The Barron Park Association

Buena Vista Mobile Home Park – RIR deemed ‘complete’

 City Actions and Activities in Barron Park, Zoning and Developments  No Responses »
Feb 222014
 

The City of Palo Alto just announced (February 20, 2014) that they have accepted the Relocation Impact Report submitted by the Jisser family, the owners of the Buena Vista Mobile Home Park. This is one of the steps required by the Palo Alto Municipal Code that would allow the Jisser family to close Buena Vista. You can download the City’s press release – Buena Vista, and read more about the issue and view other documents on the City’s webpage City of Palo Alto/Buena Vista . The next step, as written in the press release is a hearing: ” A  City-appointed hearing officer is now required to hold a hearing within 60 days to decide whether the mitigation measures offered by the mobile home park owner, including relocation benefits, are adequate to mitigate the adverse impacts to displaced park residents, subject to limitations in the law. The hearing officer acts independently of the City and may also request additional information prior to rendering a decision.”

The most recent Barron Park Association Newsletter, Winter Issue 2013-14, contained an article I wrote with background information about the issues involved, from both the property owner and the BV homeowners’ perspectives.  Because this issue has now come front and center, the article is being posted below.

The Buena Vista Mobile Home Park (BVMHP) is owned by the Jisser family who announced about a year ago their intention to close it and sell the property to Prometheus, a large privately held developer of apartment buildings in Silicon Valley. Prometheus disclosed their concept for the 4.5 acre section of the mobile park site directly behind the stores (Barron Park Newsletter, Winter 2012). Their plan is to redevelop the site, removing the 104 trailers and 12 cottages and replace them with a 180 unit rental apartment complex. Continue reading »

Risk Assessment for Storing and Handling Hazardous Materials at CPI

 City Actions and Activities in Barron Park, CPI Toxic Fumes and Hazardous Chemicals, Environment  No Responses »
Feb 172014
 

Community Meeting

Thursday, Feb. 20th at 6:00 PM
Creekside Inn; Top Floor Tower Room
Presentation of Risk Assessment
By the City’s Consultant
http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/cpi

Please attend this Important Meeting

Some background:

  • A series of spills and releases of toxic materials starting in 2006 alerted Chimalus residents that large quantities of cyanides, acids, and other extremely hazardous materials are used on a daily basis right behind our homes.
  • CPI maintains a plating shop on the second floor of Building 2. This is particularly dangerous in an earthquake environment.
  • CPI was allowed to vastly increase the amounts of hazardous materials on this site without any notice to the neighborhood or any public review.
  • The City of Palo Alto ordered a study of the toxics, possible amortization, and zoning updates that was to have been completed by December of 2012. Now, over a year later, the report will be presented.

What can WE do? What can the City do?

  • Hazardous Materials and Plating Shops should not be near families and children.  Safety requires Distance between toxics and people.
  • We, the residents, MUST DEMAND Zoning Changes – Amortize the CPI Plating Shop – Move it AWAY from our homes!
  • Fire Department oversight is NOT ENOUGH: Accidents and unexpected events occur.

Residents have followed this for 8 long years  – since the nitric acid fume release in February 2006.  Here is the timeline of events and actions.  Click for a clearer, enlarged view.

Concept Plans for Maybell Bike Boulevard

 City Actions and Activities in Barron Park, Streets  No Responses »
Feb 022014
 

Information and commentary provided by Lynnie Melena

The Transportation Division held the second of the Maybell – Donald – Georgia Bicycle Boulevard Community Outreach Meetings on January 28, 2014

Approximately 25-30 people attended this meeting. At the beginning and again at the end, people had a chance to pore over sets of plans showing concepts for the Maybell-Donald-Georgia Bicycle boulevard.

You can view the detailed presentation drawings here: Maybell drawings 01.30.14 They consist of five sheets:

#1 is along El Camino Way from West Meadow to El Camino and on Maybell to Thain Way. Starting at El Camino Way and W. Meadow, one concept showed bow-outs at that intersection (mostly to benefit peds) and pavement markings to direct bicycles through the intersection.  There was also a proposal to prohibit parking on west side of El Camino Way approaching the intersection with El Camino in the morning bike commute, and to increase the size of the waiting area for bicycles waiting to cross El Camino at El Camino Way/Maybell.

#2 and #3 are  two alternatives along Maybell from Thain Way to Donald Drive. Of the several concepts for Maybell,  the most significant one was to create a 12-foot wide “shared-use path” (bikes and peds) on the north side. How it would be delineated (pavers or paint) has not developed. Parking would be prohibited on the south side. Other concepts include painting “sharrows” on the roadway (indicating the roadway is to be shared by bikes and cars).

#4 is the Clemo to Amaranta section on Maybell (three alternatives) and Coulombe intersection (two alternatives). One concept is a raised textured or painted area within the intersections of Maybell-Amaranta and Maybell-Clemo, or both, or just raised sidewalks, to slow traffic and alert drivers that this is a special area for pedestrians.

#5 is along Donald and Georgia to the Gunn HS Spur Trail. One concept was to create bow-outs where the present bike/ped path from Gunn meets Georgia and to realign the path (slowing bicyclists down a little) to improve safety for students entering Georgia at that point.  It would also highlight this bike access point to drivers.

