HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-08-14 Planning & transportation commission Summary Minutes_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
Planning & Transportation Commission 1
Action Agenda: August 14, 2019 2
Council Chambers 3
250 Hamilton Avenue 4
6:00 PM 5
6
Call to Order / Roll Call 7
6:10pm 8
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Chair Riggs: Alright I’d like to call the meeting to order. Alright, welcome to the August 14, 10
2019, Transportation and Planning Commission or Planning and Transportation Commission 11
meeting. Can we do a roll call? 12
Oral Communications 13
The public may speak to any item not on the agenda. Three (3) minutes per speaker.1,2 14
15
Chair Riggs: Alright any oral communications we have? Ok. 16
Agenda Changes, Additions, and Deletions 17
The Chair or Commission majority may modify the agenda order to improve meeting management. 18
19
Chair Riggs: Anything additional for the agenda Mr. Planning Director? No. So I think we have 20
time for comments on… do we have comments on any agenda – any items not on the agenda? 21
22
Mr. Jonathan Lait, Director of Planning and Development Services: 23
24
Chair Riggs: Ok. 25
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1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
City Official Reports 1
1. Director Report, Meeting Schedule and Assignments 2
3
Chair Riggs: With that said I think we can maybe begin with the first item. Should we do a 4
presentation? 5
6
Mr. Jonathan Lait, Director of Planning and Development Services: Yeah, I do have the one 7
Director’s report. If I can offer some comments under that section? A few things to announce, 8
just one is the Planning Commission has previously considered the Mercedes project that was 9
during the… between now and your last meeting. That was reviewed and approved by the City 10
Council. 11
12
The City Council also supported Staff’s request to seek grant funding through SB-2 as a way to 13
find – with an opportunity to find ways for housing production and we want to… if available to 14
us use that money to help find ways to makes ADUs more accessible in terms of how we might 15
facilitate that process. 16
17
Starting in July just organizationally you might want to know that the Planning and 18
Development Services Department had merged. Before they were two separate departments 19
and now, they are one. I serve as the Director overseeing both of those programs. Critical to 20
that was hiring an Assistant Director to help with that role. And I’m proud to introduce and 21
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1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
announce that Racheal Tanner sitting to my left has accepted the position and has been in it 1
since June and wants to double down and is just so stoked, right? 2
3
Ms. Rachael Tanner, Assistant Director of Planning and Development Services: Indeed and 4
[unintelligible]. 5
6
Mr. Lait: Any comments do you want to offer? 7
8
Ms. Tanner: Chair, Vice-Chair, Members of the Commission I just want to introduce myself. 9
Thank you for the opportunity to start. I’m very excited to serve the citizens of Palo Alto and 10
the community that’s here. 11
12
Just a little bit about myself. Before working in this role, I was here in Palo Alto working in the 13
City Manager’s Office and prior to that working with the City and County of San Francisco in 14
planning. Before that in Long Beach and before that in grade school and originally, I’m from 15
Michigan which is where I went to school. Go blue, had to get that in there, and I worked in 16
commute organizing. So, it’s a privilege to be here and really work with you as the decision-17
makers and leaders in the community to help to make sure that Palo Alto is a great place. So, 18
thank you. 19
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1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
Mr. Lait: Thank you, Rachael. Ok and one last thing to announce is that the… on Monday we’re 1
taking a study session or excuse me an action item early discussion before the City Council on 2
the North Ventura Coordinated Area Plan. We’re seeking their support to make some 3
adjustments to the scope of work that we have with our consultant. We want to respond to a 4
couple comments that we received from the working group and we’ve laid out a couple of 5
other areas where we’re seeking Council’s guidance. There is a working group meeting 6
scheduled later that week. Is it Thursday or Wednesday? 7
8
Ms. Tanner: I think Thursday. 9
10
Mr. Lait: Thursday the 20 (interrupted) 11
12
Ms. Tanner: Oh, sorry Wednesday. 13
14
Mr. Lait: Wednesday the 21st. Ok and that’s open to the public and it starts at 6 I believe? Ok. 15
16
Ms. Tanner: 537 [note – time or page?] 17
18
Mr. Lait: Ok, very good, so with that, we conclude the report. 19
Study Session 20
Public Comment is Permitted. Five (5) minutes per speaker.1,3 21
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1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
1
There are no Study Session items. 2
3
Action Items 4
Public Comment is Permitted. Applicants/Appellant Teams: Fifteen (15) minutes, plus three (3) minutes rebuttal. 5
All others: Five (5) minutes per speaker.1,3 6
7
2. PUBLIC HEARING. 1310 Bryant Street, 1235 and 1263 Emerson Street: Planning and 8
Transportation Commission Review of and Receipt of Public Comments on a Draft 9
Environmental Impact Report (EIR) Prepared for the Castilleja School Project. The 10
Draft EIR was Published on July 17, 2019 for a 60-day Initial Public Comment Period 11
Ending September 16, 2019. File #s: 16PLN-00234, 17PLN-00238, and 19PLN-00116. 12
For More Information Contact Amy French, Chief Planning Official, at 13
amy.french@cityofpaloalto.org 14
15
Chair Riggs: Alright so should we do any disclosures now or it is? No. 16
17
Mr. Jonathan Lait, Director of Planning and Development Services: Right so now we’re moving 18
onto Action Item Number Two and no disclosures are necessary. The Planning and 19
Transportation Commission is not taking any action tonight and more importantly is not 20
considering ad development application before you. So, what… I’ll take a moment and then I’ll 21
introduce Amy French to make the presentation. Just… you’ll probably hear us mention this a 22
couple times just because obviously this is a very… is a project that has generated a lot of 23
community interest. This is the first real opportunity for people to come and speak about the 24
project or the forum that we’ve had anyways where people would want to speak about the 25
project. 26
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1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
And just to identify where we are. Applications have come in, we’ve prepared an Environmental 1
Impact Report, we have that draft report and we've released it for the public to make 2
comments on it. As we typically do with these types of projects, we create an opportunity for 3
the public to come to the Planning and Transportation Commission to offer those comments 4
that we would respond too. So, tonight is really just about receiving comments on the Draft 5
Environmental Impact Report. This is not a deliberative moment for the Planning Commission 6
to weigh in on the project. We are not presenting the project except in an overall concept so 7
you can understand in the context of the EIR. You’ll hear a lot of comments from the public 8
tonight that are relative… relevant to the Draft Environmental Impact Report but you’ll also 9
probably hear comments that are specific to the project and concerns about the project. 10
We’re… we… the community’s welcome to express those comments, we will be responding to 11
the ones in writing about the Environmental Impact Report. The Commission, I would 12
encourage the Commission to focus its comments just on the Draft Environmental Impact 13
Report, the methodology that we’ve… the approach that we’ve taken, the methodology that 14
we’ve used, questions about how we came to conclusions about that, that’s all fair game for 15
you to ask those questions. But I’ll also note that we’re… we will be providing written responses 16
in the Final Environmental Impact Report to every comment that we receive whether it’s 17
online, letter, orally spoken here, from the public and also from the Planning and 18
Transportation Commission. Given that and given that we have a large audience we’re probably 19
not going to be able to give a lot of responses to questions that come up and that, at least from 20
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1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
our perspective, is ok because we want to hear what are the concerns and questions are. So, 1
that we can respond to it in the formal written document. We’ll certainly try to answer some 2
that we can if they are quick and we can be responsive we’ll do that. But otherwise just know 3
that we’re taking notes and this meeting is being recorded and so we’ll have a chance to get all 4
those questions and comments. With that I’ll ask Amy French, our Chief Planning Official, to 5
kick us off on this item. 6
7
Ms. Amy French, Chief Planning Official: Good evening. Amy French. Tonight, we have just a 8
few slides for our presentation. We’re going to show the project location. Here’s the format on 9
the screen. We’re going to show the setting, note the five applications that have been 10
submitted, and again restate the reason we’re here which is to receive comments on the Draft 11
EIR. Our secret consultant is Katherine Waugh of Dudek and she’s going to provide the bulk of 12
our presentation on the CEQA. Basic CEQA information, on the Draft EIR and project description 13
which is in Chapter Three of the EIR analysis and conclusions. Commissioners can ask questions 14
