Palo Alto: Proposed mixed-use building draws concern from community

A three-story, mixed-used office building proposed at 385 Sherman Ave. in Palo Alto is too big and will exacerbate existing parking and traffic problems, according to residents who live nearby.

The 55,566-square-foot project from Daniel Minkoff would replace an existing one-story 21,600-square-foot office building. The plans call for three floors of commercial office space and four residential units overlooking Sarah Wallis Park.

The city's Architectural Review Board is slated to review the project when it meets Thursday.

More than a dozen residents have raised a myriad of concerns about the project in letters and emails to the city. Dwight Clark, who lives at Birch Court, said the proposed building's 45-foot height combined with short setbacks would result in a loss of privacy and sunlight.

"The overarching point for me and my neighbors: the building is simply too massive," he wrote. "In a block made up of a city park and residences, it overwhelms everything else and simply is out of proportion with the neighborhood."

Others said it would exacerbate parking and traffic problems in the California Avenue area.

According to a report by Senior Planner Russ Reich, the project would provide the required amount of parking through an underground garage with 103 spaces and by continuing to pay into a parking assessment district for 70 spaces.

"The number provided is not even close to the number of spaces a building of that size will require to provide parking for the tenants and people visiting the tenants," wrote Terry Shuchat, the owner of Keeble & Shuchat Photography, a camera store at 290 California Ave.

A transportation impact assessment by Fehr & Peers in May, meanwhile, found that nearby intersections would continue to operate at acceptable levels of service if the project is built.

Kevin Kiser, another resident of Birch Court, isn't convinced.

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Palo Alto: Proposed mixed-use building draws concern from community