Palo Alto board backs Ralph Lauren update

Board backs Ralph Lauren storefront and café revisions

Side-by-side Street View and map showing the captioned location labeled A — 180 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, CA

Image from page 1 of the official meeting packet

The Architectural Review Board voted 5-0 to approve as designed storefront, café and façade revisions for Ralph Lauren and Ralph’s Coffee at 180 El Camino Real, subject to a staff condition governing signage. The Stanford Shopping Center project includes a new café entrance and storefront on the south elevation, outdoor seating, lighting, furniture, planters, stanchions and signs.

The condition requires the primary wall-sign panel on the southwest elevation to be lowered to no more than 2 feet when the applicant submits for a building permit. The proposed 28-inch panel was 4 inches above the maximum height, although the applicant said the letters themselves would be 12 inches high.

Board members supported the design, including an outdoor seating layout that preserves an 8-foot-wide pedestrian path. They suggested that relocating nearby lamp posts in the future could provide room for more café seating, but that suggestion was not part of the approval motion.

The meeting agenda described the board’s requested action as a recommendation to the director of Planning and Development Services. Although the adopted motion and meeting record state that the board approved the project, the supplied record does not clarify whether the vote formally served as a recommendation to the director.

Ad hoc committee announced for Page Mill Road patio review

Side-by-side Street View and map showing the captioned location labeled B — 975 Page Mill Road, Palo Alto, CA

An ad hoc committee will be formed for proposed patio modifications along the Hansen Way frontage of an existing 50,527-square-foot office building at 975 Page Mill Road. The revised proposal includes landscaping changes and a three-foot-tall transparent cable railing.

The agenda called for review and direction on the revisions, or confirmation that they met the full board’s direction and a recommendation that the director approve the project. No transcript was available for the item, however, so the record does not establish whether the board discussed or voted on the proposal.

Primary sources

Watch the meeting on YouTube · Read the official meeting packet