California Avenue Concept Plan
On Monday, April 21 (8:50-9:50pm), Palo Alto City Council will provide guidance on the proposed California Avenue Concept Plan, and will specifically consider whether to pursue a mixed-use development strategy for the area currently occupied by Fry’s Electronics.
Green Planning Action believes that a mixed-use development for Fry’s aligns with Palo Alto's Comprehensive Plan objectives to develop pedestrian friendly, higher density areas close to major transit and downtowns in order to preserve other low-density small-town areas. The Cal Ave Concept Plan will enable a pedestrian-oriented community that will benefit new and existing merchants and improve the vitality and quality of life for surrounding neighborhoods. Housing is especially important given Palo Alto's severe jobs/housing imbalance - adding housing where jobs are helps ease regional commutes, traffic, parking, and greenhouse gas emissions. Cal Ave would be a great place to live-- close to a great downtown area, with easy access to bike paths, parks, and transit options.
This Cal Ave Plan does not have to result in increased traffic and parking challenges. If coupled with strong Transportation Demand Management (TDM) programs, requirements for developments, frequent traffic & parking data collection, Cal Ave can also be a strong example of how Palo Alto can achieve Growth Without Gridlock.
Please join us at Monday night’s meeting to voice your thoughts on the Cal Ave Concept Plan. If you can’t attend, please write to [email protected]g (and cc [email protected])
Green Planning Action believes that a mixed-use development for Fry’s aligns with Palo Alto's Comprehensive Plan objectives to develop pedestrian friendly, higher density areas close to major transit and downtowns in order to preserve other low-density small-town areas. The Cal Ave Concept Plan will enable a pedestrian-oriented community that will benefit new and existing merchants and improve the vitality and quality of life for surrounding neighborhoods. Housing is especially important given Palo Alto's severe jobs/housing imbalance - adding housing where jobs are helps ease regional commutes, traffic, parking, and greenhouse gas emissions. Cal Ave would be a great place to live-- close to a great downtown area, with easy access to bike paths, parks, and transit options.
This Cal Ave Plan does not have to result in increased traffic and parking challenges. If coupled with strong Transportation Demand Management (TDM) programs, requirements for developments, frequent traffic & parking data collection, Cal Ave can also be a strong example of how Palo Alto can achieve Growth Without Gridlock.
Please join us at Monday night’s meeting to voice your thoughts on the Cal Ave Concept Plan. If you can’t attend, please write to [email protected]g (and cc [email protected])
Template letter to Council
Dear City Council,
My name is <name here> and I have lived at <address here> with <family/housemates> since <year>. I love Palo Alto because <state one or two reasons>.
Thank you for considering the California Avenue Concept Plan, especially the proposal to rezone Fry's for mixed use with residential uses. It's a great time to be thinking of the future of Palo Alto and this proposal aligns with the pedestrian friendly, transit oriented development that the Comprehensive Plan envisioned. Consideration of housing is especially important because of Palo Alto's severe jobs/housing imbalance. Adding housing where the jobs are will help ease regional commutes, traffic, parking and greenhouse gas emissions.
With respect to the plan, in particular, I support <choose 2-3 reasons from reasons to support Cal Ave - why a walkable, transit oriented mixed use development with housing is appropriate here and is important>
The plan could be strengthened in a couple ways <chose 1-2 suggestions from suggested improvements>
Sincerely,
<Your Name>
<Your Address>
Dear City Council,
My name is <name here> and I have lived at <address here> with <family/housemates> since <year>. I love Palo Alto because <state one or two reasons>.
Thank you for considering the California Avenue Concept Plan, especially the proposal to rezone Fry's for mixed use with residential uses. It's a great time to be thinking of the future of Palo Alto and this proposal aligns with the pedestrian friendly, transit oriented development that the Comprehensive Plan envisioned. Consideration of housing is especially important because of Palo Alto's severe jobs/housing imbalance. Adding housing where the jobs are will help ease regional commutes, traffic, parking and greenhouse gas emissions.
