City Council 2024 Priorities Community Update Series:

Economic Development & Transition

Published in

PaloAltoConnect

6 min readMay 31, 2024

This update continues our series sharing progress on the 2024 Council Priorities, offering updates on the Council’s 12 objectives that advance the Council’s Priority on Economic Development & Transition in 2024 which seek to support or expand upon the comprehensive economic development strategy adopted last year. Efforts featured in this update include developing a permanent Cal Ave. car-free streetscape design, initiating a car-free streetscape design for Ramona St., finalizing pre-approved parklet designs and implementing an ongoing program, plus advancing Downtown Parking garage and affordable housing, build out of fiber pilot phase 1 with grid modernization, advancing a retail strategy and more.

At the start of each year, the City Council selects priorities to focus on, and as of 2023, also approves objectives that advance their priorities. The 2024 City Council Priorities are: Climate Change and Natural Environment: Protection & Adaptation, Community Health, Safety, Wellness, and Belonging, Economic Development & Transition and Housing for Social and Economic Balance. In March, the Council approved 78 objectives, related Council committee workplans, and community and stakeholder engagement necessary to advance the objectives. The community can expect to track progress through quarterly progress reports that will be released sharing updates on each objective.

Read the other blogs in this series:
· Climate Action- Part 1
· Climate Action -Part 2
· Housing for Social and Economic Justice
· Community Health, Safety, Wellness and Belonging

Find the full list of 2024 objectives here.

Learn more about some of the economic development and transition efforts underway below that support the City Council approved Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy.

There are three guiding principles that inform the City of Palo Alto’s Economic Development activities:
Reinforce each district’s distinct scale and offerings by stabilizing and reinforcing Downtown as a destination, embracing California Avenue as a community and neighborhood serving place, and supporting existing Neighborhood Centers.
Improve accessibility by embracing walking and biking solutions to /from/within all of the City’s commercial districts and addressing parking policies and systems.
Adopt policies that reflect changing market conditions by easing the regulatory burden for businesses, removing outdated restrictions that create hurdles to tenancy, and focus retail and retail-like uses in places where they are market supported.

Supporting Commercial Corridors, Downtown and Cal Ave.

Develop permanent Cal Ave. car-free streetscape design through engagement with Cal Ave. merchants and community stakeholders & Initiate preliminary analysis and stakeholder engagement on a car-free streetscape design for Ramona St.

To boost downtown and Cal Ave. businesses, the City has been exploring ways to enhance the community experience. The Car-free Streets effort focuses on encouraging pedestrian traffic to portions of Cal Ave. and Ramona St., parts of which were temporarily car-free due to Council action during the pandemic. In November, Council voted to make these car-free street sections permanent. The work underway will create a more inviting streetscape design through community and business stakeholder engagement.

Staff and design firm Urban Field Studio have been meeting with Cal Ave. merchants monthly to address near-term improvements and plan the future design of the car-free portion of Cal Ave. Thank you to the over 100 workshop participants who shared ideas at a recent workshop. More engagement options are being planned including an online survey to help complete the design phase of long-term improvements.

Reimagining University Ave. Streetscape

The City is actively reimagining the streetscape of University Ave. Staff presented its initial recommendations in December and is returning to City Council. On June 3 new design themes will be presented incorporating infrastructure to support outdoor dining not only through parklets but also wider sidewalks and creating spaces for public gathering. See the June 3, 2024 Council Meeting agenda, Item 16.

Develop pre-approved parklet designs with stakeholder outreach, for Council approval & Implement ongoing parklet program in compliance with adopted parklet standards, leveraging pre‐approved designs.

The temporary parklet program — originally created to help dining and retail businesses survive during the pandemic — has been very popular within the community. Post-pandemic, parklets provide opportunities to expand outdoor capacity for these businesses and add vibrancy to the street, attracting patrons and creating an exciting neighborhood destination.

Work underway will formalize the parklet program, including developing a pre-approved parklet design. Next steps include adopting the ongoing ordinance and transitioning from existing parklets to ones that conform with the new regulations. By 2025, all parklets will transition to the new regulations, with the City continuing enforcement and permitting through the new ongoing parklet program.

For more City of Palo Alto parklet program details, go here.

Advance Downtown Parking garage and affordable housing in the Downtown.

Council asked staff to pursue refined proposals for potential affordable housing development on the Lytton / Kipling Lot T at 450 Lytton Ave., or elsewhere, with parking for residents and the public. A Request for Refined Proposals is being finalized for housing development on Lot T, which will be issued in the first quarter of 2025.

Advance complete build out of fiber pilot phase 1 with grid modernization

The City is in the process of preparing to design to bring reliable and faster broadband, high-speed internet services directly to companies and homes, supporting business and remote workers. A consultant recently completed the conceptual design for the Palo Alto Fiber project, aligning with the electric grid modernization to capitalize on economies of scale and reduce neighborhood disruptions.

Once the environmental review is assessed in June, the design stage and construction will begin for the Pilot Phase 1 Build Area, with anticipated completion in 2025. Read more in the latest update here.

For the Palo Alto Fiber project page, go here.

Support Economic Development & Business Transition

Conduct business stakeholder outreach and present to Council recommendations for a citywide retail zoning strategy and receive direction for implementation.

One of the ways the City aims to boost business is to create zoning code changes that advance retail development. Staff are evaluating land use zoning regulations in commercial areas, incorporating input from local businesses and best practices. A consultant will be hired to help create a citywide retail ordinance.

Reducing vacancies through long-term tenants & short-term activations

Helping to reduce retail vacancies, staff is in regular communication with retail brokers and researching programs connecting landlords with small and local‐businesses that may be seeking brick and mortar spaces. Staff is actively exploring similar local programs, such as San Francisco’s Vacant to Vibrant and Santa Cruz’s Downtown Pops! to see what might be implemented in Palo Alto.