1. 1) Zombies?
2) Vampires?
3) Other????

2. Why has Los Altos continued to lose
businesses and tax revenues for the last 17
years?
 Competition?
 Poor Location?
 Poor planning?
 Lack of understanding of what is needed to
attract and retain businesses in the
downtown?

3.  Learn and understand the general tools and process
that city planners, city council and communities use
to:
• Attract great restaurants and shops downtown
• Breathe new life into the community
• Encourage day and evening use
• Create the synergy to get “feet on the street”
• Understand the economic engines that make downtowns work
• Increase tax revenue to the City
Encourage you to get more involved in important
upcoming planning commission and city council
meetings that directly effect the future of our
downtown.

4.  Existing general plan (1992)
 No master plan
 Existing zoning ordinances updated in
2004 through 2009
 Existing parking plans (1992) and
Downtown Parking Opportunities Study
2009
 Existing downtown design review
guidelines (2009 & 2010)

5. All of these
existing
resources are the
tools we use to
implement our
master plan.

6.  Normally a master plan is updated prior to
updating the supporting documents. In our
particular case, Los Altos proceeded with
updating design review guidelines and
parking opportunity studies, and downtown
zoning without first creating the downtown
master plan. (2004 – 2009)
This approach can complicate the process,
keep us from reaching our goals and have
other unintended consequences.

7. Downtown Los Altos
has no formal master
plan.

8.  Traditionallywe have only included the
downtown triangle.
 Should we include the Civic Center Master
Plan in the downtown master plan.
 Should these two plans be related to one
another.
 How are these two plans connected, and
how do they impact one another.

11. May affect our Master Planning Process:
 Downtown Parking and Traffic study. This document
will provide us with current base line information so
we can project and estimate future parking needs
based upon proposed changes to the downtown
master plan and zoning. (This is a good thing!  )
 Proposed rezoning of portions of downtown that will
limit and reduce the current 3 story form based
height limitation to two stories. (This may not be a
good thing, and could have damaging results – we
will discuss later on in this presentation.)

13.  It represents our overall goals and visions
for our future downtown.
 It gives specific direction to all the other
documents used to promote growth,
preserve and enhance architectural
elements, and implement the overall goals
of the Master Plan.

16.  Engage the general community and public to
determine the long term vision for the
downtown triangle and civic center.
 Ask lots of questions
 Formalize the community and master plan
concept.
 Match Master Plan concepts with any existing
City Plan documents to note the differences.
 Update all related documents as required.

17.  How do you increase vitality and feet on the street?
 Do we have businesses, offices, retail and/or residential
uses that we want downtown?
 Do you have the services and businesses you want
downtown?
 Do you want to increase density so that more businesses,
offices and residences can move downtown?
 Do you want to create more open space, meeting space
and outdoor social spaces?
 Do you have enough parking? Will we need more parking
in the future?
 Is the downtown accessible for pedestrians and bicyclists
 How do I get my favorite store to move here?

18.  General Plan (city wide)
 Master Plan (sometimes there is a Specific
Plan if very detailed)
 Zoning including permitted uses, FAR,
building heights, set back in parking req.,
etc.
 Parking plans / shared parking / plaza etc.
 Architectural design review guidelines

20.  Is the project (or Master Plan)
economically viable for the developer and
the City?
 Does the project (or Master Plan) meet
socio-economic and community needs?
 Is the project economically sustainable,
both socially and environmentally?

21.  Itgives them clear rules of engagement for
creating successful projects.

22.  Statistically for every primary job that is
created 3 additional support jobs are
create to either service the new employees
or the company directly. These include
the restaurant and coffee shop jobs,
support retail and support service directly
to the primary job created.

23.  20,000 sq. ft of new office space provides
approximately 100 new employees downtown
(5 per 1000; First and Main)
• The average office employee eats lunch out 2.5
times per week.
• Purchases breakfast / coffee 2.5 times per week.
• Stays after work 1x per week for cocktails and /or
dinner.
 Thisresults in approximately 600 more meals
per week consumed at downtown restaurants
and coffee shops.

24.  Residential Units provide approximately 3
persons per household to the downtown area.
 They normally provide 2.5 breakfast / coffee
shops per week and 2.5 dinners per week and
one lunch per week / per person.
 Each new residential unit would provide
approximately 18 new restaurant visits per
week complimenting existing office employees
during the day. There is a strong benefit to
mixed use projects that include retail and office
/ residential components.

25.  Vibrancy within a downtown area is created
by the synergy of a good mix of office, retail
and residential.
 Good local and regional restaurants will
choose to locate in a downtown that has
enough daytime population.
 Site criteria for strong regional and national
retailers--as well as unique independents--
require both good daytime population and
residential demographics.

26. Downtown Office Space – very telling
 Total
comparison between the cities:
Inventory (sq.
ft.)
Los Altos 420,450
Mountain View 1,244,860
Palo Alto 1,928,860
Menlo Park 657,400

27.  Downtown Day-Time Population:
1-mile radius 2-mile
radius
Los Altos 5,560 24,105
Mountain View 13,015 55,280
Palo Alto 33,630 72,150
Menlo Park 22,170 62,765

28.  Historically,it has been very difficult to attract
good restaurants and retailers to Los Altos,
due to the lack of office workers.
 Unique independents and vibrant regional
and national chains look for strong co-
tenancy, and thus this amplifies the negative
of not enough daytime pop.
 Los Altos viewed by soft goods retailers and
restaurants as “bedroom community.”

29.  If we encourage the developer to build a
stepped back 3 story building rather than the two
story currently proposed that provides:
* Ground floor retail
* More community open space
* Wider side walks
* More outdoor usable restaurants / retail space
* More office space without providing more on-
site parking
* One floor of underground parking
Would this achieve our master planning goals
and provide desired community benefits?

30.  Should the City Council abruptly change from the well
studied (2004 thru 2010), recently approved form based
3 story zoning, to a new zoning ordinance limiting
buildings to two stories?
 Should we first understand the unintended
consequences of such a dramatic change?
 What kind of economic effects will this have on the
downtown?

31.  Threeseparate City committees spent six
years getting public input and updating the
current zoning ordinances.

32.  Existing Zoning Code, developed from six years of
Downtown Development Committee work, was created
with a goal to “increase feet on the street.” Their stated
goal was to add 895,000 sq. ft. of office space.
 Limiting downtown buildings to two stories does just the
opposite.
 Most important factor for developers in deciding which
cities to enter is consistency of the rules and their
application. Constant switching of the zoning rules will
inhibit future development and re-development.

33.  There are many unintended consequences
when a City does not implement a Master
Plan. Those consequences are compounded
when either existing rules are not consistently
applied or when they are changed without
understanding the long term impact.
 Why are certain City Council members
pursuing this zoning change without going
through a master planning process?
 Why are they in such a hurry?

34.  Impact on Existing Merchants
 Impact on the City’s credibility
 Impact on existing and new developers
 Impact on the competition
 Impact on others in the community
 Impact on the City’s financial health
 Impact on the City’s image and long term
vision for the downtown

42.  Participate in the current First and Main gateway
project public review process. Let the City
Council know how you feel.
 Participate in the public review process
regarding council’s current request to restrict
downtown zoning to two stories.
 Next Planning Commission meeting is June 21 st,
2012.
 Stay connected and informed through
participation in Los Altos Forward and other
events.