Planning Commission accepts Stanford University annual compliance report

The Santa Clara County Planning Commission on June 26 voted to accept Stanford University's Annual Report No. 24, concluding that the university complied with conditions of the 2000 Stanford University general use permit for the reporting period Sept. 1, 2023, through Aug. 31, 2024.

County planner Boyan Bhatpatar told commissioners the report tracks academic square footage, housing and transportation performance under the 2000 general use permit and related mitigation. “Therefore, Stanford was in compliance with the CUP's no net new trips requirement in 2024,” Bhatpatar said during his presentation.

The report shows cumulative building permits approved since 2000 total about 1,820,000 square feet, leaving 208,254 square feet of development capacity remaining under the 2000 permit as of Aug. 31, 2024. Stanford has constructed 4,428 campus housing units under the permit; 40 authorized housing units remain available under the housing allowance, the report says. Cumulative in‑lieu affordable housing fee payments total approximately $43.5 million; during the 2023–24 reporting period Stanford paid in‑lieu fees totaling $4.2 million and used 130,432 square feet from a county‑maintained square‑footage bank.

On transportation monitoring, the county noted the baseline for commute trips was established in February 2001 and that counts this year used the methodology set in that baseline: six weeks of data collection in spring and two weeks in fall. The department's traffic monitoring report concluded the adjusted morning inbound count was 540 vehicles below the 2001 baseline and the afternoon outbound count was 427 vehicles below it for the reporting period presented.

Commissioners asked for clarifications about methodology and data presentation. Commissioner Heatherly asked why the spring and fall counts use different week lengths; Charu Aluwalia, senior planner and Stanford program manager, said the methodology was set at the outset of the CUP and has been followed except during the pandemic. Aluwalia also pointed commissioners to Attachment B in the packet for detailed year‑by‑year counts and said staff could add a visual trend graphic for future presentations.

Ramya Subramanian, senior planner with Stanford's land use planning group, who spoke for the university as the applicant, highlighted recent roadway improvements on Jane Stanford Way, Sarah Street and Santa Teresa, the opening of the new Computation and Data Science Building (referred to as CODA), and a 21% increase in Marguerite shuttle ridership during the reporting period. “CODA is definitely one of our most popular buildings of late,” Subramanian said.

When asked about the university's long‑term plans given the small number of housing units remaining under the 2000 permit, Subramanian said an internal Stanford group is evaluating logistics and possible timing for a new general use permit application; the earliest the university anticipates submitting a new application would be summer 2026, she said.

After questions and no members of the public speaking on the item, a commissioner moved and a second was recorded; the clerk called the roll and the motion carried unanimously.

The commission accepted the annual report and the department will make the report and associated technical attachments available in the project file for public review.