Update on Buena Vista Mobile Home Park

Lynnie Melena and Art Liberman

At the October meeting of the Barron Park Association Board, the Board voted to host a community meeting on the proposed redevelopment of the Buena Vista Mobile Home Park (on Los Robles near El Camino). The purpose of the community meeting would be to have the developer present his proposal and for the City to provide information on the zoning regulations and review process. The meeting would also address issues related to closing the mobile home park—which would be necessary for the redevelopment to go forward.

On Monday, October 29, we met with the two representatives from Prometheus Development, Jon Moss and Nathan Tuttle, to discuss the idea of a community meeting in Barron Park—which Prometheus is generally open to. However, the mobile home closure process, which they are not directly participating in, comes first.

According to Jon Moss, and as confirmed by Planning Director Curtis Williams, Mr. Jisser, who owns the property, has just recently filed an application with the City to start the mobile home closure process per the City ordinance. Williams said that the City will be sending a (bilingual) letter to the residents informing them of the application and the next steps, and that the applicant intends to schedule a few meetings with the residents to respond to questions (reportedly “in the next month”). The meetings are not required by the ordinance, but City staff will attend the meetings.

Since the meetings with tenants are likely to be held in November, and could answer many questions about the mobile home ordinance closure process, the BPA-sponsored community meeting will not be held until after the first of the year. We are hoping that the City will not schedule its planned study session until after the community meeting.

BV Park Closure Process. According to Planning Director Williams, the City’s Mobile Home Park Ordinance requires the preparation of a Relocation Impact Report to be prepared by a relocation specialist and an appraiser approved by the City. The specialist must meet individually with each resident/family and the appraiser must determine the value of each unit and then they prepare a Relocation Impact Report that the City reviews.

Relocation assistance must be provided to current tenants. Within 60 days following completeness, the City will hold a hearing on the adequacy of the RIR and appraisal and relocation approach. The decision can be appealed to the City Council, which would then make the final determination. Once a final action is taken, a minimum of six months is allowed for relocation. The City expects the entire process to take a year, at least.

Current Project – Status: The proposed development project is the construction of 187 rental units in a cluster of 2, 3 and 4-story buildings, with the tallest buildings in the center of the site. This number of units would require a zone change from RM-15 to RM-40, as well as other City approvals.   Prometheus has prepared a conceptual site plan, which we were shown. We were told it was very preliminary, but it does provide an idea of the general site layout at this point in time. More detailed drawings will be available as time goes on.

The site is 4.5 acres and does not include the area directly behind Valero. Rather, the site follows a straight line along the rear of the buildings that house the new spa (ex- Blockbuster)/Jamba Juice/Baja Fresh building. The remainder will be retained by Jisser, who we are told plans to convert it to parking until such time as there is a potential commercial redevelopment of that area.

The main entry to Prometheus project would be from Los Robles, towards the El Camino edge of the property. Residents could also access El Camino via a gated entry and through the easement across Jisser’s property (next to Valero station). The proposed development includes an underground parking garage, but Moss and Tuttle didn’t provide an estimated number of parking spots. As part of the environmental review, they are required to perform a traffic study. They will be looking to the neighborhood and the City for guidance on the design of the Los Robles street frontage with a goal of upgrading conditions for pedestrians and bicyclists.

Project Review. An environmental review will be required for the project. The Planning and Transportation Commission and the City Council must review and approve the zone change, and the Architectural Review Board will review the design.

School Impact. Data from the school district, according to Jon Moss, show that 103 students from Buena Vista (BV) attend Palo Alto schools. Jon Moss met with Kevin Skelly, Palo Alto school superintendent, and asked whether BV students, after moving from the park and living outside of Palo Alto but still in the area, might be allowed to continue to attend Palo Alto schools; Skelly said that would be a Board decision. According to Jon Moss, the school district estimates 43 students would attend Palo Alto schools from the rental complex; this number sounds low but the school district uses data from other similar residential projects in Palo Alto. Prometheus said that the tenants would be either single or young families with one school age child. Average duration of tenancy is 2 ½ years.

Affordable Housing. Following a recent court case applicable to cities with Below-Market-Rate (BMR) ordinances, rental projects (as opposed to ownership projects) are not required to offer BMR units. However, Prometheus said they are “considering the issue” and may offer some affordable units. When asked what Prometheus would do if city agreed only to RM-30, which is the housing density in nearby parcels along El Camino, Mr. Moss did not answer directly. One might surmise that an offer of affordable housing units might be used by Prometheus to obtain City approval of higher density zoning.
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