City Council
Staff Report
From: City Manager
Report Type: STUDY SESSION
Lead Department: Planning and Development Services
Meeting Date: October 6, 2025
Report #:2509-5194
TITLE
San Antonio Road Area Plan: Provide Feedback on Existing Conditions Analysis and Land Use and Mobility Priorities. CEQA Status: Exempt under CEQA Guidelines Section 15262.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the City Council review the San Antonio Road Area Plan Existing Conditions Assessment Summary and provide preliminary feedback to staff on considerations discussed in this report in advance of developing land use and mobility alternatives.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The draft Existing Conditions Analysis Summary Report (Attachment A) outlines key findings on current conditions in the Plan Area and their interaction with existing regulations, highlighting development opportunities and challenges. The Executive Summary of Attachment A presents these findings. This study session provides an opportunity to brief the City Council on the report and advisory body feedback, and solicit initial input on project considerations to guide the next phase – developing land use and transportation alternatives.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The San Antonio Road Area Plan will guide development in the 275.3-acre corridor with an integrated land use and transportation strategy. Its objectives include expanding housing, improving mobility, providing open space, strengthening commercial nodes, upgrading infrastructure, and advancing sustainability. The plan will set policies, standards, and guidelines to implement the City’s Comprehensive Plan and Housing Element, while building on related efforts such as the Sustainability and Climate Action Plan, Safe Streets for All Action Plan, and Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan update.
BACKGROUND
The City Council designated the Bayshore Alma San Antonio (BASA) Area as a Priority Development Area (PDA) on September 18, 2023.1 PDAs are locally created to support regional goals set forth by the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), as described in Plan Bay Area. Plan Bay Area outlines the Bay Area’s Regional Growth Framework, Regional Transportation Plan, and Sustainable Community Strategies through 2050 and beyond. Key goals of PDAs include encouraging and guiding growth around transit and connecting housing to jobs and areas of interest.
The Area Plan boundary covers most of the larger BASA PDA and includes 53 Housing Element Opportunity Sites with capacity for 1,559 units, of which 614 are designated for lower-income households. The Plan Area is also shaped by existing and proposed development nearby, including across the border in Mountain View. Currently, it prioritizes vehicle traffic while lacking adequate pedestrian, bicycle, and transit facilities; combined with speeding beyond posted limits, this creates safety concerns. To achieve housing, mobility, and sustainability goals, the Plan requires an integrated land use and circulation strategy, with a central aim of providing safe, convenient multimodal connections.
The Area Plan budget was approved by the Council in March 2025, and work began in April 2025. Phase one of the Area Plan includes analysis of the area through literature and regulatory review, site visits, collection of new data, stakeholder interviews, workshops, surveys, and other technical studies to determine the area’s existing conditions, strengths, and challenges.
Staff convened both a Community Advisory Group (CAG) made up of area residents (from both Palo Alto and Mountain View) and stakeholders and a Technical Advisory Group (TAG) made up of City staff and subject matter experts on August 19 and August 21, 2025, respectively. The Existing Conditions Analysis Summary Report is before the Council at this time, having previously been presented to other advisory committees, boards and commissions.2 A Community Survey is being conducted in the month of October, and the first Community Workshop will be held on October 23, 2025.
Preliminary input received from these meetings included topics which the next phase of the project should explore:
Determining how much additional housing capacity the Plan Area should include Improving connectivity to transit, community amenities, and retail Improving safety for those traveling along and across San Antonio Avenue and Alma Street
1 https://cityofpaloalto.primegov.com/Portal/Meeting?meetingTemplateId=13026 2 The Existing Conditions Assessment was presented to the Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee on September 9, 2025; Planning and Transportation Commission on September 10, 2025; Architectural Review Board on September 18, 2025; and the City/School Transportation Safety Committee on September 25, 2025. Improving vehicle traffic flow for existing and future users, including understanding origin and destination of drivers
Exploring methods of preserving existing retail and employment after redevelopment Developing options for adding green space and retail space, especially those which would reduce vehicle trips
Planning for how much parking is needed within the Plan Area Preparing for impacts to RVs parked within the Plan Area Mitigating for flood zones and future sea level rise
Cooperating with Mountain View and major property owners adjacent to the Plan Area Engaging with school districts on individual school capacity and safe routes for schools Representing impacts of the Area Plan on the City as a whole
ANALYSIS
The Existing Conditions Assessment is a key deliverable in the first phase of the project.