of Staff as noted and the consultant prior to opening the public comments portion. We look 15
forward to receiving comments on the EIR from speakers in the audience. The applicant will not 16
be making a presentation tonight, nor will the applicant be afforded time at the end for 17
rebuttals. The applicant may speak along with the public during tonight’s public comment 18
period. 19
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1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
On the screen shows the location. It’s within a single-family neighborhood, the R1 10,000 Zone 1
District, north of there is the Professorville neighborhood, and then this school is within in the 2
Old Palo Alto neighborhood. The streets are Embarcadero Road, Emerson, Cal. Ave and Bryant 3
and there’s a separately owned home, a parcel that abuts the campus here, the little blue 4
square, that is not under Castilleja’s ownership. 5
6
We have these applications on file. The topic four there are within the Planning Commission 7
purview. We have the CUP Amendment, Requesting Enrollment, a Cap Increase and expanding 8
the campus, along with a Tentative Map that would merge the three parcels, a Variance for 9
encroaching into the Embarcadero setback with a subterranean garage, and a Variance to 10
rebuild 84,124-square feet of floor area above grade. We also have an Architectural Review 11
application for the Master Plan as the applicant calls it and that includes four phases of site 12
redevelopment. 13
14
Our next steps, basically tonight, is our first step which is this meeting to discuss the Draft 15
Environmental Impact Report. Castilleja Foundation is the applicant, they are completing the 16
applicant that was submitted just in April this year for the Architectural Review, and the earlier 17
Tentative Map application. The second EIR hearing will be before the Historic Resources Board 18
and that will be on September 12th. And again, that’s an opportunity within the public comment 19
period for the public to make statements that are captured in the final EIR. Then we’ll begin 20
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1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
after that the Final EIR will be worked on and we’ll begin the Historic, Architectural and 1
Planning Commission reviews of the project itself and the applications. Then the last step there 2
is the Council will review the final EIR including the responses to comments and consider 3
certifying the EIR and then take action on the project applications. So here again graphically is 4
where we are. We can to you in March of last year or sorry, March of 2017 with the initial 5
study, Notice of Preparation went out in January 23rd of 2017 and then here we are. The draft 6
was released on July 17th for public comments, it’s a 60-day public comment period which is 15 7
days beyond the required 45-day comment period. So now we’ll transition over to the 8
consultant application… consultant presentation. Let’s see, I need to escape. 9
10
Ms. Katherine Waugh: Oh, ok. Thank you, Amy. I’ll go ahead and start. Thank you. I’ll go ahead 11
and start while she’s pulling up the presentation. Just to reiterate, again my name is Katherine 12
Waugh, I work with Dudek. We’re a statewide environmental consulting firm that the City 13
retained to provide consulting services on this project. Thank you. Whoops, there we go. 14
15
So, as Amy mentioned my presentation tonight will cover an overview of the project 16
description, a little bit of background on CEQA, and the requirements for a Draft EIR, and then 17
I’ll summarize the analysis that we completed in the EIR and that the conclusions that were 18
reached. And then I just have a quick slide that summarizes some of the themes that we are 19
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1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
seeing in the public comments that have been received so far just to set the context for the 1
public comment session. 2
3
So, for first of all the project description as Amy mentioned, the project involves several 4
different applications. One would be to amend the existing Conditional Use Permit for the 5
school, there’s also the Architectural Review related to the building plan as well as there’s a 6
proposed Tentative Map with exceptions, and then there’s two Variances that are requested. I 7
have several images to go through that will help illustrate those different applications. The 8
project essentially proposes to demolish seven of the existing buildings within the Castilleja 9
property. That includes five buildings that are within the school campus portion of the property 10
as well as the two residential structures that are located along Emerson Street. Then the… in 11
replacement of the structures Castilleja proposes to construct a new academic building that 12
would still be in relative to the same general location as their current academic building and 13
campus center. There would be a below-grade parking garage, a below-grade pool with a sound 14
wall, and then below delivery and trash enclosures and waste pickup areas. The project also 15
proposed to increase their enrollment. This is through the amendment to the Conditional Use 16
Permit to allow up to 540 students at a maximum and that would be accomplished by 17
increasing the student enrollment by about 27 students or no more than 27 students per year. 18
The parking garage would increase the amount of parking available within the project site from 19
74 spaces currently to 142 spaces total. And the project has proposed to implement additional 20
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1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
Transportation Demand Management measures to reduce the potential for increased vehicle 1
trips during the peak hours. And the project would require removing… excuse me… 35 trees 2
and relocated 40 trees. There would be 97 trees retained in place and then the applicant would 3
be required to replant or to plant new trees to mitigate for the loss of the trees that are 4
proposed to be removed and relocated. 5
6
So, this is the existing Site Plan. As you can see the classroom building and the campus center 7
kind of from an L-shape along Bryant and Kellogg Avenue. The administration and chapel 8
building is located also up…fronting along Bryant Street. Those buildings are listed as historic 9
resources, they are not proposed to be modified at all during… as part of this project. The two 10
green areas along Emerson Street, those are the two residential structures that are proposed to 11
be demolished. And then you can see there’s the one remaining residential structure that’s not 12
owned by Castilleja at the corner of Emerson and Embarcadero and that is also eligible as a 13
historic resource. 14
15
This is the proposed Site Plan so you can see that the academic building is proposed in generally 16
the same location as the existing classroom and campus center building. The pool would be 17
relocated closer to Emerson Street and then the parking garage would be in the big sort of 18
white space to the left. That blue line along Embarcadero indicates the required 24-foot setback 19
from Embarcadero Road. And then apologizes, it didn’t turn out very well, we have it in yellow 20
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1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
highlight sort of indicating the path through which vehicles would travel through that parking 1
garage which is shown a little bit better on this slide. And so, you can see that the proposal is 2
that all of the traffic would enter to access the garage by turning right from Bryant Street into 3
the project driveway. That is a current requirement is that no left turns are allowed into the 4
existing driveway from Bryant Street so that would be a continuation of the existing 5
requirement. Traffic would then come through this drive isle that has a few parking spaces up 6
there for visitors but the students would be dropped off and picked up within the parking 7
garage. There are two parallel drop off lanes, each one is about 200-feet long which is sufficient 8
to hold about eight cars per lane. So, there room for 16 cars to be dropping off and picking up 9
in those lanes and then the cars would exit by coming up a ramp to access Emerson Street. 10
They would be required to turn right and then that would lead them to Embarcadero where 11
they would also need to make a right turn. The next slide just has a little bit more close up view 12
of the layout of the parking garage. You’ll see that there are tandem or there’s parking spaces 13
along the… through the middle and tandem parking spaces along Embarcadero. And this is 14
where one of the Variances comes into play; is that there’s… as I showed on the… a couple 15
slides back there’s a 24-foot setback along Embarcadero Road. This would be below grade but it 16
would be encroaching within that setback and so that’s one of the Variance requests. 17
18
This slide gives an overview of the existing trees on site and I know this is a lot of detail to try 19
and absorb within in the context of a PowerPoint presentation but I wanted to give the 20
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1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
overview. This figure itself is in the Draft EIR in Chapter Three so you’ll have an opportunity to 1
really dig into the details there. And then there’s a table that in Chapter Four to the Draft EIR 2
that lists every single tree and what is proposed to happen to that tree; whether it’s retained in 3
place, remove, or relocate. 4
5
This slide shows the proposed landscaping. There’s a couple of different zones of types of 6
