed a desire to see the new housing built on Santa Clara County's model of compact urban development, without moving outside Palo Alto's urban growth boundary.

"Preserve that urban growth boundary," Kniss said. "There's no question on that."

Sarah Cheney, the project manager for the EIR, said that she could not identify areas entirely inside Palo Alto's urban service area to put the proposed housing. Kniss suggested that Stanford could intensify development on underdeveloped sites by constructing taller buildings and more multi-level parking lots.

"We're at a moment of truth," said council member Nancy Lytle, arguing that requiring Stanford to develop housing will mean growth onto open spaces.

Stanford has already come under fire from Menlo Park, the Mid peninsula Regional Open Space district and environmental groups such as the Stanford Open Space Alliance for proposing 20,000 square feet of new buildings west of Junipero Serra Boulevard.

Golfing fans have raised an outcry because the plan would replace the first hole of the golf course with housing (see accompanying article).

The University's plan also redesignates a section of the foothills called the Lathrop Development District from "Academic Reserve and Open Space" to "Academic Campus," which many interpret as a first step toward building in the foothills. Palo Alto's recommendations suggest that land being maintained as open space should be identified as open space in the EIR in the hopes that such land will eventually be designated as "Open Space" in the county's Community Plan for Stanford land.

The Santa Clara County Planning Commission will hear public comments on the draft version of the EIR tonight at 6:30 p.m. in the Palo Alto City Council chambers, 250 Hamilton.