With respect to the plan, in particular, I support <choose 2-3 reasons from reasons to support Cal Ave - why a walkable, transit oriented mixed use development with housing is appropriate here and is important>
The plan could be strengthened in a couple ways <chose 1-2 suggestions from suggested improvements>
Sincerely,
<Your Name>
<Your Address>
Reasons to Support Cal Ave Area Plan
Palo Alto needs to prioritize denser residential development in the right places:
Supporting denser housing development in this specific location makes sense:
More housing options in a compact area provide a more sustainable, higher quality of life
Walkable mixed use communities can help alleviate the transportation and parking crunch:
Consolidating housing gives an opportunity to fund other needed projects, eg:
If people don’t walk/ bike/ take transit, the alternative is more driving and more parking lots:
Palo Alto needs to prioritize denser residential development in the right places:
- Palo Alto has one of the highest jobs-to-housing ratios in the region (which has among the worst jobs-to-housing ratios in the country)
- Putting denser housing near job and transit centers allows for balance while decreasing the transportation crunch
- Living near walkable/bikable areas makes people happier and healthier
Supporting denser housing development in this specific location makes sense:
- Denser housing on this site helps support the Cal Ave streetscape design-- it means that the retailers and merchants in this area will get customers without an additional automotive burden
- Denser housing on this site is very much in line with the city's comprehensive plan, which is in favor of denser housing close to prominent transit hubs and employment centers.
- Walkable communities are MUCH MORE LIKELY to support their local retail centers. Once in a car, a driver is more likely to go to the mall/ big-box store
More housing options in a compact area provide a more sustainable, higher quality of life
- Denser communities can share green space, which reduces landscaping cost/time for individual homeowners and overall community water use
- Being able to walk to work, shopping, recreation is a health benefit for residents of all ages
- Lowered commute times are among the most valued of all lifestyle benefits
Walkable mixed use communities can help alleviate the transportation and parking crunch:
- Increasing residential clusters near commercial zones make services such as car and bike-sharing services, and shuttles more viable and utilized
- Housing near Palo Alto’s two Caltrain stations and retail centers can reduce car traffic by creating transit nodes to attract more transit routes and options
Consolidating housing gives an opportunity to fund other needed projects, eg:
- Fund a Housing Trust for target populations (seniors who no longer need their large single family homes but want to remain in the community, Stanford staff who want to live close to campus, public employees who want to live close to work)
- Fund the school system to take the pressure off of parent fundraising
- Fund the preservation/renovation of nearby parks
- Fund the expansion of public transportation
If people don’t walk/ bike/ take transit, the alternative is more driving and more parking lots:
- Large expanses of asphalt generate heat and are eyesores
- Space dedicated to parking lots means less space for housing, retail and other uses.
- The construction of multistory parking garages can provide the same amount of parking on a smaller footprint and creates an opportunity to construct green roofs
- Public parking lots can be replaced by apartments/condos on top of parking garages that contain free public spaces and reserved resident spaces, thus preserving parking while creating more housing units – and the opportunity to construct green roofs
Suggested Improvements to the Cal Ave Area Plan
Achieve Growth Without Gridlock - Improve Mobility
Support Good Community Design - Make Cal Ave Lovable
Achieve Growth Without Gridlock - Improve Mobility
- Set up a strong Transportation Demand Management programs and goals
- Create aggressive TDM requirements for new developments, and hold those developments accountable to those goals
- Fund Transportation Management Association to create transportation benefits for the district as a whole (residents, visitors, workers, business owners)
- Frequently collect and analyze data on
- building uses
- people who come in and out of the area and why
- multimodal trips and traffic (car, transit, bike, ped)
- parking occupancy
- Refine and develop TDM programs based on data collected
Support Good Community Design - Make Cal Ave Lovable
- Encourage human scaled design for buildings and the spaces between buildings, such as recessed entries, street level canopies, non-imposing facades, generous landscaped zones
- Promote complete streets at all streets (not just El Camino & Park) for safe bicycle, pedestrian and automobile uses
- Promote good streetscape/landscape design for all developments, including street trees, plantings, green walls/canopies,
- Encourage good public spaces: from large fields and playgrounds, to smaller pocket gardens or parklets. Also encourage developers to create privately owned public open spaces (POPOS)
- Increase the 1.15 FAR for housing to 1.5 or greater
- Encourage not just small unit development, but also medium sized and family units