landscaping. The purple areas are existing landscaping that would remain. The sort of pale blue 7
areas are the bio-swells which provide for stormwater filtration. The brighter green colors is the 8
perimeter planting. You know fairly typical plant palette of lower stature things with trees 9
intermixed and then the blue circle would be surfaced with artificial turf as it currently is. 10
There’s also a proposed landscaped open area at Emerson or along the frontage on Emerson 11
that would be… you know is privately owned by Castilleja but available for a passive recreation 12
meaning walking through the trails. 13
14
This slide provides some of the building elevations. We focused mostly on the classroom 15
academic building as that’s the larger structure that would be visible from offsite locations and 16
a couple of examples of the fencing details that are proposed. The one in the lower-left corner 17
shows the detail of the sound wall that the… at the edge of the pool. So, it would go straight up 18
for 6-feet and then have an angled kicker to help add height to that wall to protect… to reduce 19
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1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
the noise levels but do it in a way that doesn’t create a 10-foot wall at the sidewalk level. So 1
that we’re… the project would maintain the pedestrian scale at the street level. 2
3
So now I just have a quick overview as I said to talk about what the basic requirements of a 4
Draft EIR are. This is similar to the slide that Amy presented as well in terms of the key 5
milestones in the Environmental Impact Report process. As Amy mentioned we produced a 6
Notice of Preparation of this EIR in January of 2017 and how [note – had] the scoping session 7
with the Planning and Transportation Commission in March of that year. So, the minimum 8
requirement is for a 30-day public review but the City provided actually several… a couple of 9
months of public review for that document. Now at the Draft EIR stage, again the minimum 10
requirement is for 45-days of public review with the Draft EIR and the City has provided 60-days 11
for this. And this is… as Jon was explaining, this is the intent of tonight’s meeting is to receive 12
comments that relate to the adequacy of the EIR. If people have questions for additional 13
clarification or explanation of how the analysis was conducted. Once we have reached the end 14
of the public review period of the Draft EIR we will prepare a final EIR; which will present all of 15
the responses to each individual comment that was submitted and present any text edits that 16
might be necessary to provide the clarification that folks are looking for within the Draft EIR 17
chapters themselves. 18
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1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
The basic contents of a Draft EIR are the project description, the analysis of impacts to the 1
physical environment, Mitigation Measures to reduce or avoid impacts to extent feasible, and 2
CEQA does require that the lead agency adopt all feasible and Mitigation Measures that would 3
reduce… substantially reduce a significant impact. We also evaluated accumulative impacts so 4
that the context of how the project would affect the physical environment in the future when… 5
given the fact that additional growth would occur within the City. We considered growth 6
inducement and then we also evaluated project alternatives. 7
8
When we prepare the Environmental Impact Analysis, we first start by defining what the 9
existing conditions are and those are, under CEQA, the conditions that existed at the time we 10
began the environmental review. Then we evaluate what the project… how the project could 11
change those conditions and when we determined whether or not an impact is significant we’re 12
doing it by looking at the different types of thresholds that are presented in the City’s Planning 13
and Policy Documents such as the Comprehensive Plan and the Municipal Code and the City’s 14
Environmental Criteria for environmental documents. And then where applicable we also look 15
to federal and state regulations and policies to help inform that decision of whether an impact 16
is significant or less than significant. 17
18
So now I have a series of slides focusing on the conclusions that we reach within the Draft EIR. 19
I’m going to go over these fairly quickly because… to allow for sufficient time for the public 20
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1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
hearing. I’m happy to answer questions though when we get to the end of the presentation if 1
you need clarification on any of these. The first slide here is the Mitigation Measure that was 2
presented in the Initial Study. The Initial Study is a document that we prepared to go along with 3
the Notice of Preparation and we did some preliminary analysis so that we could figure out 4
what topics were likely to have significant impacts so that we could focus the EIR on those 5
issues. When we were working on the Initial Study, we found that the project have very low 6
potential to have adverse effects on biological resources but there were two areas that did 7
require mitigation. So, Mitigation Measure Bio-1 requires a pre-construction survey for nesting 8
birds and that would be applicable at each phase of construction. And then the Mitigation 9
Measure Bio-2 requires… I wrote pre-construction on this slide but I should have said pre-10
demolition. So that applies to when buildings are proposed for demolition that a survey needs 11
to be done to make sure there’s no bats roosting at the time. Similarly, Mitigation Measure 12
HAZ-1 for hazardous materials requires a pre-demolition survey to identify any lead or asbestos 13
materials within the buildings. It’s based on their age; you know that’s a potential that they may 14
contain those substances and then the appropriate protocols would need to be followed to 15
make sure that hazardous conditions aren’t created during demolition. 16
17
The first topic within the EIR that we address is Land Use. This is where we consider consistency 18
with the City’s plans and policies. We found that the impacts would be less than significant with 19
mitigation and that the key issues there were the potential for special events to cause 20
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1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
incompatibility with the surrounding neighbors. And so, we have a Mitigation Measure 4a that 1
identifies several restrictions on special events to make sure that there’s a set quantity of larger 2
events. And then Mitigation Measure 4b relates to the proposals to remove and relocate trees 3
and so that mitigation measure lays out what the applicant would be required to do in order to 4
make… to mitigate for those; the loss of trees and the reduction in lifespan that is associated 5
with relocating a tree. There are also other mitigation measures that are referenced in the Land 6
Use Chapter when we’re discussing land use compatibility. For example, the requirement to 7
have a Lighting Plan under the Aesthetics Chapter which is what we’ll move to next. 8
9
So, with aesthetics again, we found less than significant with mitigation. We looked at the tree 10
inventory and arborist report as sort of informing that analysis; as well as a detailed review of 11
the building materials and style and fencing details to consider the compatibility of those 12
structures and improvements within the context of a residential neighborhood. We did find a 13
potentially significant impact with lighting because the Lighting Plan details aren’t fully flushed 14
out yet and so we’ve identified some performance standards to make sure that when the 15
Lighting Plan is developed it would not result in any adverse effects to neighbors. 16
17
With respect to Cultural Resources, the key concern for this site is the potential to adversely 18
affect the Historic Resources that exist within the project site and adjacent. We found again less 19
than significant impacts as long as the mitigation is implemented and so these include 20
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1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
developing a Protection Plan for the historic buildings. There’re some specific measures that are 1
mentioned within the context of that mitigation measure; as well as Performance Standards in 2
terms of ensuring that as demolition and construction proceed those buildings aren’t damaged 3
by that activity. We also required a fairly typical mitigation measure of Cultural Resource 4
Awareness Training for construction crews and this is just to address the potential which is 5
pretty much ubiquitous throughout California that you might discover Native American artifacts 6
or… once the excavation and grading begins. 7
8
With respect to transportation and circulation, this is an area where we did find a significant 9
and unavoidable impact. Mitigation measures are required but we couldn’t reach a 10
determination that those mitigation measures would reduce the impacts to a less than 11
significant level. So, Dudek worked with W-Trans, a transportation engineering company, to 12
prepare the Traffic Impact Analysis Report. One of the key impacts we found is that the 13
proposal to reroute traffic by creating this underground parking garage instead of using the 14
dispersed drop off locations that are available currently. It would concentrate all of the traffic 15
into this segment of Emerson Street between the exit to the garage which is lined up with 16
Melville and Embarcadero Road. And so that would have a significant increase in what’s called 17
the TIRE Index which is a measurement of the volume of traffic on residential streets. We 18
