CTRA Meeting on Teacher Housing Proposal at 231 Grant Ave.

On Wednesday, December 2nd at 7pm, the CTRA is hosting a community information meeting on the proposed development of teacher and school employee housing at 231 Grant Avenue. This is across the street from the county courthouse, just a couple blocks off California Avenue.

Micaela Hellman-Tincher from Supervisor Joe Simitian’s office and Sarah Chaffin from the Mercy Housing and Abode Communities Team are excited to share details about this development and answer any questions. They’re looking for community feedback as the development process begins.

The meeting will be held via Zoom. To RSVP, email ctra-president@collegeterrace.org. You’ll receive a link to join the event before it begins on Wednesday, December 2nd at 7pm.

231 Grant Avenue Proposal: An Overview

Mercy Housing California and Abode Communities are working in conjunction with the County of Santa Clara, represented by County Supervisor Joe Simitian, Facebook, the City of Palo Alto, and participating school districts in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties to develop new housing on a county-owned site. The property, located at 231 Grant Avenue in Palo Alto, offers an exciting opportunity to create new high-quality, and much needed, rental housing affordable for teachers, school employees, and their families. This new community will include approximately 110 units of studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments, amenity spaces, and landscaped gardens.

Commitment to Community Involvement

231 Grant is in the initial phase of engaging the surrounding community. Mercy Housing California and Abode Communities are committed to incorporating the local community into the development process through meetings with neighbors, neighborhood associations, and local leaders, as well as public meetings and regular written and electronic communications. In addition, they are collaborating with local teachers and school employees from San Mateo and Santa Clara County School Districts, including Los Altos, Palo Alto, Mountain View Whisman, Mountain View Los Altos, and the Foothill-De Anza Community College District. In observance of health guidelines related to COVID-19, Mercy Housing and Abode will solicit community input through virtual meetings, email, regular mail, and the 231 Grant website (in development).

Join the Stanford Community Plan Stakeholder Group

The County of Santa Clara Department of Planning and Development has begun the Stanford University Community Plan Update process and is starting initial community outreach including meetings with stakeholder groups, including neighborhood groups.

The planners would like to set up a stakeholder meeting soon to receive your input on the Community Plan Update. If you would like to be part of this stakeholder group, please email skwon@m-group.us with your contact information.

By way of background, the Stanford lands located within unincorporated Santa Clara County are governed by the goals, policies, and programs in the Stanford Community Plan (“Community Plan”) that is part of the Santa Clara County General Plan. The Community Plan was adopted by the County Board of Supervisors in 2000, and most recently amended in 2015. The Community Plan update is the first phase of planned work to update the overall County General Plan.

The Community Plan update will consist of background, data, and policy updates to the seven elements of the Community Plan: Growth and Development, Land Use, Housing, Circulation, Open Space, Resource Conservation, and Health and Safety. The project will also include preparation of a Municipal Services Study, Childcare Study, and a Graduate Student Housing Affordability Study to inform the updates to the Community Plan.

Visit the project website at StanfordCommunityPlanUpdate.org for more information.

New Market Coming to College Terrace Centre

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Is the third time the charm? A new grocery store plans to open at College Terrace Centre before the end of the year. Run by Khaled Taffi and his partners, Real Produce Market will fill the space previously occupied by the College Terrace Market and Khoury’s Market. Teffi runs two wholesale produce businesses in the area, as well as another retail grocery store in San Jose.

As the name suggests, Real Produce plans to offer locally sourced produce (with a focus on organic) and as well as groceries and specialty items from near and far. In addition, there will be a deli, butcher, grab and go area, fresh flowers and coffee. For further plans, read the city staff’s report recommending approval of the project. It includes a letter from Teffi as well as an overview of the proposed business.

The City Council will vote to approve plans for the market at their Monday, November 16 meeting. Residents are encouraged to send feedback to the council at city.council@cityofpaloalto.org before the meeting.

