paloaltomatters

Contractor errs, sells too many parking permits

by paloaltomattersSeptember 8, 2017December 19, 2017Leave a comment

Palo Alto Weekly – by Gennady Sheyner / September 8, 2017

More downtown employees than intended bought permits in five residential areas closest to central downtown

An error in implementing downtown Palo Alto’s evolving Residential Preferential Parking program, which aims to eventually stop commuters from parking in residential neighborhoods, caused the exact opposite to happen this summer: Too many permits were sold to employees wanting to park their cars in five out the area’s 10 parking zones.

Palo Alto relaxes limit on office development

by paloaltomattersSeptember 6, 2017December 19, 2017Leave a comment

Palo Alto Weekly – by Gennady Sheyner / September 6, 2017

Split council votes to give developers more flexibility, scraps ‘beauty contest’

After two years of sluggish commercial growth, the Palo Alto City Council moved Tuesday to loosen the city’s cap on office development so as to give builders more flexibility.

The City Council largely agreed that the city’s cap on office and research-and-development projects has been largely successful — for some, a little too much so. Adopted in October 2015, the cap applied to three prominent commercial areas — downtown, the California Avenue business district and along El Camino Real — and limited new development in these areas to 50,000 square feet per year.

Appeals Court nixes FAA flight-path changes in early court test

by paloaltomattersSeptember 1, 2017December 19, 2017Leave a comment

Palo Alto Weekly – by Sue Dremann / August 30, 2017

‘NextGen’ procedures and routes overturned in Phoenix, Arizona; locals studying implications for Palo Alto

A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday overturned the Federal Aviation Administration’s controversial rerouting of flight paths in Phoenix, Arizona, calling the agency’s approval of its NextGen flight-procedures program at Sky Harbor International Airport “arbitrary and capricious.”

Lawsuit blocks Measure B funds

by paloaltomattersAugust 30, 2017December 19, 2017Leave a comment

Mountain View Voice – by Mark Noack / August 30, 2017

Local transit projects delayed by legal challenge

Santa Clara County’s new Measure B sales tax has already collected tens of millions of dollars for a multitude of transportation upgrades, but that money is now embargoed from being spent.

An appellate lawsuit filed by Mountain View attorney Gary Wesley on behalf of Saratoga resident Cheriel Jensen is blocking the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority from spending any of the $6.5 billion in revenues expected to come from the new tax. For local communities, this means a series of crucial projects — such as plan for Caltrain grade separation and new bikeways — could be on hold for up to two years before the suit is resolved.

How to avoid a train wreck – doing grade separations right

by paloaltomattersAugust 29, 2017December 19, 2017Leave a comment

Palo Alto Matters – Guest Commentary by Pat Burt / September 1, 2017

Former Mayor of Palo Alto

The city council is scheduled this Tuesday to decide on the process for designing railroad grade separations across Palo Alto, but the current plan for the decision-making runs a high risk of running the project off the tracks. While debate over “process” can make most folks eyes glaze over, how we come to agreement as a community on the design for this very complicated and expensive project is critical to its success.

El Camino plan offers hope to Palo Alto’s housing advocates

by paloaltomattersAugust 29, 2017December 19, 2017Leave a comment

Palo Alto Weekly – by Gennady Sheyner / August 29, 2017

City Council lauds development plan from Palo Alto Housing; considers rule changes to stimulate more housing

Palo Alto’s elected leaders found plenty to like on Monday in a new proposal to bring 61 units of desperately needed affordable housing to a transit-friendly site in the Ventura neighborhood.

There’s just one serious problem: it would violate the zoning code in more ways than they can count.

Survey shows fewer downtown workers driving alone

by paloaltomattersAugust 24, 2017December 19, 2017Leave a comment

Palo Alto Weekly – by Gennady Sheyner / August 24, 2017

Palo Alto Transportation Management Association sees signs of hope for getting employees to carpool, take transit

They serve food, wash dishes, staff shops and hotels and play a leading role in keeping downtown Palo Alto buzzing for residents, employees and visitors.

But as the city rolls out its effort to fight traffic congestion, downtown’s service employees also represent the biggest obstacle and toughest challenge. While many tech workers and City Hall employees have embraced Caltrain and ride-share options like Lyft and Scoop in recent years, the vast majority of the employees in the service sector reported last year that they drove alone to work, according to a survey commissioned by the Palo Alto Transportation Management Association, a nonprofit charged with getting people out of cars and into other modes of transit.

That, however, may be slowly changing. A more recent survey, conducted in May and June, shows the percentage of service workers reporting that they drove alone had dipped from 80 percent in 2016 to 70 percent.

Audit finds errors in hundreds of water bills

by paloaltomattersAugust 23, 2017December 19, 2017Leave a comment

Palo Alto Weekly – by Gennady Sheyner / August 23, 2017

City of Palo Alto Utilities did not accurately record sizes of water meters in bills, prompting more than 500 errors

Hundreds of water customers in Palo Alto received erroneous bills after the city failed to accurately record the size of their water meters, according a new audit from the office of City Auditor Harriet Richardson.

In south Palo Alto, a battle is brewing

by paloaltomattersAugust 20, 2017December 19, 2017Leave a comment

Palo Alto Weekly – by Jocelyn Dong / August 20, 2017

Plan for hotel on El Camino Real encounters vocal opposition from neighbors

The 51,600-square-foot project would be shaped like a U with a row of three-story townhomes on the north side stretching from El Camino back toward the rear of the property, the hotel lobby fronting El Camino, and a 50-foot-tall hotel wing to the south reaching from El Camino to the rear.

Guest Opinion: A roadway Odyssey

by paloaltomattersAugust 18, 2017December 19, 2017Leave a comment

Palo Alto Weekly – Guest Opinion by Evelyn Preston / August 18, 2017

Palo Alto-style A former teacher gives a glimpse into Palo Alto life by traveling around town

While some of my friends binge on their second safaris, cruise European canals or time-share in Hawaii, I consider a trip to downtown Palo Alto an equally grand adventure. For someone living in south Palo Alto, a crosstown sojourn requires strategic planning. Snail-like speed limits, packed parking and a rotating landscape of shops and restaurants present pioneer-like obstacles: The time it takes mirrors the forty-niners’ trek West; the lengthening queues of cars lined up at lights make their own modern wagon train.