BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
Palo Alto City Council tonight (April 20) ordered the owner of the old Stanford Terrace Inn to demolish her buildings on El Camino Real because they’re a fire risk.
Fire Marshal Tamara Jasso said the block-long buildings at 531 Stanford Ave. would burn hot and fast, threatening nearby homes.
“We would not want to send firefighters into the building in the event of a fire,” Jasso told council.
The buildings were boarded two years ago when the city learned owner Sophia Huang was renting the rooms out to Stanford graduate students.
Emergency exits were blocked, ceilings were lined with plastic film, electrical wiring was corroded and a balcony was at risk of collapse, Jasso said.
In response, Huang’s attorney Brian O’Neill said the city has exaggerated violations, and many issues have been fixed or can be fixed.
Huang wants to demolish the buildings but not until she has a permit to develop new housing, and the city has targeted her because she didn’t respond to a letter about using the hotel as a homeless shelter, O’Neill said.
Next-door neighbor Rosita Wong said she’s scared someone will ignite the buildings with a cigarette.
“Any delay to demolition is gambling with human lives,” Wong told council.
Jasso referenced a fire at the old Compadres Mexican Bar and Grill at 3877 El Camino Real, where a squatter was arrested for arson in November 2018.
Jasso said the city discovered bedding and feces in boxes at the Stanford Terrace Inn three times, indicating someone has been living there.
O’Neill said Huang added fences to prevent more trespassers. He accused the city of slow-walking 10 separate applications to build housing, but Planning Director Jonathan Lait pushed back.
“We haven’t seen a solid, serious application come in yet,” Lait said.
The city started looking into the Stanford Terrace Inn in September 2023 after firefighters responded to a medical call and saw corroded sprinklers and broken alarms.
The city made all of the tenants move out, and Huang had to pay relocation assistance equaling two months of rent.
Chief Building Official George Hoyt issued a demolition order on Oct. 17.
“Demolition is not only warranted but required by law,” Hoyt said in a statement.
Huang appealed to council. With tonight’s unanimous vote, she will have until Oct. 20 to demolish the buildings.
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