Palo Alto launches Cubberley master‑planning effort and a voter poll as city weighs a possible 2026 bond

City staff told the Parks and Recreation Commission on April 22 that the Cubberley master‑planning process is moving quickly, with public polling and several community meetings planned this year to help shape a potential bond measure that staff hopes could appear on the November 2026 ballot.

The city and Palo Alto Unified School District earlier approved a memorandum of understanding that would allow the city to purchase roughly seven acres from the district; the city currently owns eight acres on the 35‑acre Cubberley site. If a future bond measure succeeds the city would develop approximately 15 acres as a new community center and associated open space, staff said.

Why it matters: Cubberley is a long‑studied, large community site in Palo Alto. A bond to acquire and redevelop land there would be a major, long‑term investment that affects arts, recreation, green space and tenant organizations that currently use the site.

What staff presented

Kristen O’Kane, the city’s community services director, said the city reengaged the Concordia consulting team to update the 2019 master plan and hired a pair of firms to assist with polling and ballot strategy. She told commissioners the city is working on parallel tracks: master‑planning concepts and voter testing, on a condensed timeline.

Staff said poll number one will be released April 28 using randomized outreach methods (phone, cell, text and email) and is intended to measure voter priorities for Cubberley and initial willingness to support a funding measure. Concordia will present three concept alternatives at a second community meeting on June 12, and staff said it will return to the commission with poll and meeting results later in June. Council review of poll results is scheduled in mid‑May and June, staff said. The project team described the poll as following industry standards and said early polling is intended to collect neutral baseline data not to advocate for the measure.

Public and commissioner input at the meeting

Commissioners and members of the public offered several suggestions and concerns: calls for clearer messaging and a compelling narrative about the project’s multi‑generational benefits; interest in “green” elements such as pollinator or butterfly gardens; questions about how polling samples will be stratified geographically and what sample size will be targeted; concerns about transparency and how poll questions are framed; and reminders about affordability and the risk of a project that grows too large and becomes expensive.

Council member Lythcott Hames and multiple commissioners emphasized that the poll is intended to be neutral to avoid skewing results and that other engagement channels—community meetings, online surveys and targeted outreach—will shape design details such as indoor arts spaces, open green space and flexible, multiuse facilities.

Next steps

Staff said the first poll will run starting April 28 (open roughly two weeks) and that poll and community meeting results will inform three design concepts to be presented June 12. Staff recommended creating a Cubberley ad hoc at the commission level to provide more frequent input between monthly meetings. The city will return to the commission with poll results, community input and recommended concepts later in June.

Ending

The Cubberley process will proceed on a condensed schedule of polling and community meetings through the summer and into fall. Staff urged commissioners and residents to participate in the June 12 meeting and other outreach channels; commissioners asked staff to circulate the specific poll materials and a link to the council attachment for review.