Council opts for eight-story buildings around San Antonio

BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer

The majority of Palo Alto City Council wants to allow eight-story buildings on the southern end of the city — taller than the city’s historic height limit but well short of the 20-story buildings offered by planners.

Councilmen Ed Lauing and Pat Burt said tonight (April 6) they would stick with six stories because they’re worried about traffic around San Antonio Road, where the city is planning for thousands of new homes.

“It’s already gridlock,” Lauing said tonight (April 6).

Councilwoman Julie Lythcott-Haims was open to high rises up to 20 stories along Highway 101.

“I’m more interested in going up to get the units we need from height and create more spaces for parkland and trees,” she said.

Vice Mayor Greer Stone said eight stories, or 90 feet, is “probably the magic number here.” He said 250-foot buildings would be out-of-character with the surroundings.

“It’d be a significant policy change in the city — one I’m not willing to embrace,” Stone said.

Councilman Keith Reckdahl, Mayor Vicki Veenker and Councilman George Lu agreed with Stone about going to 90 feet around San Antonio Road, with some openness to going taller than that.

Palo Alto’s tallest building is a 15-story, 237-foot office center at 525 University Ave. City Hall is 122 feet.

Depending on the new height limit, the city is planning for 3,800 to 7,400 new homes over the next 25 years in a 275-acre planning area around San Antonio Road.

The 90-foot option makes the most financial sense for developers because they can use wood to construct eight-story buildings, and high rises use steel, Senior Planner Robert Cain said.

Several south Palo Alto residents wrote to council to ask for a 60-foot limit and complain that housing will be concentrated near them.

Council approved a 50-foot height limit in September 1973, city records show. But new state laws over the last decade have forced the city to allow taller buildings, particularly when developers include subsidized housing.

Developers have already turned in plans for eight-story buildings at 788 and 800 San Antonio Road.

Council members tonight also discussed creating parks, bike lanes and retail for future residents.

“Overall this is a really bad place to live right now, but I think down the place it could be a really great place to live,” Reckdahl said.