Preliminary findings, included in Attachment A, are based on technical analysis, regulatory review, and literature review, including existing City and regional planning documents.
The report considers the following topic areas:
Land Use: Existing built environment, applicable State laws, zoning regulations found in the Palo Alto Municipal Code, land use designations found in the 2030 Comprehensive Plan, and amenities such as schools, parks, community centers, and retail in and around the plan area.
Housing, Growth, and Displacement: Existing housing stock, pipeline development projects, City planning documents, and housing affordability. Transportation: Automobile, bicycle, pedestrian, and mass transit networks in the proximate Plan Area, as well as safety concerns related to those networks. Market Analysis: Housing market, retail market, and employment market. Hazards, Public Safety, and Historic Resources: Flooding, geologic, and fire hazards, emergency response, and historic context of the built environment. Parks, Outdoor Spaces, and Public Facilities: Existing amenities within and adjacent to the Plan Area.
Air Quality, Noise, and Vibration: Existing conditions and local and regional thresholds for impacts.
Infrastructure: City owned utility facilities in the Plan Area. Climate and Resilience: Local and regional policies and data.
Council Feedback Requested
Based on the findings identified in the draft Existing Conditions Analysis Summary Report (Attachment A), there are several notable assets and opportunities for consideration in developing the Area Plan. Staff believes that updating land use designations, development standards, and improving active transportation routes and connections to the San Antonio Caltrain Station are key to the Plan’s success. In order to develop complete neighborhoods, the Area Plan will also address open space/parks, retail, transit, and utilities.
The upcoming community meetings and alternatives development will be informed by the work to date and the following assumptions. Council feedback – particularly on areas of potential disagreement or concern – is requested:
1. Housing. The 53 Housing Element Opportunity Sites with a capacity for 1,559 units represents a baseline level of housing production and a low growth alternative. Other scenarios will consider increased housing production to represent mid- and high- housing growth projections. Across all scenarios, the opportunity sites and regional housing needs allocation capacity may be re-evaluated within the plan area.
2. Office. Allowance for commercial office development can entice redevelopment and support local interests to create affordable housing opportunities, infrastructure and mobility improvements, retail, and access to open space. One or more scenarios will examine plan-area specific office caps to create net new office floor area that would otherwise be exempt from existing limitations and caps. In addition to net new office, it is anticipated commercial office, R&D or similar uses removed or demolished to support housing or mixed use development could be re-established in the within the plan area as an incentive to advance plan objectives.
3. Building Height, Floor Area and Density. Each scenario will evaluate modification to development standards, however, for higher density housing, 85 feet, which represents five stories over a two or three story concrete podium is anticipated, and similar to what has recently been proposed along portions of San Antonio Road. Staff will be prepared to discuss taller housing typologies if asked by Council. It is anticipated that at least one scenario may include tall commercial office buildings adjacent to the freeway or within the San Antonio and Charleston Roads and Transport triangle, similar with planned development activity in adjacent Mountain View.
4. Transportation. Mobility improvements for all travelers, such as redesigning all or portions of San Antonio Road, utilizing special setbacks or easements, creating bike/ped facilities through neighborhoods, exploring private and regional connectivity solutions to improve access to/from transit services and destinations will be considered for all scenarios and tiered to anticipated funding sources from redevelopment and other strategies to support desired outcomes.
