Palo Alto ARB weighs land‑use and mobility alternatives for San Antonio Road area plan

PALO ALTO — City planners on March 19 presented the Architectural Review Board (ARB) with phase‑two alternatives for the San Antonio Road area plan, a 20‑year strategy to guide redevelopment and transportation improvements across about 275 acres in South Palo Alto.

Robert Kane, principal planner, told the board the plan’s goals are to “create a 20‑year vision for a 275‑acre area in South Palo Alto, to create a more livable community, improve mobility and safety throughout the corridor, support sustainability goals and enhance economic vitality.” Kane and consultants outlined four land‑use scenarios, options for park placement and three mobility alternatives for San Antonio Road.

Why it matters: the plan would set the city’s preferred mix of housing, retail and office uses and design standards for a large swath of South Palo Alto that is adjacent to a Caltrain station and the 101 interchange. Planners said the area currently contains about 800 housing units and that build‑out scenarios discussed could create capacity far above the current housing‑element cycle; staff and the clerk cited potential additional capacity in the range of roughly 3,800 to 7,400 units across scenarios, depending on what the city ultimately allows and what private developers build.

What staff proposed and asked the board - Subareas and uses: staff divided the plan area into Central San Antonio Road, North and South Fabian, and a CTI…