None of that seemed to matter on Monday night, when the City Council unanimously voted to approve the development, which will replace a one-story commercial building next to Greer Park.
Council members acknowledged the merits of the project and recognized their own dwindling powers to reject or modify residential proposals given new state laws that bar cities from doing so based on the type of subjective criteria that the Architectural Review Board used to recommend denial.
The project at 2850 W. Bayshore Road in many ways epitomized the growing influence of recent legislation of Senate Bill 330 and the Housing Accountability Act, which limits city reviews to five hearings and requires them to rely strictly on "objective criteria" that can be easily measured and is not subject to interpretation when evaluating housing projects.
The council recently addressed the state requirements by revamping the city's objective standards and adding new rules for everything from roof shapes and window glazing to garage design and porch dimensions. But because the SummerHill Homes project was submitted before these standards became law, the city is prohibited from using them to evaluate this project.
Two members of the Architectural Review Board, David Hirsch and Peter Baltay, made a case to the council for denying the project or requesting further changes.
The council, however, found plenty to like about the new development. The project replaces commercial use with residential development, consistent with the type of land use that the council is trying to encourage.
—Gennady Sheyner
City passes 'restoration' budget
With revenues bouncing back after a pandemic slump, the Palo Alto City Council approved a budget on Monday that restores many of the services and positions that it had cut over the past two years.
But even as council members celebrated the city's brightening financial outlook, they warned that the new spending plan represents a temporary reprieve rather than a full restoration. While recent increases to sales-tax and hotel-tax revenues are providing a healthy boost to the city coffers, officials also are banking on one-time sources to balance the books and bring back positions in Police and Fire departments, expand library hours and boost spending on community services.
The council voted 6-1, with council member Greg Tanaka dissenting, to adopt the budget, which city officials have been reviewing and refining since late April. In doing so, council members acknowledged this year's relatively benign budget season after two turbulent years in which they had instituted about $40 million in cuts. They cautioned, however, that the relief is temporary.
Most council members agreed Monday that the most promising way to get a more sustainable revenue source is to adopt a new business tax and to reaffirm the city's historic practice of transferring funds from its gas utility to the general fund. The city recently halted the practice as a result of a lawsuit from resident Miriam Green and a subsequent court determination that the transfer amounts to an illegal tax.
The council is currently considering placing both a business tax and the gas-transfer policy on the November ballot. But with some members having second thoughts about the details of the business tax and the viability of presenting both measures on the same ballot, the council deferred its final decision on these measures until Aug. 1, the council's first meeting after its summer recess.
—Gennady Sheyner
Council backs LifeMoves shelter revisions
Palo Alto is refining its plan to build a transitional-housing complex on San Antonio Road that will provide 88 homes and support services for unhoused families and individuals.
The proposal, a joint undertaking by the city and the nonprofit LifeMoves, calls for building the shelter at 1237 San Antonio Road, a city-owned site currently used by GreenWaste for sorting deconstruction debris. On Tuesday, the City Council voted unanimously to revise the design, turning the two-story complex to a three-story one.
The fate of the proposal, however, remains uncertain. The city has still not received the $27 million Project Homekey grant that it hoped would make the project possible. City officials remain undeterred, expecting the state to announce more Homekey grants in July.
Under the new design, the LifeMoves project would no longer share a driveway with GreenWaste. And what was formerly a two-story complex with a height of 25 feet, 6 inches, will now be a three-story building with a height of just over 38 feet. The project would still feature 88 units, 24 for families and 64 for single individuals.
—Gennady Sheyner
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