City Council - February 10, 2025

Council approves 55-unit affordable project with educator preference

The City Council approved an amended motion for a 55-unit, 100% affordable rental development at 3265 El Camino Real. The proposal sets aside 25% of the homes at rents calculated for households earning 70% of area median income and models the remaining units at 110% of AMI.

Council directed staff to formalize outreach and right-of-first-refusal procedures for Palo Alto Unified School District teachers and staff in the project’s regulatory agreement. The adopted conditions would let a district employee who exceeds an income limit remain for six months or through the end of the school year, whichever is later, subject to legal review. They also allow affordability designations to shift between units so some residents can remain in place and permit up to two low-income units to transition to 100% of AMI.

Educator and classified-school-employee groups supported the project, citing long commutes and recruitment and retention challenges. The developer said 87% of teachers do not live in Palo Alto. Council members questioned whether rents would be affordable to individual employees and how unbundled parking might affect nearby streets.

Staff will pursue a more quantitative method for measuring street-parking spillover. Other conditions require annual reporting on teacher and non-teacher residents and disclosure that the property could be excluded from a future residential parking permit program. Staff estimated otherwise applicable impact fees at $3.5 million to $4 million; under the city’s existing exemption for 100% affordable housing, those fees are currently set at zero.

Council calls for faster homelessness actions as policy debate continues

Council asked staff to identify near-term measures that could proceed while a broader homelessness engagement and implementation plan is developed, rather than waiting months for every recommendation. No ordinance, spending plan or enforcement policy was adopted during the study session. Staff said committee work plans were expected within two weeks and the February 24 priority-objectives discussion could establish parallel next steps.

Staff reported that 65 Palo Alto households were placed into housing in 2024, while 127 households sought assistance for the first time. A council member cited a staff-report figure indicating that 88% of Palo Alto’s unhoused community lives in vehicles. Discussion identified 40 safe-parking spaces: 22 at the Gang Road site and 18 at faith-community sites. Staff said the faith sites do not accept RVs and require participants to leave each morning, helping explain their unused capacity.

Several members advocated more RV-capable safe parking, and individual proposals included a utility-served RV and tiny-home community or possible use of vacant land near Geng Road. Staff expects to return in March with a funding agreement and long-term funding strategy for the expanded Gang Road site. These expansion concepts were discussed but not approved.

The Homekey interim shelter was described as having 88 units and capacity to support about 170 people. County staff said Palo Alto-affiliated residents would receive direct-referral priority during the initial opening period, described as approximately 30 days. Later placements would use the countywide Here4You process while seeking to place people near their communities. Council requested an outreach plan, updated shelter waitlist information and clearer reporting of the shelter’s capacity.

The discussion paired calls for restrooms, showers, laundry, legal waste disposal, vehicle repairs and other services with concerns about blocked access, hygiene, aggressive behavior, fire hazards and impacts on businesses and residents. Police said unlawful conduct can result in warnings, citations, arrests or towing, but that the longer-term effectiveness of citations varies. Proposals to regulate RV rentals on public streets or develop a local camping definition remained subjects for possible future review.

City asks Valley Water to delay shoreline funding shift

Council members asked staff to send a letter urging Valley Water to defer action at its February 11 hearing on redirecting 2020 ballot-measure funding intended for Palo Alto’s shoreline-protection project. The request was informal direction rather than a formal Council vote.

A public commenter put the proposed transfer at $23 million and said the money would be moved to a San Jose phase because federal funding for the local Bay Levee Project phase had been delayed. Staff said it had learned of the proposed action the previous Friday and planned to involve the city’s Council representatives in the discussion.

Public Improvement Corporation accepts clean audit

The Palo Alto Public Improvement Corporation Board approved its fiscal year 2024 audited financial statements. Staff reported a clean audit opinion and $151 million across three outstanding debt obligations. The Council-led nonprofit is used to issue certificates-of-participation debt for city capital projects.

Primary sources

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