These drawings were all meant to be preliminary ideas, responding to comments from the first meeting, for which staff was seeking feedback.  Most of the “group” part of the meeting was Q and A.

The timeline for this project going forward is as follows:
  • Spring 2014–Community Meeting #3 or present concept plans to Planning and Transportation Commission
  • Summer 2014–Council approval of concept plans
  • Fall 2014–Final design and environmental assessment

You can view Jaime Rodriguez presentation here: Maybell Bike Blvd – 2nd Meeting – 01 28 14 Presentation

Update on Matadero Bicycle Boulevard

 City Actions and Activities in Barron Park, Streets  No Responses »
Dec 072013
 

The Transportation Division has just started collecting additional traffic data along the Matadero, Margarita Bicyle Boulvard route. This is in response to comments from the Planning and Transportation Commission when Jaime Rodriguez, the Chief Transportation Official,  presented the proposal in mid-November. Several commissioners expressed concerns about the safety of bicyclists who would use the route and others raised questions about the lack of data about the number of bicyclists who now use the route and the projected future volumes.

The data will include both bicycle and vehicle data. The bicycle counts will be collected using video cameras for 7-days with someone subsequently reviewing the video in an office.  Roadway tube counters at the same time will collect vehicle counts/speed data. The following image shows the locations where the data will be acquired.

The proposal for the bicycle boulevard  followed two Barron Park community meetings, in May and September of 2013. Photos of the design concept were previously posted on the Barron Park Association website, /2013/08/25/initial-concept-plan-for-matadero-margarita-bike-boulevard/

The proposal includes:

  • Laguna/Matadero Intersection : crosswalk and bike markings to aid pedestrians and alert drivers to presence of bicyclists
  • Along Matadero from Laguna to El Camino : speed humps to calm traffic and sharrows painted on the roadway to position cyclists
  • Tippawingo/Josina/Matadero intersection: 3 new crosswalks, including one raised (speed table) across Matadero, and pedestrian refuge areas at the Josina corners

No bicycle lanes were contemplated and none were included because Matadero itself is too narrow to accommodate them.

According to the Transportation Division, it is unlikely that the proposal will come back to the PTC before early February.  If the project does moves forward, the speed humps/tables on Matadero could be installed in late-summer.

 

City Council Meeting Dec 2nd – Future of Palo Alto

 City Actions and Activities in Barron Park, Zoning and Developments  No Responses »
Nov 302013
 

The City Council will be holding an important meeting on December 2nd that will have a lasting impact on the future of Palo Alto. This meeting and the subsequent meeting on December 9th were scheduled in response to the stunning election victory by the opponents of Measure D and the reversal of the Council decision for a Planned Community (PC) rezoning of the Maybell-Clemo property.

The agenda topic is : Initiating a Community Conversation on the Future of the City Including  the Comprehensive Plan, Planned Community Zoning, Parking and Traffic Strategies and Related Matters

This agenda item is expected to take up most of the evening, starting at 8:35PM and continuing until 11PM, according to the Council agenda. The Council is calling this a Study Session, and they are providing an opportunity for input from community members.

The title of the City Manager report, Planning The Future Report #4294, indicates the important objective of this meeting. This is the first of two sessions the Council has scheduled to discuss long term vision of planning and development. Come to this and the next Council meeting (December 9th) if you can.  If not, follow the Council’s decision very carefully. You can track the Council meeting on Channel 26 Public Access.

Art Liberman adds the following …..Neilson Buchanan, Downtown North neighborhood leader, provided the following comments on this meeting and on the City Manager’s staff report:

#1  The Council seems to be ready to delay or stop Planned Community decisions.  This is within their spectrum of options…primarily a political response presumably addressing public outcry and calming parking and gridlocked traffic.

#2 The staff report is very strong (see page 25) on legal opinions that property owners are for the foreseeable future entitled with well-established property development  rights.  My concern is that the Council is not addressing the fact that dozens of “entitled” developments in total seem to have as much if not more negative impact that the J Paul and Arrillaga/Stanford Office building projects seeking PC designations.

Furthermore, the Planning Department with Council blessings continues to make serial negative impacts for developments (around the Calif and University Ave commercial cores) when if fact there is clear cumulative negative impact on neighborhood parking and traffic.  This is a double standard that warrants immediate political pushback and competent legal challenge from a growing number of afflicted neighborhoods.  At some point I hope at least one Councilperson will ask the city manager where tenants of these developments will park their vehicles.

#3  The staff report once again makes very selective use of excerpts from the Comprehensive Plan.  See page 2 of the staff report.  Senior city staff including the city manager fail to ask the Council to address Comp Plan Page I-3 stating a much more important vision for neighborhoods:

‘The Plan establishes the physical boundaries of residential and commercial areas and sets limits where necessary to ensure that business and housing remain compatible.  It encourages commercial enterprise, but not at the expense of the City’s residential neighborhoods.‘ ”

Mr. Buchanan has written a short note about how he views the issues facing the city How Will the Palo Alto City Council Manage Opportunities Driven by the 2012-2017 Economic Boom?

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