The purpose of this overlay district is to accommodate single or multiple family housing, or both, on the Upper California Site that benefits from its proximity to an employment center and benefits from its proximity to an employment center and is compatible both with the College Terrace neighborhood across California Avenue, the adjacent office/research uses to the south and south-east, and Stanford University's residential neighborhood to the northwest. Stanford may develop the Upper California Site in phases. The underlying zoning on the Upper California Site, LM Limited Industrial/Research Park with a fifty-foot L Landscape Combining District on the California Avenue frontage, does not apply to the Upper California Site if the property owner elects to proceed under the AS2 standards.
Stanford shall be allowed to develop any portion of the Required Housing on the Upper California Site in such order and sequence as Stanford shall determine, except for Stanford's phasing and timing obligations with respect to Required Housing under the Development. Agreement. It is anticipated that at times during the construction of the Required Housing, portions of the Upper California Site will be occupied with pre-existing limited industrial/research park. non-residential buildings. These buildings will remain legal uses and complying facilities until dates set forth below. Upon completion of the Required Housing developments, the Upper California Site shall be exclusively residential, with child care centers a permitted use, unless Stanford needs to provide a substitute Site for all or a portion of the Upper California Site, as provided in the Development Agreement.
A. AS2 Alternative Development Standards
1. Continuing Standards.
These continuing standards apply to the Upper California Site as a whole. The Upper California Site housing shall at all times during its development, and subsequently, be in compliance with the continuing standards.
Permitted Uses | a) Single-family, two-family, and multiple family residential uses and indoor and outdoor accessory uses customarily incidental to those uses. In the sale or rental of Required Housing, neither Stanford nor its assignees shall discriminate against households with children or on the basis of the age of renters, buyers, or occupants. b) child care center |
Conditionally permitted uses | None |
Below-market-rate housing | Below-market-rate units shall be provided on- or off-site as provided in the Development Agreement. |
Site area, width, and depth per individual dwelling unit, two-family unit, multiple-family residential project or individual development phase | No minimum |
California Avenue frontage setback (minimum) | 20 feet from the property line. a) No building element or architectural feature (excluding landscape features,) may extend or project into the setback. b) No parking may. be located in the setback area. c) No frontage roads are permitted in the setback area, but roads and driveways generally perpendicular to California Avenue are permitted. |
Upper California Site perimeter side and rear setback (applied to entire Upper California Site's outer envelope) | 10 feet a) No structures or parking areas are permitted in the setback area. b) No perimeter roads or driveways are permitted in the setback area. |
Interior setbacks | None. (Minimum setbacks established by Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations, Parts 1 through 9, as adopted and modified by the City of Palo Alto on a uniform basis, shall apply.) |
Building height | a) California Avenue frontage: 30 feet within 100 feet of property line, measured from grade to the highest point of the coping of a flat roof or to the deck line of a mansard roof, or to the height of the peak or highest ridge line of a pitched or hipped roof directly above point on grade from which height is being measured. b) Balance of Upper California Site: 50 feet, measured from grade to the highest point of the coping of a flat roof or to the deck line of a mansard roof, or to the average height of the highest gable of a pitched or hipped roof. c) The height of a stepped or terraced building is the maximum height of any segment of the building. d) "Grade" shall mean the adjacent ground elevation of the finish or existing grade as of December 1,2004, whichever is lower. Existing grade as of December 1,2004 is presumed to be as shown on grading plans and spot elevation surveys on file with the City as of that date. |
Daylight plane | None required |
Multiple family design guidelines | Chapter 18.28 shall not apply. |
Parking Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, parking shall be governed by Chapter 18.83 of the 2003 Rules | 2 or more bedrooms - 2.0 spaces, one of which shall be covered, which may be tandem 1 bedroom -1.5 spaces, one of which shall be covered Studio unit - 1 covered space Guest parking - 0.25 spaces per unit. Guest parking shall be clearly marked as reserved for guests and shall be in an area provided for guests with unrestricted access to guest parking. |
Bicycle parking and loading spaces: as required by Chapter 18.83.120 of the 2003 Rules. | |
Streets | Interior streets may be public or private. If private, they shall be subject to a public access easement for vehicles and pedestrians. |
Orientation for buildings along California Avenue | Buildings along California Avenue shall approximate the horizontal rhythm of building-to-side yard setback and facade areas of California Avenue residential properties located across the street from, or in the vicinity of the Upper California Site. At the applicant's election, some or all buildings along California Avenue may be two stories. |
Architectural review | The City shall limit its architectural review as provided in Section 6.4.10 of the Development Agreement. No adopted local design guidelines apply to this site. |
Commercial Buildings on Upper California Site on June 10, 2003 | All non-residential uses shall cease and all non-residential structures be removed no later than 24 months following all Subsequent Approvals, (as defined in the Development Agreement) for all Required Housing on the Upper California Site. After that time, the Upper California Site shall be exclusively residential, with child care centers as a permitted use, unless Stanford needs to provide substitute Site for all or a portion of the Upper California Site as provided in the Development Agreement. Until that time, those non-residential structures in existence on June 10,2003 shall be treated as permitted structures and may be used for any use permitted under the LM Limited Industrial/Research Park District under the 2003 Rules. |