Around the Terrace: October 27, 2020

Here are some recent announcements and news stories of interest to College Terrace and the surrounding area.

Stanford Community Plan Moving Forward
While Stanford withdrew its updated GUP application last fall, the County is moving forward with updating its Stanford Community Plan and is beginning the process of community outreach, including meetings with local stakeholders and neighborhood groups.

The Community Plan update will consist of background, data, and policy updates to the seven elements of the Community Plan: Growth and Development, Land Use, Housing, Circulation, Open Space, Resource Conservation, and Health and Safety. The project will also include preparation of a Municipal Services Study, Childcare Study, and a Graduate Student Housing Affordability Study to inform the updates to the Community Plan.

Visit the project website at StanfordCommunityPlanUpdate.org for more information or to sign up for updates. Also, the CTRA will be organizing a neighborhood meeting with the planners soon.

Halloween Celebrations Take On Different Look
The Palo Alto Weekly looks at some of the safe alternatives planned locally for Halloween this year, including CT resident Laura Forrest and her “candy chute” on Yale Street. Fun!

Annual AlertSU Test on Thursday at 12:05pm
Stanford will conduct its annual test of its AlertSU system this Thursday around noon. In addition to email alerts, the outdoor warning system will sound an audible tone for about 30 seconds from each of the 7 sirens around campus.

Churchill Rail Crossing and College Terrace

I am a resident of Southgate, reaching out on behalf of a coalition of northern Palo Alto residents who are trying to increase awareness about proposed changes to the rail crossing at Churchill.

You may be aware that the Extended Community Advisory Panel (XCAP), a group of mostly residents, were charged by City Council to arrive at a “consensus recommendation” for grade separations at Churchill, East Meadow, and Charleston.  Through many disruptions, loss of membership, and limitations of funding and information, XCAP spent months studying the alternatives, including two citizen-generated designs.  Our focus has been on the options for the Churchill crossing.

On September 2, XCAP voted 6-3 to recommend that City Council pursue Churchill Closure with Mitigations.

In addition to what we see as the serious limitations of the Traffic Study and mitigation plan on which the feasibility of Closure is based, one of our concerns about the process is the limited engagement of other neighborhoods, including College Terrace, that may be affected by the closure of this route to Alma and Palo Alto west of the tracks.  If you would like to be more informed, there are two things going on right now that might be of interest: 

1) Our coalition is running a short survey that gives people an opportunity to weigh in on the alternatives for grade separation at Churchill.  The survey is accompanied by an informational email describing the designs and giving links to images, engineering drawings, etc. for those who want to know more.  (You may have seen some of this if you visited the Virtual Town Hall last month.)

Visit https://sites.google.com/view/neighborhood-survey/home to read the letter and access the survey.

2) We are holding the second of two Zoom meetings this Saturday at 10am for a moderated dialogue with City Council candidates Ed Lauing, Steven Lee, Greer Stone, and Raven Malone.  The goals for the meeting are twofold: 1) to share concerns about the City’s process and the impacts of a possible closure of Churchill; and 2) to learn about candidates’ approaches to this important issue.  Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions via chat.  Use the Zoom coordinates below to join us:

https://ESnet.zoom.us/j/99448261250?pwd=QzhGakhNZjA1L2p1cUk5ZFltWjFoZz09

Meeting ID: 994 4826 1250
Passcode: 584913
One tap mobile
+16465588656,,99448261250# US (New York)
+16699006833,,99448261250# US (San Jose)

To see a recording of last week’s Zoom meeting with Pat Burt, Lydia Kou, and Rebecca Eisenberg, follow this link: https://ESnet.zoom.us/rec/share/S-mXuPqEpQyZTAXgfGsxzFr4TCinD4O8_eUEVXgMH1yluRB4ZC0seTjBBOMMpl62.L8O8VhTIfBVK0WCM
Access Passcode: 1zpJ+rVN

Feel free to contact me, Susan Newman, at snewman@workpractice.com if you have questions or would like to be included in future updates.