looked at… I’ll get into more detail at the end of this section about the significant and 19
unavoidable impact but the mitigation measures that were recommended is to implement 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
additional Transportation Demand Management Measures to help reduce the total number of 1
trips to and from the project site each day. The Mitigation Measure 7b, Vegetation 2
Management, that was just related to making sure that there’s adequate sight distance at each 3
of the project site driveways onto the public streets. And so, there’s some specific direction in 4
there as to how that vegetation management needs to be maintained in perpetuity to provide 5
that safety. And then there was a third impact in the existing or excuse me, the accumulative 6
scenario that the project would contribute to delays at the intersection of Kingsley and Alma. 7
And so, the mitigation measure requires the City to consider signalizing that intersection. 8
However, there’s a lot of different considerations that go into determining where is it 9
appropriate to place a traffic signal and so there’re… at this point, it’s not possible for the City 10
to determine if that really is an appropriate location. And that’s why we left that impact as 11
significant and unavoidable because it may not be effective or appropriate to install that signal 12
in that location. And as I said I’ll come back to that impact at the end of this section just for a 13
little bit more detail. 14
15
In terms… evaluating noise, the project applicant had a Noise Assessment prepared and then 16
Dudek’s in-house noise specialist peer-reviewed that report so that we could verify the findings. 17
The analysis that there is a potential for some of the special events and use of the pool to 18
create substantial noise levels. And so, the mitigation measures involve doing additional 19
analysis once the loudspeaker equipment of the pool complex is selected to make sure that 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
those are appropriately placed so as to minimize noise impacts to the neighbors. And there’s 1
also a requirement for additional analysis when each construction phase is proposed and 2
Performance Standards that are required to make sure that construction noise is minimized and 3
to a level that fits within the City’s noise criteria. 4
The next two slides are air quality and greenhouse gases. For both of those, we used a 5
modeling program called CalEEMod. This is a statewide tool to generate or to prepare 6
estimates of the level of air pollutant emissions and greenhouse gas emissions that would be 7
associated with construction of the project. We identified some fairly standard mitigation 8
measures for air quality in terms of making sure that the project implements all of the best 9
management practices that are recommended by the Bay Area Air Quality Management 10
District. We also referenced the Mitigation Measure HAZ-1 which as I discussed earlier is 11
related to doing a survey for lead and asbestos in the buildings prior to demolition. With 12
respect to greenhouse gas emissions, we found that the emissions from construction would fall 13
below the Bay Area Air Quality Management District’s thresholds so the impact is considered 14
less than significant. We also discussed in the chapter the operational characteristics of the 15
school would not cause a significant increase in greenhouse gas emissions either. So, those 16
impacts were considered less than significant and no mitigation is required. So, the last… oh, 17
I’m sorry, I forgot to advance the slide. 18
19
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
The very last resource topic that we looked at in the EIR is geology, soils, seismicity, and 1
paleontology. These impacts were also considered to be less than significant with mitigation. 2
There was a detailed geo-technical survey that was prepared on which we based the analysis. 3
That Geo-Technical Report has some specific recommendations on building construction 4
standards that must be followed to ensure that all of those impacts remain less than significant 5
and meet with City Code and the California Building Code requirements. And then similar to 6
archeological resources, there’s a potential for paleontological resources to be uncovered 7
during excavation and grading. And so, we have a standard measure in there to, to minimize 8
potential for adverse effects. 9
10
The… a couple… the last couple of section of the draft EIR cover what we called the CEQA 11
mandated sections. So, this is where we discussed issues such as energy, consumption and 12
conservation and growth inducement. Again, found that those impacts would be less than 13
significant. The Energy Consumption Analysis was based on the CalEEMod modeling that we 14
used for the Air Quality and Greenhouse Emissions Analysis. And then growth inducement is 15
realized a lot upon the City’s Comprehensive Plan and the Castilleja’s anticipated increase in 16
Staff level. 17
18
So, a major part of preparing a draft EIR is to consider project alternatives. CEQA requires that 19
we look at alternatives that would be capable of reducing one or more of the project’s 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
significant impacts but still meet most of the basic project objectives. And so that ensures that 1
we’re looking at project alternatives that could be feasible for the applicant to construct if the 2
City chooses not to approve the project that they’ve proposed. So, we did a… reviewed a lot of 3
it or excuse me, reviewed all of the NOP comments that came in that addressed or suggested 4
different types of project alternatives to make sure that we were being responsive to the 5
public’s suggestions on those topics and these were the three alternatives that we prepared. 6
One is the No Project Alternative which is required by CEQA so it looks at the scenario in which 7
no changes are made to the campus and the school operates under the existing Conditional Use 8
Permit. We looked at an alternative that has Moderate Enrollment Increase, we reached an 9
enrollment count of 506 students. This allows for a slight reduction in the size of the academic 10
building and reduced a little bit of the surface parking as well to see whether that would 11
improve aesthetics for the neighborhood. And then we looked at a Moderate Enrollment 12
Increase with reduced parking. That was a common theme throughout the comments on the 13
Notice of Preparation. A lot of people had suggested getting rid of the parking garage all 14
together or reducing the amount of parking and so that’s what we looked at in that alternative. 15
16
And then as I said, in the beginning, I was going to come back to our significant and unavoidable 17
impacts. So, we found three significant and unavoidable impacts, two of them are closely or 18
very much related to each other. So, Impact 4-2 is related to creating a land-use incompatibility 19
and Impact 7-1 is related to traffic and conflicting with plans, policies that establish 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
Performance Standards for the City’s roadways and intersections. And so, as I discussed earlier, 1
we found that the single… the way that traffic is proposed to be routed through the 2
underground parking garage and required to turn right at the exit would concentrate traffic on 3
that one segment of Emerson Street. That effect is slightly reduced with implementation of the 4
Transportation Demand Management Plan under Mitigation Measure 7a but we also spent a lot 5
of time looking in detail at an alternative that would allow… that would remove that restriction 6
and allow traffic exiting the garage to proceed straight down Melville or to turn left onto 7
Emerson. And we found… as shown in the Traffic Impact Analysis Report we found that that 8
would exacerbate or actually create new impacts on other segments within the neighborhood. 9
And so, the recommendation is to stick with it, the project as proposed because this alternative 10
or mitigation would be effective at substantially reducing the projects significant impact. And 11
then the third significant and unavoidable impact as I mentioned was the accumulative traffic 12
increase at the intersection of Kingsley and Alma. And so, this slide provides data that’s in the 13
draft EIR traffic section. It shows you exactly how the project would affect the operation of that 14
intersection and as you can see the… in the AM and PM peak hours this project would cause the 15
intersection to drop from a Level of Service E to a Level of Service F. And this is where a traffic 16
signal could be effective at providing for more efficient traffic flow through the intersection. 17
However, as we said that the City’s determination of where to install a traffic signal is based on 18
a lot of other factors and so it is not appropriate at this time to commit to having that traffic 19
installed at that location. 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
1
So that wraps up my sort of broad overview of the draft EIR analysis and conclusions. As I 2
mentioned I am happy to answer any questions or elaborate on any of those topics but that is… 3
wraps up our presentation. Other than as I said I wanted to provide a quick summary of some 4
of the basic themes that we’ve seen in the list or in the comments that have been received so 5
far by the public and I won’t go through and read all of these. I just wanted to leave them up 6
there for a moment so folks can see that we have been reviewing the comments as they coming 7
in and we’re going to be taking detailed notes. And as Jon mentioned this meeting will be 8
recorded so that we can ensure that we provide specific responses to every concern that is 9
raised on the Environmental Impact Report. 10
11
