The Palo Alto City Council unanimously approved plans tonight (March 16) for the city’s first housing development east of Highway 101, over some concerns over how children at the 145 townhouses will get to and from school.
All seven council members said they want city transportation officials to look at ways school-aged children who will live at the development at 2100 Geng Road will be able to safely get around.
Future students will have to use the bike and pedestrian bridges that span over Highway 101 near Oregon Expressway and Newell Road, but they are not near the development, and East Bayshore Road isn’t the most bike-friendly road, Councilman Pat Burt said.
Councilman Keith Reckdahl also pointed out that as the crow flies, Edgewood Market is not terribly far from the new project, but likely would not be easy to walk or bike to without a new pedestrian bridge connecting the new neighborhood with the shopping center.
“At some point…we should rethink what amenities and transportation options we can offer there so these residents are not on an island,” Councilman George Lu said.
Reckdahl and other council members said the city ought to prepare for when other developers begin to propose housing on the east side of 101, similar to Strada Investment Group’s project.
This project will replace four office buildings and surface parking with 65 three-story buildings with three to four bedrooms in each of the 145 townhouses. The project was proposed through the “Builder’s Remedy,” a provision in state law that allows developers to ignore local rules on height in densities in cities without a state-approved housing plan.
Great news! Many thanks to our Palo Alto City Council, which voted unanimously to approve 145 new town homes. We need them!
Given global warming and rising seas, Is building new homes in a flood plain a prudent decision? Will tax payers be paying for more “flood control” of a development that will experience flood related issues as our seas rise? Will the bottom floor be parking only to mitigate flood damage? There are a lot of questions I don’t believe the city council addressed. What about the fireworks across the creek? Fire department nearby? police services?
The builder will elevate the grade with multiple feet of soil. Four different government bodies spent years investigating this type of issue, and properly concluded the homes will be safe.
Query: what do you mean by “fireworks across the creek”?
We do need more housing