Palo Alto ARB continues Cedar & Sage storefront, asks for 8-foot walkway and design refinements

The Palo Alto Architectural Review Board on May 15 continued, by a 5-0 vote, consideration of a major architectural review for a new restaurant tenant, Cedar & Sage, at 180 El Camino Real in the Stanford Shopping Center. The board directed the project team to return with revisions addressing pedestrian clearances, canopy and patio details, and material samples before the ARB would approve façade and signage changes.

Board members said the proposal raises safety and pedestrian circulation concerns at a busy shopping-center entrance and asked for clearer engineering and design information. The applicant presented new storefront openings, a retractable awning/trellis over an outdoor dining patio, a bifold door system, a metal pivot entry, planters and a linear fire feature. Staff noted the project increases covered outdoor dining area by approximately 247 square feet and will require sign corrections to meet the center’s master sign program and the City of Palo Alto sign code (section 16.2).

Why the board continued the item

The board’s core concerns were: (1) the clear pedestrian path in front of the patio is shown at about 7 feet in places while ARB practice calls for an 8-foot minimum clear width; (2) the new retractable canopy and the existing metal trellis above the storefront were not integrated into a cohesive design and the mixture of fixed and retractable panels appeared likely to look disjointed; (3) the applicant proposes overhead gas patio heaters and a linear gas fire feature, and the board asked the applicant to explore electric heating alternatives and provide additional documentation if gas heating is proposed; and (4) the proposed textured plaster finish requires additional detail or mockups so the board can evaluate the intended look and how it will hold up adjacent to existing building elements.

Details from staff and the applicant

- Location and scope: Suite 1301 (formerly Terrain Café) in Building D at Stanford Shopping Center. The tenant improvement includes storefront reconfiguration (bi-fold doors), a new pivot entry, revised facade finishes including a deep raked plaster, new planters and a covered patio element, and three sign types (wall, blade and window graphics). (Tamara Harrison, Contract Planner) - Signage: staff found existing sign dimensions in the applicant packet for the proposed blade sign were incorrect and added a condition requiring full sign-program compliance before sign permits are issued. (Tamara Harrison) - Parking and bike parking: staff said the center uses a parking ratio of 1 space per 275 square feet; the new covered patio increases the floor-area calculation but does not, by itself, trigger a new required parking space. Staff reported the center currently shows an overage of about 21 car spaces, and short- and long-term bicycle parking remain an outstanding, center-wide issue. (Tamara Harrison) - Restrooms/plumbing: the building department and landlord were resolving questions about plumbing fixture counts and whether additional fixtures or a door between adjacent tenant spaces are required before final sign-off. Richard Wessels of Simon Property Group said the building complied with code when built in 2016 and the parties were working with the building department to resolve whether current code requires additional fixtures now. - Dimensions and structures: the applicant said the posts for the new trellis are approximately 7x7 inches with beams about 6x8 inches (fabricator’s structural package was recent). The applicant also said the operable windscreen panels extend to roughly 7.5 feet when fully raised and that the motorized awnings and screens are located within the trellis valance. The applicant provided an updated measurement of covered outdoor dining of about 247 square feet.

Board directions and conditions requested at continuance

- Maintain an 8-foot clear pedestrian path between any obstruction (bollards, planters, edge of exterior enclosures) and the curb/edge of the public walkway; supply site verification (field survey) or adjust the design to meet this requirement. - Revise the patio enclosure and canopy to better integrate with the building façade and with the existing metal canopy/trellis; clarify whether canopy elements will be fixed or fully synchronized retractable panels and show a coherent design rather than a mixed, piecemeal appearance. - Provide additional detail and mock-ups for the proposed deep raked plaster finish (pattern scale, installation mock-up or sample panels) so the board can assess texture, scale and expected aging/staining adjacent to existing surfaces. - Explore and document alternatives to outdoor gas-fired overhead heaters; if gas heating is proposed, provide documentation that electric options are infeasible (electrical load study), clear heater specifications and required clearances, and engineering details showing compliance with safety and code requirements. - Show the final sign package corrected to comply with the shopping center’s master sign program and city sign code prior to sign permit issuance.

Formal action

The ARB voted to continue the application to a date uncertain to allow the applicant time to supply the requested design revisions, mock-ups and technical documentation. Vote: Board Member Adcock — yes; Board Member Balte — yes; Board Member Hirsch — yes; Vice Chair Chen — yes; Chair Rosenberg — yes. (Motion mover/second not specified in the record.)

What’s next and practical impact

The project team may return to an ARB meeting once it provides the requested drawings, façade mock-ups and technical memoranda; staff recommended at least two weeks’ lead time for any revised submission before it can be compiled into a staff report. If the applicant wants a specific hearing date the board suggested June 5 or July 3 as potential meeting dates but recognized scheduling and packet deadlines may require a later date. The continuance does not forbid the landlord or applicant from proceeding with detailed engineering, but permits and final sign-off will be withheld until ARB conditions and building-department questions (notably plumbing fixtures and signage compliance) are resolved.