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Committee reviews 2023 Stanford Community Plan update focused on on‑campus housing, traffic and AGB protections
Summary
County planners and consultants briefed the Hewlett committee on the county‑led 2023 Stanford Community Plan update, which emphasizes on‑campus housing (75% minimum), expanded traffic standards including a reverse‑trip metric, and retention/extension of the Academic Growth Boundary; the committee accepted the report.
County planning staff and consultants on Thursday outlined the 2023 Stanford Community Plan (SCP), a county‑initiated update the Board adopted in October 2023, and described policy changes aimed at housing, circulation and open‑space protections.
Jacqueline Anciano, director of Planning and Development, opened the presentation and said the SCP update built on work that began during Stanford’s 2016 general use permit process and continued after the university withdrew its 2019 GUP application. Consultant Jeff Bradley of M Group told the Hewlett Housing, Land Use, Environment and Transportation Committee the SCP focuses on three core policy areas: housing, circulation and the Academic Growth Boundary (AGB).
Bradley summarized the housing approach as requiring new housing associated with university growth to be provided on campus or on contiguous Stanford lands near Palo Alto, with a minimum of 75% built on campus and up to 25% off‑campus on Stanford lands. He said the plan also requires housing across income levels “representative of new Stanford staff and students” and that “all affordable units must be provided by Stanford,” removing payment‑in‑lieu as an alternative for the housing linkage requirement. Bradley noted that under the prior GUP fee program roughly 545 units were assisted and that fees had on average supplied about 12% of the funding for those units.
On circulation, Bradley said the plan maintains the county’s no net new commute trip standard, expands the peak period to three hours, and adds a new reverse‑trip standard to measure and limit growth in outbound trips outside the primary commute direction. He said the plan incorporates state VMT standards and continues trip‑credit approaches that reward transportation demand management (TDM) programs and area‑wide bicycle and pedestrian improvements.
On growth and open‑space protections, the presentation highlighted the AGB (about 1,800 acres for the academic campus and about 2,200 acres for the foothills), noted the 2000 plan’s prior 25‑year framework and explained that the SCP’s policies and a 2018 sustainable development study support extending the AGB (staff described a 99‑year extension in the draft policy materials).
Supervisors asked detailed questions about the 75% on‑campus requirement and whether Stanford could satisfy housing needs elsewhere, the mechanics of a potential in‑lieu fee if the county considered one, and how the reverse‑trip standard would be measured and credited under TDM programs. Planning staff said three planners are assigned to the Stanford file and the county has executed a funding agreement with Stanford to support pre‑application consultant work; staff also said the county currently used a sole‑source consultant to retain institutional history and expedite pre‑submission analysis.
Whitney McNair, a project executive for Stanford Next, said Stanford looks to craft proposals that benefit the surrounding communities and noted concern that some new housing and transportation rules “add barriers to new housing production.” She asked to continue coordination with county staff as the university prepares permit materials.
The committee voted to accept the report.
The committee said it expects follow‑up when Stanford submits a new general use permit application and directed staff to continue coordination with consultants and affected jurisdictions.
