paloaltomatters

City Budget – a view of the forest through the trees

by paloaltomattersJune 25, 2017December 19, 2017Leave a comment

Palo Alto Matters – June 25, 2017

City Council will review and approve Palo Alto’s fiscal year 2018 Budget on June 27, before adjourning for a six week summer recess.

Most City decisions involve trade-offs that affect future opportunities, but in deliberating over specific issues throughout the year, it can be difficult to see the forest through the trees. The city Budget shines light on the intersection of those decisions and their cumulative effect as well as the overarching liabilities that constrain them.

This special Budget edition of Palo Alto Matters draws your attention to big picture questions about where we’re headed, explains the bottom line numbers and points to some specific issues of concern in the alignment of values and strategies.

Rate hikes aim to shake up Palo Alto’s parking scene

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

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

Drivers face sharp fee increases for permits at downtown and California Avenue garages

The start of a new fiscal year rarely causes a stir in Palo Alto, where a healthy economy has helped the City Council invest in new bike boulevards, fire stations and garages without cutting any services.

But while residents are unlikely to see earth-shattering changes on July 1, when fiscal year 2018 begins, commuters to downtown and California Avenue could be in for an eye-popping shock.

Is PAUSD the City’s Single Top Revenue Source?

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

Palo Alto Matters – Guest Commentary by Eric Filseth / June 11, 2017

Palo Alto City Council Member, Finance Committee Chair

Outlandish as it sounds, there’s actually a line of thinking for this.

Sales taxes are many cities’ largest revenue source, and they’re a major contributor in Palo Alto as well: normally about 15% of our General Fund, with the Stanford Shopping Center usually being our largest single contributor, last year about $5.5 million.

But in Palo Alto, our lead revenue source is actually property taxes, at about 20% of our General Fund. Most of our property tax revenue – about 75%, or $30 million for FY2018 – is residential. This is partly because our commercial base stays low (basically loopholes in Prop 13), but mostly because Palo Alto residential property values are high; and residential property values are influenced by school districts.

Plan for ‘car-light’ development on El Camino draws mixed reviews

by paloaltomattersJune 19, 2017December 19, 2017Leave a comment

Palo Alto Weekly – by Gennady Sheyner / June 19, 2017

Palo Alto officials support having housing on busy intersection but wary of parking impacts

Few projects epitomize the hopes of Palo Alto’s housing advocates and the anxieties of the city’s land-use watchdogs as clearly as 2755 El Camino Real, a four-story housing project proposed for the busy intersection of Page Mill Road and El Camino Real.

Wolbach and Fine oppose planning for school impacts from city growth

by paloaltomattersJune 15, 2017March 3, 2019Leave a comment

Palo Alto Matters – May 13, 2017

Maintaining the quality of schools and the sufficiency of local infrastructure to support them are of paramount importance to the Palo Alto community. Nevertheless, the current City Council has shown little interest in either planning to ensure that schools can support Palo Alto’s rate of growth or regulating land uses to accommodate future school expansions.

Instead, the Council majority frequently cites PAUSD’s current decline in elementary enrollment as excuse not to worry about how city growth will impact schools in the future. On May 1, Councilmembers Wolbach and Fine went further, opposing a longstanding City policy to consider school enrollment impacts in land use planning. They argued that school impacts should not be considered at all in the City’s land use decision-making, regardless of current or future enrollment, because doing so could restrain development, making Palo Alto “unwelcoming” to newcomers.

Marriott hotels approved in south Palo Alto

by paloaltomattersJune 13, 2017December 19, 2017Leave a comment

Palo Alto Weekly – by Gennady Sheyner / June 13, 2017

Plan to bring 294 hotel rooms to San Antonio Road scores a victory

Palo Alto rolled out the welcome mat on Monday night to two new Marriott hotels, which won the City Council’s approval despite heated opposition from the surrounding neighborhood.

By an 8-1 vote, with Councilwoman Lydia Kou dissenting, the council approved a proposal by T2 development for two hotels — a sleek and urban AC Hotels by Marriott and the more traditional Courtyard by Marriott — for a site at 744 and 748 San Antonio Road, near the Mountain View city border.

Five-story hotels approved on San Antonio Road over neighbors’ objections

by paloaltomattersJune 13, 2017September 15, 2017Leave a comment

Palo Alto Daily Post – by Jen Nowell / June 13, 2017

Palo Alto City Council approved a proposal last night (June 12) to build two new five-story hotels, despite stringent opposition from neighbors over fears that they would aggravate traffic problems.

Residents told council last night that the traffic on San Antonio Road is already a nightmare. Warren Storkman said his 90th birthday is next month, and he pleaded with council to give him a present by not approving the hotels planned for 744-748 San Antonio Road.

But council voted 8-1, with Councilwoman Lydia Kou dissenting, to approve the project.

Board approves two Marriott hotels for San Antonio Road

by paloaltomattersJune 2, 2017December 19, 2017Leave a comment

Palo Alto Weekly – by Gennady Sheyner / June 2, 2017

Architectural Review Board supports new designs for Courtyard and AC hotels in south Palo Alto

Despite a swell of neighborhood opposition, a proposal to build two five-story Marriott hotels on San Antonio Road scored a big victory Thursday morning when Palo Alto’s Architectural Review Board voted to endorse the project.

Palo Alto mulls ways to strengthen code enforcement

by paloaltomattersMay 19, 2017December 19, 2017Leave a comment

Palo Alto Weekly – by Gennady Sheyner / May 19, 2017

City auditor to review program as survey shows increasing citizen concern

The most recent National Citizens Survey, which came out in January, shows only 52 percent of the city’s residents rating code enforcement as “good or excellent” — though most respondents also noted that they had not personally observed any code violation.

“Young guns” out of step with community – Editorial

by paloaltomattersMay 13, 2017October 21, 2018Leave a comment

Palo Alto Matters – May 13, 2017

Councilmembers Wolbach, Tanaka and Fine have stretched their wings as part of the new Council majority with policy proposals that would worsen the city’s jobs/housing imbalance and shift parking and traffic burdens to residents. Along the way, they have employed tactics that sidestep City staff, exclude public input and forego opportunities for compromise, undermining public trust and repeatedly raising widespread and vocal community concern.