And so then finally just a reminder to folks on how and when to submit comments. Verbal 12
comments that are made tonight are definitely part of the record but written comments can 13
also be submitted in person tonight if people have them prepared, by mail or email and 14
through the City’s website. And the due date for those comments is September 16th and the 15
contact information is listed in case anyone needs it. 16
17
Ms. French: I’ll also add that the Castilleja Expansion email that I’ve been getting comments. I’m 18
the one that looks at all those so castillejaexpansion.org is an email that is specifically provided 19
to receive comments as well. 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
1
Ms. Waugh: Alright and so that concludes my presentation. As I said I’d be happy to answer any 2
questions. 3
4
Chair Riggs: Any quick questions from the Commissioners? Commissioner Lauing. 5
6
Commissioner Lauing: Is this for the consultant and Staff? 7
8
Chair Riggs: I believe yes. Go ahead. 9
10
Commissioner Lauing: Ok. I just want to address Staff with the question of… about on Page 4 11
where you comment that the EIR definitely identifies significant and unavoidable impacts. And 12
then you state that eventually if those remained that there would need to be a Statement of 13
Overriding Considerations by Council. I just thought for the public maybe you could specify 14
what that looks like and secondarily at the end of that paragraph where it talks about the 15
Project Entitlement Applications. That will come through here but somehow is going to go, as I 16
read that, more directly to Council with our potential recommendations. 17
18
Ms. French: I’ll address the applications process so yes; all of the applications that have been 19
submitted as mentioned; Architectural Review; Tentative Map; Variances; Conditional Use 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
Permit. Those will all go to Council, the Council will first consider certification of the 1
Environmental Impact Report… the final Environmental Impact Report, and then we’ll consider 2
the recommendations provided to them from the various Boards and Commissions and Staff 3
and can take action on the applications. I’ll let Katherine respond on the definition of the 4
significant and unavoidable and just to say that the Council would have to make a Statement of 5
Overriding Considerations for… if they were to adopt the project as proposed with the 6
significant and unavoidable impacts. 7
8
Commissioner Lauing: That’s the phrase and process that I think maybe needs some 9
clarification for some. 10
11
Ms. Waugh: Sure, so the significant and unavoidable impact is one that there is no feasible 12
mitigation that would affective reduce that impact below the appropriate thresholds. And so, as 13
I explained, for example, the TIRE Index increase on Emerson. We looked at different ways of 14
reducing that impact and found that they also resulted in additional significant impacts. So, the 15
City Council would have to weigh those different trade-offs and determine to what degree the 16
project can proceed or not based on that. But should the Council want to approve a project that 17
has significant and unavoidable impacts, CEQA requires what we call a Statement of Overriding 18
Considerations; which is when the decision making body lays out what factors there are 19
involved in that project that makes those significant and unavoidable impacts tolerable I guess 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
would be the word. What are the reasons why in the face of those significant and unavoidable 1
impacts the decision-making body still feels that the project is appropriate to be… to proceed 2
with? The findings… even if you don’t have any significant and unavoidable impacts then you’re 3
required to adopt a Statement of Findings with each EIR and that lays out the… sort of a 4
summary of the impacts that were identified, why the mitigation measure that are identified 5
are effective as reducing those impacts and then a conclusion of what the residual or the 6
remaining impact would be. 7
8
Commissioner Lauing: Thank you. 9
10
Chair Riggs: Commissioner Templeton. 11
12
Commissioner Templeton: Hi, thank you for these presentations. I have a couple of what I hope 13
are quick questions. I’m just going to run through them in the interest of time. On your 14
presentation project description slide you say that the… you describe both the parking garage 15
and the pool is below grade but the parking garage is underground right and the pool is open to 16
the air? 17
18
Ms. Waugh: Correct, yes. 19
20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
Commissioner Templeton: Ok, great, thank you and can you point out on your proposed Site 1
Plan where the above-ground parking spaces are? 2
3
Ms. Waugh: Whoops, wrong way. 4
5
Commissioner Templeton: I just wasn’t super clear on that. That’s the one. 6
7
Ms. Waugh: So, there’s some above… surface parking here along Bryant and then there’s a 8
small parking lot back here in the corner of Emerson and (interrupted) 9
10
Commissioner Templeton: Do you know roughly how many each of those is? 11
12
Ms. Waugh: I… pardon? 13
14
Commissioner Templeton: Don’t worry about it. If you don’t it’s ok. 15
16
Ms. Waugh: We… yeah, we have that data but the number is escaping me at the moment. 17
18
Commissioner Templeton: Don’t worry about it. Ok, great, thank you. Also, on… turn to our 19
trusty draft EIR, on Page 13-8 you… among your rejected alternatives for Number Four, surface 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
parking only. You disregard this option to… for… because it doesn’t mitigate the issues but I’m 1
wondering if you could reconsider that. Doesn’t it… having less parking mitigate the traffic 2
because there would be nowhere to stash the car or not having underground parking might 3
eliminate the bottle on 7-1. Those kinds of things would… would that be… can you help clarify 4
why it doesn’t affect those? 5
6
Ms. Waugh: Sure. So, at the basic level, there’s the students… the number of students is really 7
what drives the amount of traffic. So… but we certainly can take a second look at those. That’s 8
exactly the intent of receiving public comments and preparing the final EIR so that we can 9
elaborate or dig a little deeper into those types of issues. 10
11
Commissioner Templeton: Excellent, thank you. When… for the geology, nothing significant was 12
found. One of the concerns I’ve been hearing was around the water table and that there as 13
problems with a previous under or a subterranean project on the site? Was that investigated? 14
15
Ms. Waugh: The analysis in the Draft EIR was based on the Geo-Technical Evaluation that was 16
completed which found that the depth of the groundwater is I believe it’s 23 to 31-feet below 17
the surface of the ground. So, I would have to go back and re-read whether they were aware of 18
the previous construction effort that had dewatering activities. And then we also don’t have… 19
then we would also need to look into whether those dewatering activities were a result of 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
groundwater or maybe runoff… stormwater runoff from other… from storm events. So, that’s 1
something that we can do some more research into. 2
3
Commissioner Templeton: Great. Ok, that’s all I have for now. Thank you. 4
5
Chair Riggs: Anybody else? Alright, with that said I think we’re ready to begin our hearing 6
unless… I saw a nod. So, I’m going to suggest with the consensus of the Staff, so we have over 7
100 cards at this point which is going on 5-hours of public comment if we stick with the 3-8
minute threshold. So, with – it’s 2-hour discretion and I’m going to suggest we limit public 9
comments to 2-minuets each and that five people will be able to pool their time into a 10-10
minute block with… and just seeing nods. But I just want to make sure I have consensus among 11
the… I just think it’s going to make our time a little more efficient. Do I have general consensus 12
on that amongst the Commissioners? 13
14
Commissioner Templeton: Just one quick thought for the pooling, you may want to reduce that. 15
There’s not enough benefit if you do it that way. 16
17
Vice-Chair Alcheck: Yeah, it goes from five, 15 to 10. 18
19
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
Chair Riggs: That’s correct so it would be 2-minutes and if pooled at most would probably be 1
10-minutes. Ok so than just some other guidelines that I want to run through. I really 2
appreciate everyone coming out. Thank you for being here. We want to hear from you. Please, 3
speak clearly but make sure… this is a professional setting. We don’t want… we want you to 4
show respect for the person at the dais so please no cheering, no clapping. Listen it’s not a 5
sporting event so... and then also that if you’d like to… it’s not a requirement but if you’d like to 6
identify where you’re from, where you live, we’d welcome you to do that. Again, not required 7
and with that said I think we’re ready to go. So, what I’m going to do is I’m going to call out… I 8
got a big list here so what I’m going to ask you to do is I’m going to call out two names at one 9
time. And I’m going to ask both people to come forward so there’s going to be the batter and 10
the person on deck and you’ll see that you’ll come up here to the dais. And what I’m also going 11
to ask if you’re pooling your time with other people, rather than having everyone identify 12
themselves, I’m going to ask for the five individuals to stand, and the speaker that’s 13
representing them just to identify himself or herself. So, with that said I have Neva Yarkin and in 14
due, I’m going to apologize up front. If I mispronounce your name, I’m sorry, correct me later. 15
