After fiercely opposing a recently approved development with 10 condominiums on an adjacent lot, the owners of Town & Country Village are now looking to build a pair of seven-story apartment buildings on a parking lot next to the shopping center. Real estate investor Ellis Partners, which bought the property in 2004, filed a pre-application...
Palo Alto faces glaring concerns over new ‘dark sky’ law
Hoping to turn down the lights at night to protect wildlife and reduce glare from neighboring properties, Palo Alto officials are set to adopt a “dark sky” ordinance with a broader reach and more stringent requirements than the law they were mulling earlier this year. In doing so, however, they are confronting two key challenges....
Palo Alto seeks more housing on downtown lot project
For a body historically known for paring down housing development proposals, the Palo Alto City Council this week overwhelmingly put its support behind a proposal for 72 affordable housing units on a downtown surface parking lot, an increase of 18 compared to the initial design that it had endorsed in January. The original plans from...
Palo Alto approves contracts to rebuild Mitchell Park fire station
Palo Alto has reached another milestone in its quest to rebuild the Mitchell Park fire station with the City Council approving a series of contracts totaling more than $13 million for a project that has long been viewed by city leaders as a key infrastructure priority. By a unanimous vote, the council approved on Oct....
Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital in Palo Alto to reduce workforce
Citing financial challenges and economic uncertainty, the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital is preparing to reduce its workforce by 87 positions in December, according to a notification that the Palo Alto medical institution filed with the state this week. The hospital at 725 Welch Road submitted on Oct. 10 a notice with the state Department of...
Palo Alto buries power lines, boosts education to lower wildfire risks
For Palo Alto Fire Chief Geo Blackshire, the best type of home to come across during a fire is an empty one. It’s even better when the residents have also left their home adequately prepared for the risk of fire by keeping vegetation several feet away from the exterior. “I can go on and on...
Palo Alto celebrates new bike lanes, few appear to use them
State and local officials on Monday celebrated the completion of the suddenly popular but sparsely used bike lanes on El Camino Real with a ribbon-cutting ceremony that was attended by dozens of cyclists and advocates for safer streets. City officials from Mountain View, Los Altos and Palo Alto voiced their appreciation for the project’s completion...
Commission doubles down on limiting Palo Alto Commons expansion
The divisive expansion of the Palo Alto Commons assisted living facility was once again scaled back by members of the Planning and Transportation Commission, which on Wednesday signed off on just seven additional units despite City Council direction to nearly double that number. It’s the second time the commission has arrived at the number of...
Palo Alto looks to add tunnels across tracks for cyclists, pedestrians
Palo Alto is weighing eight options, seven of which are tunnels, for bicyclists and pedestrians to have a safer way to cross the Caltrain tracks between the California Avenue and San Antonio stops. City staff must now pare down the list from eight to two before returning to the Planning and Transportation Commission in November...
She puts the Lord in ‘vanlord.’ Palo Alto wants to ban her business
Kate Bridget Li is not a typical landlord. Instead of apartments or homes, she rents out half a dozen RVs that are parked on the street in the East Meadow neighborhood of Palo Alto. She also says she isn’t in it to make money — at least, not for herself. “When Lord God called me...