5. Open Space. Other than the public right of way, the City controls little land in the plan area making it challenging to locate new open space. Through land acquisition or public- private partnerships, the plan will seek to create opportunities within a reasonable walking distance to new housing and may be incorporated into ‘third spaces’ shared with retail or neighborhood serving uses or services.
6. Retail. Consistent with other city strategies, retail will be prioritized where it can be aggregated in locations with good access and visibility near future housing and employment. Isolated retail along San Antonio Road without the support of other assembled uses and services is less likely to succeed and not anticipated to be pursued in the scenario planning efforts.
Next Steps
A Community Survey is being conducted in the month of October, and the first community workshop is scheduled for October 23, 2025. The discussion with the community will include exercises that will identify community needs in the Plan Area and the types of improvements most desired by the public. The community survey running during the month of October will allow additional feedback on specific questions from community members who are unable to attend the workshop.
The direction received from the City Council, and feedback from advisory bodies and the community will inform the scope of the land use and mobility alternatives. These alternatives will be shared with the community and the advisory bodies in the first half of 2026 and are planned for review by City Council in June 2026, before work on the final plan elements and the environmental review begin.
POLICY IMPLICATIONS
Several 2030 Comprehensive Plan policies directly support the Area Plan:
Growth & Community: Policies L-1.10, L-2.2–2.4, L-2.6, L-2.11–2.12, and L-3.4 address growth management, sustainable communities, and neighborhood character. Commerce & Employment: Policies L-4.5, L-4.16, and L-5.4 guide commercial centers and employment districts.
Design & Public Realm: Policies L-6.6–6.7 focus on building and public space design. Parks & Streets: Policies L-8.6, L-9.3, L-9.6, and L-9.7 support parks, streets, and public spaces.
The 2023–2031 Housing Element reinforces these goals, with Program 6.6(C) directing preparation of the San Antonio Road Corridor plan and identifying 53 Housing Opportunity Sites, emphasizing housing near the Caltrain station. The Housing Incentive Program (HIP), adopted in 2019 and updated in 2025, further promotes multi-family and mixed-use development across much of the Plan Area.
FISCAL/RESOURCE IMPACT
The Area Plan budget was approved by the Council on March 10, 2025, with an amount not to exceed $1,979,902.3 There are no additional costs associated with this action item.
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
Community Engagement is the key to the success of the planning effort. The project team has created a robust community engagement strategy, which includes a dedicated webpage, social media and email announcements, formation of the Community Advisory Group (CAG) and Technical Advisory Group (TAG), stakeholder interviews, community workshops, surveys, 3 CMR 2501-4703 was approved on March 10, 2025 and can be viewed here:
https://cityofpaloalto.primegov.com/meetings/ItemWithTemplateType?id=7153&meetingTemplateType=2&comp iledMeetingDocumentId=13423
meetings with the City Council and advisory commissions, committees, and boards, and pop- ups including tabling at City events and Farmers Markets. Given the proximity of the Plan Area to Mountain View, the City hosted Mountain View’s Community Development Director and key planning, transportation, and public works staff for an initial discussion of the plan, and the two cities’ long range planning teams meet once a month to share information about the plan and adjacent areas.
The first CAG meeting was held on August 19, 2025, and the first TAG meeting on August 21, 2025. The first survey is currently live on the project’s webpage, and the first community workshop will be held on October 23, 2025, at the Cubberley Community Center. Feedback will be incorporated into the Land Use and Mobility Alternatives, which will have their own series of public outreach in late 2025 through early 2026.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The actions recommended in this report are exempt from review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15262: A project involving only feasibility or planning studies for possible future actions that has not been approved, adopted, or funded would not have significant impact on the environment. The City will prepare an environmental analysis for the San Antonio Road Area Plan when more project specifics have been identified.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A: San Antonio Road Area Plan: Existing Conditions Analysis Summary Report, September 4, 2025 Draft
Attachment B: San Antonio Road Area Plan Map
APPROVED BY:
Jonathan Lait, Planning and Development Services Director