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Seeking to encourage a housing boom on commercial zones along El Camino Real, Palo Alto officials approved a series of zoning changes on Monday that will allow taller and denser developments on various stretches of the prominent artery in the southern half of the city.
The goal of the zone changes is to spur the creation of hundreds of new dwellings in the stretch of El Camino Real just south of Page Mill Road, consistent with the city’s Housing Element. The document envisions about 2,000 new units in commercial areas along El Camino Real and around San Antonio Road by 2031.
On El Camino, the City Council’s primary tool to accomplish this is the newly created “focus area” that grants significant height and density bonuses to housing projects. Early results are encouraging. The city has already approved an ambitious proposal by Acclaim Companies to construct a seven-story building with 368 apartments at 3150 El Camino Real, former site of the Fish Market.
Other developers have also shown an interest in housing in this area. The owner of the Creekside Inn hotel at 3400 El Camino Real has proposed a development that includes both housing and hotel use. And Sand Hill Properties, which has already secured the city’s approval for a commercial development at 3300 El Camino Real, is now exploring a different development for this site that includes both housing and commercial use, Laura Bowser, Sand Hill’s director for development, told the council on Monday.
In addition to these projects, there are developers just outside the focus area who want to be included. Thomas Agramonte, whose family owns several properties in the Ventura neighborhood, on the east side of El Camino, urged the council to extend the housing focus zone to these properties, which include 2591 El Camino Real and 470 Olive Ave. The expansion would allow his family to consolidate lots and pursue a larger housing development than would otherwise be allowed.
“We definitely need more housing to allow people who grew up in this community and who work in this community and provide for this community a place to live in this community,” Agramonte told the council.
Council members proved very receptive on Monday to request from potential builders. By a 5-0 vote, with Vice Mayor Vicki Veenker and Council member George Lu recusing, the council agreed to expand the housing focus area to the Agramonte properties and to allow the Creekside Inn developer to include restoration work around the Matadero Creek to fulfill the zoning code’s open space requirements. Members also introduced a provision allowing developers to build hotels at a height of 85 feet within the focus area.
The set of zoning changes that the council adopted on May 27 went beyond what staff had recommended and surpassed what the Housing Element had envisioned. Currently, the El Camino focus area stretches along the west side of El Camino, between Pate Mill Road and Matadero Avenue. The changes proposed by staff add to the area numerous properties both south and north of the existing area. These include seven properties north of Page Mill Road, all within half a mile of the California Avenue Caltrain station, and a handful just south of the existing zone. The sites were selected based on a determination by staff and consultants that they would have the highest potential for development. This is based on their size, location and developer interest, according to a report from Planning Director Jonathan Lait.
Planning staff believe that the additional sites could add about 500 dwellings by 2031.
With its vote, the council integrated all of these properties into the focus area while also adding properties at 2951, 2905 and 2999 El Camino Real, all of which are also included in the recently adopted area plan for the northern part of Ventura.
In addition to granting developers in the focus area height and density bonuses, the revisions simplify rules for upper story setbacks to allow more massing on the El Camino Real frontage. The new rules still require sections of the building above the fifth story to be set back to reduce the appearance of a wall-like façade. The revisions also create a streamlined review process for projects that meet “objective design standards” and exclude affordable units that target the lower income households from development impact fees.
The revisions earned high marks from property owners during Monday’s public hearing, with various speakers urging the council to liberalize the zoning rules. Mark Johnson, president of Acclaim Companies, said the proposed changes align with Palo Alto values while delivering urgently needed housing. He noted that the project at 3150 El Camino would not be feasible without the waiving of development fees for affordable units.
“The updates under consideration strike an important balance, offering developers the clarity and flexibility required to build feasible projects while remaining consistent with the city’s high design and planning standards,” Johnson said.
The council also accommodated a request from Sand Hill to remove a requirement for a 50-foot special setback at its property on the corner of El Camino and Hansen Way. The setback, which applies to properties in Stanford Research Park, aims to preserve right-of-way for future transportation improvements such as bike lanes and transit lanes. But Bowser suggested that the requirement represents a barrier to developing at 3300 El Camino Real.
“If the setback is more than 20 feet moving forward, there is no room between the setback and easement to build housing or retail, which would limit the use and activation of that corner,” she said.
Council members agreed that because Hansen Way already has a bike lane that is separated from car lanes, the 50-foot setback is unnecessary. Under a motion crafted by Council member Pat Burt, the setback was reduced to 20 feet. While Burt acknowledged the significance of the rezoning effort, he urged his colleagues to retain design standards that give buildings along El Camino “the feel of a human scale.” This includes setting back the upper stories of buildings.
“That’s one of the things that differentiates our community from many communities that have abandoned these principles,” Burt said. “From New Urbanism principles and best design principles, that’s what really makes the community matter – the various aspects that achieve a human scale, a walkable environment.”
While the council’s action focused on adding housing, the adopted zone changes also aim to encourage development of new hotels by relaxing height limits for new hotel applications. Burt and Mayor Ed Lauing both talked about the value of new hotels, both for accommodating visitors and for generating transient tax revenues for the city. The council directed planning staff to allow heights of up to 85 feet for new hotels in the focus zones.
“I think the hotel is a different animal from office and other kinds of commercial,” Lauing said.
