Spurred by a legal challenge from a downtown developer, Palo Alto leaders on Monday gave the go-ahead on a new six-story parking garage at the corner of Hamilton Avenue and Waverley Street with an adjacent plaza that could eventually become affordable housing. The vote closed the loop on a decade-long plan for the city to...
Bay Area’s first ‘living levee’ opens at Palo Alto Baylands
A cool breeze swept through Palo Alto’s Baylands Nature Preserve as local and federal representatives opened the Bay Area’s first nature-based horizontal levee — a project officials hope protects against rising sea levels and helps filter wastewater going into the bay, while boosting the native marshland ecosystem. Dozens of representatives from various agencies, from Palo...
Mountain View pilots AI translation services at public meetings
Access to Mountain View City Council meetings is expanding, with the city launching a pilot program that allows residents to follow along in more than 60 languages. Mountain View is testing out Wordly, an artificial intelligence-powered service that provides real-time audio and text translation on personal devices. It debuted at an Environmental Planning Commission meeting last...
Palo Alto scales back rail redesign plans amid rising costs
After more than a decade of designing, debating and dreaming of grade separation at three local rail crossings, Palo Alto’s elected leaders are preparing to narrow their scope and focus their energy on one location: Charleston Road. Formally, the City Council remains committed to exploring grade separation on Charleston, East Meadow Drive and Churchill Avenue....
Mountain View developer reduces affordable homes in builder’s remedy project
Plans for a seven-story condominium development in Mountain View took an unexpected turn last week after the developer submitted a last-minute proposal to reduce the number of affordable homes for the project. Community Development Director Christian Murdock held a Sept. 2 public hearing for a 216-condo project that is poised to replace 29 rent-controlled apartments on...
Silicon Valley public transit service strengthens rider code of conduct
Caltrain just got its first passenger code of conduct, hoping to make behavior expectations more transparent for rowdy riders. The Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board, Caltrain’s governing body, unanimously approved the commuter rail service’s code of conduct at its Thursday meeting. Officials said doing so will bring Caltrain up to speed with peer transit agencies and...
Palo Alto officials mull new RV restrictions
Palo Alto took a measured step last month toward addressing the recent influx of oversized vehicles on local streets when it designated two streets for long-term RV parking next March as part of a new permit pilot program. But based on numbers from city staff and residents, that would still leave around 100 RVs on...
Mountain View City Council candidates square off at forum
Ahead of the November election, the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce held a recent forum to give voters an early look at the policy positions of eight candidates vying for a seat on the City Council. The three candidates who win the most votes Nov. 3 will get the chance to weigh in on top...
Palo Alto nears critical juncture in rail redesign plan
After more than a decade of debating and designing, Palo Alto is approaching a critical juncture in its plan to redesign the rail corridor, a critical and complex project with a price tag that now hovers above $1.5 billion, according to new projections from the city and Caltrain. The City Council is getting ready to...
Palo Alto backs away from plan to let RVs remain in neighborhoods
Palo Alto officials deferred a controversial pilot program on Monday that would have concentrated occupied RVs on certain streets in south Palo Alto, following significant uproar from residents. The City Council unanimously approved the other half of the two-pronged approach and will create a pilot parking permit program for RVs on Coyote Hill Road in...