Het verhaal
Palo Alto’s City Council on August 17 unanimously approved an eight-story, 228-unit apartment building at 762 San Antonio Road. “This seems to be right place in the city for this kind of height and density,” said Councilmember Julie Lythcott-Haims. The building will be 85 feet tall.
Two neighbors warned that the road already backs up and that fire trucks and ambulances would struggle to reach their homes at rush hour. “It’s not safe to add all these people … Think of all the possible kitchen fires,” said resident Joan Larrabee.
Developer Gary Johnson of Acclaim Companies invoked the Builder’s Remedy, a California rule that can override local height, density, and design limits. The council asked for upper floors to be set farther back from the street so San Antonio Road does not become a tunnel. “This modest measure can have a great deal of favorable impact,” said Councilmember Pat Burt. Johnson and his architect said the apartments would then be too narrow. “We’re trying to maximize our square footage,” Johnson said.
The council also voted to speed up plans for a bike lane on San Antonio Road, where the city is planning thousands of new homes.