A Thriving Downtown

By Val Carpenter

Major new construction is beginning downtown as a result of zoning changes that were carefully designed to encourage redevelopment in the north and south areas of the triangle while preserving Main Street's cherished appeal.

1. create the Downtown Design Guidelines that are now in use

2. clarify the zoning for the OAD/CRS zone

3. simplify the zoning on First Street, including eliminating the Commercial Services (CS) zone, extending the Commercial Retail Sales (CRS) zone from Main Street through the Draegers and Safeway properties, and creating a new CD/R3 zone at the north and south ends of First Street to allow retail, office or residential uses on the ground floor and buildings up to 45 feet in height

4. reduce the office parking ratio per thousand square feet from 4 to 3.3

5. increase the building height from 40 to 45 feet in the Commercial Downtown (CD) zone and eliminate references to the allowable number of stories

6. rezone 5 parcels along the south parking plazas from Commercial Retail Sales (CRS) to Commercial Downtown (CD) while requiring that existing retail space of 5,000 square feet or more remain retail

7. develop the Downtown Parking Plazas Opportunity Study, for which an Environmental Impact Review focused on traffic impacts is currently underway

These substantive changes have already begun to encourage redevelopment in the north and south areas of the downtown triangle while preserving Main Street's cherished appeal.

Construction of the new Packard Foundation corporate office has begun. A 48-unit residential condominium project on the old Post Office site and a new hotel on the vacant lot at Main and San Antonio Road were recently approved.

An option-to-purchase agreement has been approved for a mixed-use building on the City-owned property at First and Main Streets, adding several large retail spaces built to the standards national retailers require as well as Class A office space to the downtown core. As a result of this agreement, Safeway is moving ahead with plans to build a new store that's twice the size at its existing location, plus a separate large retail space for another retailer or restaurant.

Adding office space, a hotel, and housing downtown will bring the additional foot traffic necessary to support existing restaurants, shops and services and to attract additional retailers and restaurants.

The City will be undergrounding utilities along First Street, and has developed streetscape plans for First Street between Main and West Edith, for the intersections of Main and State with Second and Third Streets, and for San Antonio Road between West Edith and First Street. These improvements have been designed to make these areas more inviting for strolling and outdoor dining.

Short-term, the number of empty storefronts downtown is of concern to everyone. Encouragingly, several long-standing businesses have recently been sold to new owners and remain open, while new retailers and restaurants continue to choose to locate in Los Altos.

The City staff and Council are committed to keeping downtown attractive to merchants and customers. The City provides pro bono or subsidized staff services for many downtown events organized by the Los Altos Village Association and other community groups, and has provided funding for additional sidewalk cleaning and seasonal flower displays.

Increasing the time limits in the public parking plazas and the recent "From A to Z, you'll find it in Los Altos" marketing campaign to encourage people to eat, shop and patronize services in all of our commercial districts are other examples of the City's proactive support for our business community.