City Council
Staff Report
From: City Manager
Report Type: ACTION ITEMS
Lead Department: Planning and Development Services
Meeting Date: August 18, 2025
Report #:2506-4843
TITLE
Approval of a Director’s Interpretation Pursuant to PAMC Section 18.01.025 Concluding That Noncomplying Residential Gross Floor Area may not be Relocated Within a Structure; Denial of the Associated Appeal; Direction to Prepare a Future Code Amendment for Administrative De Minimis Exceptions to the Zoning Code; CEQA: Exempt Pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3)
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Uphold the Director of Planning and Development Services’ formal interpretation dated May 8, 2025, concluding that noncomplying residential gross floor area may not be removed and restored elsewhere on the property pursuant to Palo Alto Municipal Code (PAMC) Chapter 18.70, denying the associated appeal; and,
2. Direct staff to prepare a text amendment authorizing the Director of Planning and Development Services to consider or approve de minimis exceptions from noncomplying facility regulations and similar minor adjustments that are not impactful to adjacent properties or public realm.
BACKGROUND
On June 16, 2025, City Council members Burt, Lu, and Lythcott-Haims pulled the subject report from the consent calendar to schedule the subject hearing.
Attachment A includes the previous report containing staff’s analysis and related attachments.
Attachment B includes additional correspondence from the appellant subsequent to the Council’s action to pull the item. This correspondence appears to generally restate the appellant’s statement from the June 16, 2025 item, but adds an expanded introduction, an executive summary, a new footnote, and several references to a September 2016 email
announcing a change in staff implementation of Chapter 18.70. The additional material does not affect staff’s analysis.
FISCAL/RESOURCE IMPACT
The recommendation in this report is not anticipated to have a significant fiscal or budgetary impact. Work related to the recommended text amendment will be folded into other work as able and can reasonably be absorbed within the department budget and resources.
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
The interpretation was posted on the City’s website in accordance with PAMC Section
18.01.025. Notice was provided to known interested parties. One formal appeal was submitted.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The City Council’s action is categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) under CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3), the common sense exemption, because it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A: Council Report with Attachments, Dated June 16, 2025 Attachment B: Additional Appellant Correspondence, Dated August 3, 2025 APPROVED BY:
Jonathan Lait, Planning and Development Services Director