Builder seeks to put 100 apartments on industrial site near Mountain View border

Palo Alto's housing vision has yet to win state approval, but its most ambitious policy — the transformation of an industrial zone on the city's southern edge into a residential hub — has received new momentum last week when a local property owner filed an application to build a seven-story building. building of 100 apartments on Fabian Way.

Sand Hill Property Company's proposal would demolish two single-story commercial buildings that currently house an auto repair shop, cleaning service and flooring contractor to construct a seven-story building with 100 apartments at 4105 Fabian Way, near East Charleston Road. Fifteen of the units would be designated as below-market-level apartments for residents earning 80 percent or less of the area median income, according to the application.

The proposal is part of a wave of recent projects that developers hope to build around San Antonio Road, a thoroughfare that separates Palo Alto and Mountain View and in some ways illustrates the two cities' different approaches to development. Mountain View adopted an area plan in 2019 that encourages mixed-use projects and pedestrian amenities along San Antonio. The area's largest development is the San Antonio Center, which includes housing, retail, offices and a movie theater.

On the Palo Alto side, the area remains primarily commercial and industrial, although it also includes residential communities such as Moldaw Residences and the Greenhouse 1 and Greenhouse 2 condominium developments near Middlefield Road.

But this is changing as the city council moves forward with plans to encourage the construction of more than 2,000 homes, around a third of its entire housing stock, in the south of the city. 'by 2030. In May, the Palo Alto City Council approved a project for 75 condominiums at 800 San Antonio Road. The project would sit next to a 102-unit apartment complex at 788 San Antonio Road that the council approved last year.

The city is also reviewing a 198-apartment complex that developer Acclaim Companies is trying to build at 762 San Antonio Road by invoking “builder's remedy,” a state code provision that applies to cities without approved housing plans and which allows builders to effectively ignore most zoning regulations and local design standards. Another such project in the works is a proposal from developer Jeff Farrar for 350 apartments at 3997 Fabian Way.

The Sand Hill Property project isn’t just the builder’s solution: The developer is also seeking various exemptions from local zoning rules. The 79-foot-tall building, for example, would exceed the city’s 60-foot height limit for the site. It would occupy 87 percent of the lot, exceeding the local limit of 70 percent, and would violate existing building setback rules. While the building would normally be required to have a 20-foot front setback (the distance from the sidewalk to the building itself), the proposed design would have no setback, though it would maintain a sidewalk width of 10 to 13 feet. feet, depending on the application.

For Palo Alto City Council members, the wave of housing projects represents both a welcome opportunity and a daunting challenge. The city needs to plan for 6,086 new housing units by 2030, and recent projects go some way to validating the council's approach to focusing much of that growth on the area around San Antonio. Yet council members also regularly acknowledge that this part of the city lags woefully behind when it comes to amenities like public transportation, bike facilities, parks and commercial space.

To address these shortcomings, the city recently commissioned a group of urban planning students from California Polytechnic State University to create a plan for a segment of San Antonio between Middlefield Road and U.S. Highway 101. The plan the students presented to the council in March calls for a mix of housing types, ranging from single-family homes to apartment buildings with densities of 30 to 40 units per acre. It also includes a protected bike path along San Antonio Road, a new park just west of U.S. Highway 101.

Council members recognized during the March 18 discussion of the San Antonio plan that the area needed more amenities to become a true community.

“We don't want to just crowd people into his hallway,” council member Pat Burt said during the hearing.

Now the city is embarking on a larger, longer and more expensive planning effort for the San Antonio highway corridor. On June 20, the city issued a request for proposals for an area plan for the San Antonio Highway Corridor – similar to what Mountain View approved in 2019. According to the city's request for proposals, the plan will establish “infrastructure and other improvements that will support the redevelopment of the area surrounding San Antonio Road.”

The area plan will take between two years and 30 months. Its components should include the creation of neighborhoods accessible on foot and by bicycle; improve access to schools, retail and other places of interest; improve level crossings at major intersections; improve open space; and encourage economic vitality. Palo Alto plans to choose a consultant to guide this effort later this year.

The lack of a master plan in effect today requires the council to evaluate each project on an ad hoc basis to determine whether to approve requested zoning variances. At the May hearing at 800 San Antonio Road, Deputy Mayor Ed Lauing acknowledged that until such a plan is in place, the council will not have clear guidelines for evaluating new projects in terms of open space, bicycle safety and other necessary improvements.

“It's a problem. We don't have a master plan for the San Antonio area,” Lauing said. “We have a wish list.”

Sand Hill Property Company's new project would include residential amenities such as bicycle storage on the ground floor and second floor. There would be a club room and fitness center in the outdoor courtyard and a roof terrace on the top floor, which the application said would establish “an integrated indoor-outdoor environment for residents.” It would include 86 one-bedroom units and 14 studios, depending on demand.

The project also invokes Senate Bill 330, which streamlines the approval process and prohibits the city from changing zoning and design rules in ways that would create barriers to proposed development.

“The project would not only provide housing for the City of Palo Alto, but also define neighborhood density for future developments,” the application states. “Within walking distance to several community parks, shopping centers and bus routes, there is no better location for high-density housing. »

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