So, I have Neva Yarkin and Kimberly Wong to start us off. Thank you. 16
17
Ms. Neva Yarkin: So, I need the mouse. Where is the mouse and I need the screen? Oh, right 18
there, ok. Good evening Commissioners. My name is Neva Yarkin and I live at 133 Churchill 19
Avenue in Palo Alto. I live around the corner from Castilleja. By adding another 125 students I w 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
feel that this will cause more traffic on already congested Embarcadero and surrounding 1
streets. According to the DEIR there will be a total of 266 new daily vehicle trips on Churchill 2
between Waverley and Bryant. Over 70 percent of Castilleja students come from outside of 3
Palo Alto. On this slide here, if you can see it, that’s the underground parking garage and the 4
one-way traffic pattern that the entrances is Embarcadero, Bryant, and the exit 5
Emerson/Embarcadero. If I had a daughter that I was driving to Castilleja I would never consider 6
going to an underground parking garage while I was rushing off to work. The DEIR didn’t 7
mention vehicle stalls or car accidents for underground garages. If a tow truck or ambulance 8
should it be needed in the garage quickly, how will these emergency vehicles navigate the one-9
way traffic pattern? Will they have to get in line with all the other cars to get in and out of the 10
underground garage? 11
12
Two other major projects will be happening in the area besides Castilleja Expansion; including 13
Stanford Expansion, the electrification of Caltrans. Please consider this when making a final 14
decision about Castilleja’s Expansion. If Stanford is allowed to expand then Pally will also have 15
an increase of new students. Pally is only one block away from Castilleja. There. 16
17
Some comments I have about construction if the expansion is approved. 18
19
Chair Riggs: Thank you, Ms. Yarkin. Ms. Wong and then Alan Cooper. 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
1
Ms. Kimberly Wong: Thank you. Dear members of the PTC Board, my name is Kimberly Wong, 2
my grandfather moved here in 1900. Currently, I live at 1260 Emerson Street, opposite the 3
Lockey House which was dedicated to Castilleja’s beloved founder Ms. Mary Lockey who 4
opened an all-girls school in 1907 with encouragement of her mentor David Starr Jordon. 5
6
In Chapter 6, Table 6.1 of the DEIR it says that the Lockey House was built in 1912 but the 7
architect is unknown. Shouldn’t we identify the architect before deciding it is not historic? It is 8
probable that Gustav Laumeister, a notable architect of the Castilleja administration building 9
and many nearby Professorville homes of that period could have also designed Lockey home… 10
the Lockey House? Despite the addition also retains enough of the historical character as you 11
can see and its charm. It should also satisfy Criteria Two of the National Historic Registry which 12
states that the property that’s associated with lives of a person, is important to the nation, or 13
California’s past. Ms. Lockey founded the longest-lasting, non-sectarian preparatory girl school 14
in the country. And if not for the historic designation it is a fact that demolishing two single-15
family residential homes would destroy the residential feel and aesthetics of this block. No 16
amount of fencing or greenery can mass a lose of two homes and majestic trees to be replaced 17
by a garage exist on Emerson. Please study the alternative of keeping the homes. In fact, 18
introducing a garage with only one-way into the Bryant Street garage entrance introduces a 19
significant impact to traffic flow and bike safety on an already busy bike boulevard intersection; 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
which cars and cyclists, many of which are school children, cross daily. Please study the 1
alternative of not building the garage and requiring all drivers to park off-site and shuttling 2
everyone onto campus. Thank you. 3
4
Chair Riggs: Alan Cooper and Nanci Kaufman. 5
6
Mr. Alan Cooper: Yes, I live at 270 Kellogg Avenue, I want to revisit the completeness and 7
accuracy of the DEIR Geology Chapter. My overall concern as Geologist myself is that there are 8
insufficient geologic core and remote sensing data to ensure the safety of the site. In particular 9
the potential for liquefaction, especially under and around the garage where liquefaction prone 10
subsurface horizons were encountered in the two boring sites. The Geo-Technical Report in 11
January 2017 was followed by a peer-review evaluation report in February 2017. The evaluation 12
report noted several deficiencies in the liquefaction interruption recommend that additional 13
analysis be done using different, more up to date techniques. Both reports are in the dIR [note 14
– DEIR] yet the conclusion… the only conclusions in the DEIR Geology Chapter are to the Geo-15
Technical Report. The evaluation of the peer review was not mentioned nor were my 16
comments. I see deficiencies in the dIR [note – DEIR] Geology Chapter that includes number 17
one the liquefaction potential is greater than stated in the DEIR at least for the garage area. 18
Geo-Technical Report plots information incorrectly based… they did not take away the earth 19
overburden when it was excavated for the garage. This was pointed out also in comments of 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
the evaluation… peer-review evaluation. The DEIR Geology Chapter conclusions and mitigations 1
are questionable because they are based solely on the original Geo-Technical Report for which 2
the evaluation report noted that first of all, corrugated were not fully and properly analyzed 3
and secondly the Geo-Technical Report liquefaction conclusion should be altered. I submit that 4
additional geologic core sites and some remote sensing data are needed to adequately assess 5
the safety of the Castilleja site. Thank you. 6
7
Chair Riggs: Thank you, Mr. Cooper. Alright, Nanci Kaufmann. 8
9
Ms. Nanci Kaufmann (Lorraine Brown, Charles Stevens, Barbara Stevens, Andrew Stober): So, 10
some people have seceded their time to me. If you could please stand? 11
12
Chair Riggs: So Nanci, if you could just indulge me. Yes, so 10-minutes and then after you [note 13
– is] Julia Zeitlin. 14
15
Ms. Kaufmann: Good evening, thank you Chair Riggs and Members of the Planning and 16
Transportation Commission for this opportunity to speak to you tonight. My name’s Nanci 17
Kaufmann and I’m the head of Castilleja School and also a homeowner on Churchill Avenue for 18
22-years. Right around the block from the school. I’m pleased to finally be at this moment with 19
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
a draft impact… a draft Environmental Impact Report to inform the project that we’ve proposed 1
and I’d like to add my voice to the many who support our application. 2
3
I realize many of the questions about this project center around trust and I have addressed this 4
question openly many different times but I understand that concerns still linger. And I just want 5
to quickly speak to that point again tonight before I comment on the DEIR and that is to say 6
that as I’ve conveyed in meetings and directly in our proposal the school is committed to a 7
project that is compatible with the neighborhood and we’re equally committed to a transparent 8
process regarding enrollment. Ultimately, our goals is two-fold; to educate more girls on an 9
updated campus and to be good neighbors. To that end through campus modernization, we are 10
seeking permission to make changes that will reduce noise, take cars off the street, create 11
spaces that blend gently into the neighborhood, and build a net-zero energy campus that 12
minimizes our environmental impact. I’m proud to say that our proposal has been deemed 100 13
percent compliant with Palo Alto’s Comprehensive Plan which outlines the City’s guiding 14
principles for development and growth in the future. 15
16
Palo Alto and Castilleja share a deep history that pre-dates all of us and this DEIR recognizes 17
that relationship and outlines the many benefits of our project. Including a campus design in 18
scale that is deemed more compatible with our surrounding residential neighborhood, a lead 19
platinum environmental measures that surpass Palo Alto’s Sustainability Goals while also 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
teaching stewardship, a successful Traffic Demand Management Program that can be enhanced 1
to allow for increased enrollment without increasing daily trips, and underground parking that’s 2
preferred over surface parking to increase green space and improve aesthetics. 3
4
Palo Alto is a hub of educational excellence, Castilleja is one among many outstanding schools 5
in our community. Within that context, all girl’s education is a transformative experience for 6
the girls who seek it. It can be hard to describe the impact without witnessing it first hand but 7
I’ll try. In the inspiring company of other girls out students reimagine their own potential. We 8
see girls make critical shift from students who study to students who are invested, engaged, 9
and determined. We see them take ownership of learning and find their voices. For Castilleja 10
students maintaining grades six through twelve on one campus is essential because mentorship 11
across grades allows them to become confident thinkers and compassionate leaders. And that’s 12
why we’re very glad that the DEIR considered and rejected a split campus. Castilleja has been 13
offering a unique educational opportunity to young women in and around Palo Alto for 112-14
years. Generations of alumni have brought positive change to the City and to the world in 15
various fields including medicine, education, technology, public service, non-profits, and 16
industry. This is why we want to offer this unique education to more girls and modernize our 17
