The College Terrace Residents Association has a group of board members known as “observers” who monitor relevant public meetings and news in their assigned area and then report back to the entire board on pertinent local actions and issues of interest to College Terrace. This month, we have an update from our Stanford observer.
Stanford
GUP/Development Agreement
On goes the continuing saga!
At the May 9 Planning Commission study session, Stanford submitted a letter requesting that the upcoming Planning Commission hearings be postponed until after the development agreement has been negotiated. It appears that they would rather negotiate everything behind closed doors rather than in public and feel that the summary of proposed Conditions of Approval released in March are heading in a direction that is “unworkable and infeasible.”
The full Conditions of Approval have just been released and are available on the County’s new website covering the GUP: CountyStanford.info. The site also has lots more good information about the process.
Last fall when the Board agreed that the Development Agreement discussion could begin concurrently with the GUP process, they were very clear that it would not take precedence over the GUP itself. The conditions of approval are things that the County can require by law. Anything negotiated in the development agreement would be an addition to that.
The current County Planning Commission meeting schedule is set as:
- May 23 – Conditions of Approval Released
- May 30 – 1st Public Hearing, 6:00 p.m. Palo Alto City Council Chambers
- June 13 – 2nd Public Hearing, 1:30 p.m., County Building, San Jose
- June 27 – 3rd Public Hearing, 1:30 p.m., County Building, San Jose
It is crucial that as many of us as possible attend the May 30th meeting. Supervisor Simitian is pushing for full mitigation of all impacts and it seems likely that Stanford will not be pleased by that. Since most of the Commissioners are from other areas of the county, it’s important that we have a good attendance so they understand that we care about this issue. If we aren’t there, they may be swayed by whatever Stanford says.
There will be “full mitigation” stickers for folks to wear at the meeting. Please be there, and pick up a sticker, even if you don’t wish to speak.
The Board of Supervisors discussions are expected to begin in September.
As I anticipated last month, the Historic Heritage Commission did take action to advise that the Environmental Impact Report be certified (with respect to protections of historic structures) with the inclusion of the recommended condition of approval to require ongoing evaluations of resources over 50 years old.
As regards the San Juan neighborhood, the HLUET (Housing Land Use, Environment and Transportation Committee) requested that the County Staff report back in June with next steps, a timeline, and a public input process for conducting a zoning study and historic review study of the faculty subdivision. The committee concluded that the CRG was not the appropriate way to provide public input but perhaps that a limited-term group of residents could serve that need.
Stanford Development in College Terrace
It appears that the code enforcement request to the City regarding the use of 757/739 College Ave as a storage yard (mentioned last month) has had some effect… There is some progress being made: excavation and forms for the foundations have been done.
–Pria Graves