Changes for Downtown – zoning & more
Over the past six years, we have seen at least three cycles run through our core Downtown business. However, one thing has remained rather stagnant: the look and feel of Downtown. It appears that changes are afoot.
During the last couple of years, the City has been striving towards a common goal of incentivizing investments in Downtown. Yes, there were some constraints inhibiting progress. However, the City has been working towards identifying opportunities, and is ready to invest in a number of projects itself.
Below are highlights from a recent article, which covered the changes …
Downtown zoning underwent significant changes following a Feb. 9 Los Altos City Council action. The changes will pave the way for taller buildings with mixed uses along the downtown perimeter.
The bulk of the rezoning changes, unanimously approved after a lengthy public hearing, apply to First Street. Although the Safeway and Draeger’s Market properties and the city-owned plot at First and Main streets will retain a Commercial Retail Sales (CRS) zoning, most of the street is rezoned to permit office and residential uses. CRS zoning, with its two-story, 30-foot maximum, remains prevalent throughout the retail core of Main and State streets.
Coupled with last week’s approval of streetscape plans for First Street and San Antonio Road, the changes have the clear intent to attract more development – and people – to downtown.
The streetscape project, which addresses improvements to sidewalks and landscaping, also includes undergrounding utilities through a partnership with PG&E. The utility is scheduled to work on First between Edith and Main this summer.
The changes, a combination of recommendations from the Downtown Development Committee and the city’s planning commission, become effective 30 days after the second reading of the zoning amendment.
The committee’s recommendations for First included extending the commercial/retail zone along First between Safeway and Draeger’s, allowing residential units on first floors from Main to San Antonio and raising the building height limit to 45 feet.
Approximately 30 people, including downtown property and business owners, members of the Los Altos Chamber of Commerce, members of the Los Altos Village Association and residents, attended the hearing, primarily offering their support for the zoning changes.
The Best Roads in Santa Clara County
Tagged: Employee Relocation, Los Altos, Maintenance, Quality of Life, Road Conditions
One again, Los Altos has received accolades for the condition of its roads. For the third year in a row, the community has received the highest road rating in Santa Clara County. No one likes a pothole, or streets that are not properly maintained. Buying a home is more than just buying into a neighborhood; it is about buying into a community.
There have been many write-ups on the various aspects of a well run City. Included in these criteria are: consistently balance the budget, without raising taxes; and maintain excellent services, while reinvesting in the basic infrastructure. Yep, that’s Los Altos.
Below are highlights from a recent article, which included the official rating of Los Altos roads …
The condition of the region’s roads improved slightly with a recent infusion of federal stimulus dollars, but the streets still suffer from wear and tear and risk sliding into distress, a regional transportation commission reported Tuesday.
In a conclusion all too familiar to many motorists, the annual state of the pavement report tells drivers they are in for a bumpy ride dodging potholes in many areas that put them at risk of having to pay for front-end alignments.
Some cities bucked the trend.
Using a 100-point scale, the MTC concluded the three-year average grade for 42,000 miles of Bay Area city and county roads was 66. That’s a “fair” grade overall, the MTC said, and up a single point from last year’s three-year average grade.
Brentwood’s score of 85 was the best in the Bay Area, earning a “very good” grade, but still short of the 90 score needed to be “excellent.”
In Santa Clara County, Los Altos had the best roads, and also scored the second best rating in the Bay Area, overall, with a score of 83.
The worst roads in Santa Clara County were in San Jose, which received a “fair” score of 63. Participating for the first time this year, Palo Alto earned a “good grade with a score of 72.
Unincorporated roads in Sonoma County ranked worst in the region with a score of 44.
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