campus. 18
19
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
Some of these young women will be first-generation college students and our tuition assistance 1
program will allow access to a foundational middle and high school experience. Important steps 2
toward higher education. All of us will benefit from the increased equity and opportunity 3
because I hope all of us here can agree the world needs women leaders now more than ever. 4
5
We could not have it this far without our supporters. Thank you all. I know don’t applause, ok. 6
We couldn’t have made it here without our supporters and many of them are not affiliated in 7
the school in any way but all of them value the unique education we provide. I understand the 8
commitment that we’ve made to improve our neighborhood. While the DEIR generally supports 9
our proposal, we understand that further analysis is required to improve traffic and we take 10
that directive very seriously. We intend to consider opportunities to mitigate the impacts and 11
to inform our process because we are absolutely committed to being good neighbors. We care 12
deeply about this corner of Palo Alto because it’s also our beloved home. We look forward to 13
sharing a hopeful and positive future for the school and the neighborhood. Thank you. 14
15
Chair Riggs: Great, I apologize for kind of getting ahead of myself Nanci earlier but I… if you 16
could just have the people that gave you time stand up so we can identify them… who they are. 17
18
Ms. Kaufmann: Yes. 19
20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
Chair Riggs: I see, ok awesome. Thank you very much and so next we have Julia Zeitlin is it? And 1
then followed by Julia Ishiyama. 2
3
Ms. Julia Zeitlin: Good evening everybody. My name is Julia Zeirlin. I’m a rising 8th grader at 4
Castilleja as well as a Palo Alto resident and an environmental activist. In the spring I helped 5
organize the Bike to Work and School Day. It was great to see so many students and facility 6
members come stop at our energizer station. This past March I organized a student protest in 7
downtown Palo Alto for climate justice in solidary with the Global Youth School Strike. I had 8
amazing help from the school’s Awareness, Compassion, and Engagement Team. I’m currently 9
working with the Sunrise Movement. A youth-led organization that is fighting climate change. 10
Castilleja understands the importance of environmental stewardship and the urgent need to act 11
and help reduce climate change. I’m very lucky to be apart of a school so focused on its effect 12
on both Palo Alto and the world at large. In recent years, Castilleja has reduced its trash output 13
by 40 percent by adding additional compost and recycling waste bins all around campus. 14
Furthermore, since 2009 Castilleja has reduced its consumption of gas by 30 percent, electricity 15
by 35 percent and water by over 65 percent. However, Castilleja’s effort to create a more 16
sustainable campus are limited by aging and inefficient buildings. At the same time, Castilleja is 17
very focused on its effect on neighbors. Since 2012 Castilleja has reduced its transportation 18
trips per student by 25 to 30 percent. In our Master Plan, Castilleja reduces noise pollution by 19
bringing the learning spaces to the center of the school. While the underground parking will 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
reduce both traffic and air pollution from idling. As an environmental advocate, I support 1
Castilleja’s Master Plan development because of the extremely conscious way we are going 2
about it. This Master Plan exceeds all expectations from an environmental standpoint. I’m 3
proud to be apart of this school and hope that this project can be put in place so that Castilleja 4
can become an even better learning environment for many generations to come. Thank you. 5
6
Chair Riggs: Thank you Julia and Julia Ishiyama and Evelyn Nicolaou. 7
8
Ms. Julia Ishiyama: Good evening Commissioners. My name is Julia Ishiyama and I’m a lifelong 9
Palo Alto resident and a member of Castilleja’s Class of 2009. I’m here in both capacities to urge 10
you to support Castilleja’s proposal to modernize its campus and increase its enrollment 11
numbers. I’ve been following this project for quite some time and I’m pleased to see that the 12
draft EIR reflects generally positively on Castilleja’s efforts. Contrary to some of the concerns 13
expressed by project opponents, Castilleja’s proposed modernization has been judged by the 14
EIR to have no significant impacts on issues including hydrology and water quality, 15
neighborhood housing and [unintelligible] land use and visual character of the area. Indeed, 16
Castilleja’s proposed project will allow the school to double down on its commitment to 17
sustainability. New buildings will be fossil-free apart from the science labs and as previously 18
mentioned have net-zero energy operations and exceed the standards for lead Platinum 19
Certification. In areas where mitigation is required, I urge you to consider Castilleja’s 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
demonstrated commitment to meeting high standards and holding itself countable. I 1
understand that the school’s past action under previous leadership have upset some of its 2
neighbors but today’s Castilleja has shown itself to be incredibly proactive instituting an 3
aggressive Transportation Demand Management Program with self-imposed restrictions. This 4
track record should leave no doubt about the school’s commitment to managing its impact on 5
the community. And I appreciate the clarification that the City Council is the body that would 6
adopt a Statement of Overriding Considerations but to the extent that you’re advising them, 7
here are a couple things I hope you’ll consider. The opportunities that Castilleja offers its 8
students, including Palo Alto residents like me, are extraordinary. As a shy child, Casti’s [note – 9
Castilleja] unique single-sex educational environment allowed me to come out of my shell and 10
take advantage of collaborative and leadership opportunities and receive a world-class 11
education. And now the school wants to offer that education to more young women and 12
they’ve been thoughtful in how they’ve been… they would handle a gradual expansion and the 13
benefits. I urge you to support them. Thank you. 14
15
Chair Riggs: Evelyn Nicolaou and then Eduardo Llach. 16
17
Ms. Evelyn Nicolaou: Commissioners, thank you. My name is Evelyn Nicolaou, I have been living 18
in Barron Park for the past 20-years and I have worked at Castilleja as a middle school teacher 19
for the past 12. I am also the parent of a Castilleja alum. Like most Palo Alto residents, I care 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
about traffic, I care about our neighborhoods and about the environment in general. Which is 1
why when my daughter started attending Castilleja I decided to carpool to school with other 2
families from my neighborhood. And for the past 7-years, I have driven a full car to campus 3
every day. As a community, I can attest that we have worked very hard to reduce our impact on 4
the neighborhood. As a language teacher, I love teaching at Castilleja but I have to say that I 5
currently teaching in a classroom that use to be a dorm and… which really dictates what I can 6
and cannot do with my students due to limited and inflexible space. I have been a teacher for 7
over 20-years and I am currently teaching in a classroom that has not evolved with teaching 8
practices. This situation will unfortunately not change unless Castilleja is allowed to modernize 9
its buildings like all the public schools in Palo Alto have done. I would like to be able to teach 10
more of these motivated young women and to meet the needs of our diverse student body. For 11
instance, an increase in enrollment would allow my department to offer beginner French to 12
incoming high schools which we cannot currently do. This is why I ask you to allow Castilleja to 13
increase its enrollment, understanding of course that we must keep our car counts flat. Thank 14
you for taking the time to listen to me. I asked the PTC and City to work with Castilleja to 15
approve our application to increase enrollment and modernize campus. Thank you. 16
17
Chair Riggs: Ok Eduardo Llach followed by Teri Llach. 18
19
Mr. Eduardo Llach: Yes, thank you. I’ll take Teri’s time too. 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
1
Ms. Teri Llach: No, I’m here. 2
3
Mr. Llach: Oh, sorry, I just thought you were leaving. Awesome. I’m not affiliated… we have an 4
event that we’re supposed to be going to after this. I am not affiliated with Castilleja. We live 5
across the street from Pally on Churchill Avenue, 36 Churchill Avenue and our four kids went to 6
Pally. On the other hand, my grandmother graduated from Castilleja 102-years ago; 1917. 7
8
Chair Riggs: Order please, order. 9
10
Mr. Llach: The Castilleja education allowed her to be a successful businesswoman from the 11
1930s onwards. I knew her well for the first 10-years of my life and I’m thankful for the great 12
person and influence she had on my life. We live on Churchill Avenue across the street from 13
Pally baseball fields. This is equivalent to living on Bryant Avenue across from Castilleja. We 14
have lived there for 17-years and have seen Pally’s enrollment grow up over 500 kids over that 15
period time. That’s essentially one Castilleja. There has been half a dozen new buildings, 16
football fields, lights on Friday and so on. And given that the total time for kids commuting is 17
only 2 to 4 percent of the total time over a year, we have not seen an impact in traffic. We live 18
across the street by the entrance of Pally and Pally hasn’t taken the measures that Castilleja is 19
