Medical facility gets green light Medical facility gets green light (November 26, 2004)

Crowd cheers decision to replace Emporium building Crowd cheers decision to replace Emporium building (November 26, 2004)

By Jon Wiener

As expected, the city council approved a Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF) project for the vacant Emporium site Tuesday night.

Dozens of PAMF employees and veterans of the "No on N" campaign that killed a proposed Home Depot store on the site packed the council chambers to show their support for the project. Several speakers encouraged the council to pass the "gateway" project, and many more sported "Yes on CMG" distributed by Camino Medical Group, the division of PAMF that will establish its headquarters at the site at the intersection of El Camino Real and The Americana Way. The packed house burst into applause when the council voted to approve the project, 5-1. "The people of the city spoke very clearly when they voted against the Home Depot request," said Council member Mary Lou Zoglin. The PAMF project was often cited as a better alternative to Home Depot during the campaign.

Council member Greg Perry, himself a former "No on N" volunteer, cast the only dissenting vote. He cited numerous problems with the environmental impact report and a frustration with what he saw as another missed opportunity to add more housing in the city.

The report said the project will cause significant and unavoidable increases in traffic and air pollution, but Perry said even that was understating the potential impact.

According to the report, the facility will create 9,000 new car trips, putting added pressure on already stressed sections of Highways 85 and 237. More than 1,000 parking spaces will be built during the construction process.

The group is implementing several measures to reduce employee driving, including a shuttle to the downtown Caltrain station, but expected that to have little impact on the overall trips.

Council member Matt Neely said that project supporters needed to realize they were also supporting these impacts, and he hoped they would accept the trade-offs.

The council's decision to change the zoning from commercial to "institutional" also means that the city will not collect potentially millions in tax revenues from the site, which a couple of speakers who opposed the project pointed out. Several other large commercial sites throughout the city are up for rezoning, which could also mean the permanent loss of potential tax revenues.

PAMF donated $5 million to the city's senior center, contingent upon the approval of the project. An outside consultant's economic analysis showed that this donation was in line with revenue from other potential uses.

While revenue from a hotel would be more than double this amount, Council member Mike Kasperzak said that number was unrealistic due to the difficulty of finding a hotel to develop the site. Council member Nick Galiotto added, "It isn't just the financial consideration of a project that the council looks at."

Demolition of the aging Emporium building on the site is expected to begin in January, with the medical facility scheduled to be in its place by early 2007. @e-mail:E-mail Jon Wiener at jwiener@mv-voice.com

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