2. Phased Standards.
These phased standards apply to the Upper California Site as a whole. Required Housing may be developed in phases on portions of the Upper California Site; individual phases need not meet the phased standards. For example, an individual phase could have a residential density of thirty dwelling units per acre and no open space. However, when all Required Housing on the Upper California Site is complete, and after, the Upper California Site shall conform to all the phased standards. In addition, for each phase, Stanford shall demonstrate that sufficient land remains on the Upper California Site to permit it to meet the Phased Standards upon completion of the Required Housing.
Upper California Site area | 16.96 acres |
Residential density (maximum) | 15 dwelling units per acre of Gross Area. No additional density bonus for affordable housing is permitted. |
Gross floor area | Gross floor area shall include all floors of any building measured to the outside surface of the stud walls, and including all of the following: • halls and stairways; • elevator shafts; • service and mechanical equipment areas; • covered parking when located partially or completely above ground; basement, cellar and attic areas deemed by the director of planning and development services to be usable; |
• open porches, arcades, balconies, courts, walkways, breezeways or similar features when located above the ground floor and used for required access; and • all roofed porches, arcades, balconies, porticos, breezeways or similar features when located above the ground floor; and • permanently roofed, but either partially enclosed or unenclosed, building features used for storage or similar uses. Gross floor area shall not include: • parking that is completely underground (excluding area used for storage, mechanical equipment, and other uses as noted above); • unroofed exterior areas accessible to the general public, including, but not limited to areas above podium parking; • roofed arcades, balconies, plazas, courts, walkways, porches, breezeways, porticos, and similar features that are 50% or less enclosed by exterior walls and located on the ground floor; • areas designated for resource conservation such as trash compactors, recycling and thermal storage facilities. | |
Floor area ratio (maximum) of gross floor area to Gross Area of site | The ratio of gross floor area to the Upper California Site Area shall be 0.75 to 1. |
Upper California Site coverage (maximum) | 40% of the Gross Area of the Upper California Site. Site coverage is that portion of a site that is covered by permanent, usable buildings or structures, excluding landscape features, fountains, planters, sculptures, open play equipment, uncovered sports courts, and similar elements. |
Usable open space (minimum) | Total:25% of the Gross Area of the Upper California Site Private: No minimum Common: 10% of the Gross Area of the Upper California Site "Usable open space" is an outdoor or unenclosed space located on the ground or roof of a structure, or on the top of podium parking, or a balcony, deck, porch, patio or terrace, designed and accessible for outdoor living, recreation, pedestrian access, or landscaping, including those portions of the required California Avenue and perimeter setbacks not used for roads or driveways. "Usable open space" does not include covered or uncovered parking areas, roads, driveways, or utility or service areas. |
Commercial Buildings on Upper California Site on June 10, 2003 | All non-residential uses shall cease and all non-residential structures be removed no later than 24 months following all Subsequent Approvals, (as defined in the Development Agreement) for all Required Housing on the Upper California Site. After that time, the Upper California Site shall be exclusively residential, with child care centers as a permitted use, unless Stanford needs to provide Substitute Site for all or a portion of the Upper California Site as provided in the Development Agreement. Until that time, those non-residential structures in existence on June 10, 2003 shall be treated as permitted structures and may be used for any use permitted under the LM Limited Industrial/Research Park District under the 2003 Rules. |
B. AS2 Alternative Base Zoning Standards
At the applicant's option, the Upper California Site, in its entirety, may be developed in compliance with the RM-20 Low Density Multiple Family Residential District, subject to the L Landscape Combining District, both as defined in the 2003 Rules. Provided, no conditional use permit shall be required for up to four public or private streets crossing the Landscape Combining District to provide access to the Upper California Site. All non-residential uses shall cease and all non-residential structures be removed no later than 24 months following all Subsequent Approvals, (as defined in the Development Agreement) for all Required Housing. After that time, the Upper California Site shall be exclusively residential, with child care centers as a permitted use, unless Stanford needs to provide Substitute Site for all or a portion of the Upper California Site as provided in the Development Agreement. Until that time, those non-residential structures in existence on June 10, 2003 shall be treated as permitted structures and may be used for any use permitted under the LM Limited Industrial/Research Park District under the 2003 Rules.
C. Zoning if Alternative Site Needed
If, after a building permit for construction of an approved project under the AS2 Overlay District has been issued for any part of the Upper California Site, it is determined to be an Infeasible Site because of environmental contamination, then,. under the conditions and in the manner described in Section 6.4.2 of the Development Agreement, Stanford may have the AS2 Overlay District removed from its lands and the previous zoning restored.
(Ord. 5494 § 3, 2020: Ord. 5460 § 15, 2019: Ord. 4871 § 3 (Exh A [part]), 2005)