talking about and yet we haven’t seen that impact. We bought the house knowing that we 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
would live across the street from a school that was going to grow and we knew that traffic and 1
noise would be there. We love to hear the activities and the energy that comes from being 2
across the street from Pally. It’s a great school but Castilleja has taken significant more 3
measures to reduce traffic by doing the shuttles, doing the buses, and everything else. So, 4
thank you. 5
6
Chair Riggs: Thank you, Mr. Llach. Teri Llach followed by Hank Sousa. 7
8
Ms. Teri Llach: Hi. I’m not affiliated with Castilleja either, I am affiliated with him though. I’m his 9
wife, I live at 30 Churchill as well. We’ve lived there a long time. I actually am a native, I grew up 10
in Menlo Park, and went to Sacred Heart; an all-girls school. And because of Sacred Heart, I was 11
able to get an education that allowed me to go to Berkeley and get my Masters in Business and 12
do a lot of things that I probably couldn’t have done if I hadn’t gotten that kind of education 13
and that’s the education Castilleja gives. I have… we have four daughters and one son and 14
women’s education means everything. And the fact that Castilleja will be able to grow is 15
important I think for the entire community. It improves the community and I’ve read and seen 16
the aesthetics that they’re working towards and I think it’s going to be a beautiful campus. And 17
they’ve done so much to try to build in the beauty of our neighborhood that I think it’s going to 18
improve our neighborhood as opposed to erode it. And I’d really like to see it go forward. 19
Thanks. 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
1
Chair Riggs: Hank Sousa and Victor Befera. 2
3
Mr. Hank Sousa: Hello Chairmen Riggs and fellow Commissioners. Hank Sousa, 160 Melville 4
Avenue. Tonight, speaking on-site parking, nearby street parking, shuttling and it’s barring on 5
the proposed underground garage. In Castilleja’s plans submitted in July of this year on Page 6
G.032, they show on-site parking spaces that are numbering 86. When the school abides by its 7
TDM we don’t have a parking problem. I have a couple pictures with me. This first photo… oops, 8
sorry. This first photo shows Emerson looking from Melville to Kellogg showing the school side 9
of the street and the neighbor’s side. There are 51 spacing ringing the streets around the 10
school; Bryant, Kellogg, and Emerson. My experience has been parking enforcement has 11
generally been good on nearby streets, although the residents at the 200 block of Kellogg are 12
not happy with the level of enforcement. Sorry. This next photo shows the four nearly new 13
electric vans the school purchased about a year ago. We neighbors feel with additional vans 14
and at least two designated sites for parents to drop off and pick up their girls, perhaps on East 15
and West sides of town, that that is the future for most arrivals at the school. And this next 16
photo shows the two nice homes, the rental and Lockey House, back by the stand of threatened 17
Redwoods which would be demolished and replaced by the proposed underground garage exit. 18
If built it would spew an additional 679 cars onto this short block of Emerson, backing up to the 19
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
garage exit as they wait to make the dangerous right-hand turn onto Embarcadero and 1
eyesight. Finally, a large benefit (interrupted) 2
3
Chair Riggs: Thank you, Mr. Sousa. 4
5
Mr. Sousa: Would occur to both side of this dispute if the garage plans were withdrawn 6
[unintelligible] (interrupted) 7
8
Chair Riggs: Mr. Sousa, we’re trying to be equitable to everybody here so can you wrap it up? 9
10
Ms. Sousa: The construction timetable would be shortened by 18-months. Thank you. 11
12
Chair Riggs: Mr. Befera followed by Barbara Hazlett. 13
14
Mr. Victor Befera: I want to thank the Planning Commission for hearing me. I bought a house 15
across the street from Castilleja 51-years in 1968. My name is Vic Befera. The report states that 16
impacts of the proposed garage and rerouted traffic are “significant and unavoidable”. Meaning 17
there is no way to mitigate the proposed impact. The 75 percent of Castilleja students coming 18
from outside the City will add considerably to Palo Alto’s mounting traffic problems. The Bryant 19
Street Bike Safety Boulevard is already impacted by Castilleja parents rushing to drop off their 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
students. A massive garage entrance on Bryant through which all parents will drop off and pick 1
up students every morning and afternoon will have an obvious hazard for our kids biking to 2
Pally, to formally Jordan, Addison, and Walter Hayes. One look at the extensive backups leading 3
to Pally’s large parking lot every morning shows the backup we can expect on Embarcadero as a 4
chain of cars waits to enter a single-entry garage one by one. No neighbor on the exit route is 5
looking forward to bumper to bumper traffic blocking the streets. Palo Altans already face 6
hopeless snarls on Embarcadero at Town and Country with parents and student rushing to 7
Pally, Stanford commuters trying to get to campus, and others to Palo Alto Medical Foundation 8
and stores. The report failed to survey the impact of this additional traffic on key local 9
intersections. My Castilleja (interrupted) 10
11
Chair Riggs: [unintelligible] you got to wrap it up. 12
13
Mr. Befera: Alright, thank you. 14
15
Chair Riggs: Ok just remember that you can… any comments that are provided in writing we… 16
they will be responded to as well. So, if there’s something that you didn’t get in, let Staff know. 17
Ok, Barbara Hazlett followed by Gerry Marshal. 18
19
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
Ms. Barbara Hazlett: Good evening. My name is Barbara Hazlett. I’m here to voice my support 1
for the Castilleja’s application. Having lived in my home on Emerson Street near the school for 2
40-years I can attest to its many contributions to our community. Regarding environmental 3
impact, the report lists an excess of 60 impacts that were analyzed. Of those it essentially finds 4
two to have significances post mitigations. Number one, land use and compatibility in an 5
established community. The report actually found that the report enhances land use 6
compatibility regarding visual aesthetics, sustainability, limited hours of operation, event 7
restrictions, and increased open space. Number two, traffic impacts. The school has a robust 8
Transportation Management Plan which is measured by independent audit. They have reduced 9
traffic by 25 percent over the last few years. Their plan to further enhance the traffic program 10
are well documented in the report which includes building underground parking. A very 11
expensive proposition. Having attended the outreach meetings the school has hosted I can tell 12
you that underground parking is in direct response to neighbors request to mitigate street 13
parking and traffic noise. Why some are flip-flopping now are stupefying. I’m pleased with 14
much of the positive analysis in the report which finds the above ground square footage is 15
decreased. In conducting over 50 neighborhood meetings the school has earnestly reached out 16
to neighbors for input. As a result, the Master Plan proposes an architecturally inspired design, 17
it limits on-campus events to reduce noise impacts and offers open green spaces that are 18
accessible to the surrounding community. In conclusion, the school is an excellent neighbor. 19
The notion that is has no business in an R-1 neighborhood is preposterous. The school pre-20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
dates all of the neighbors having been there since 1910. Castilleja should have the opportunity 1
to modernize as Maloney, Pally, Addison, and Stanford. Thank you for supporting their 2
application. 3
4
Chair Riggs: Gerry Marshal followed by Eric Verwillow. 5
6
Ms. Gerry Marshal: I’d like to thank you, the Commissioner, to have all of our community 7
members available to express our thoughts and opinions and concerns of the Castilleja building 8
project. I’m here as a community member of Old Palo Alto and a long-time neighbor of 9
Castilleja School. Both my husband and I are retired. We resigned at the corner of Embarcadero 10
and Bryant. A very busy intersection, our address is 1301 Bryant Street. My husband purchased 11
our home in 1977. Our home was built in 1910, the same year as Castilleja’s original building. It 12
is directly across the street from the school’s driveway of the current school administration 13
building and parking lot. In addition, the driveway entrance of the school’s main entrance of the 14
school… the student pick up and drop off is also directly across the street from our home. 15
Therefore, we are well-positioned to provide this Commission with our experiences with the 16
growth and traffic issues on Embarcadero and Bryant. Over the years we have seen many 17
changes by the City and the school. Our three Bryant Street neighbors across the street from 18
Castilleja all have support and continue to support Castilleja School. We’re happy to have them 19
as our good neighbor and don’t foresee any reason that this will change in the future. Three of 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
our neighbors, including us, have no connections with the history with the school. We retired… 1
one retired neighbor does have a daughter who attended Castilleja. Besides the enjoyment of 2
seeing these young ladies grow in mind, body, and spirit, all of us have seen an absolute 3
improvement over the past 4 or 5-years in our immediate neighborhood. Management of 4
traffic has been astounding. It’s been drastically reduced and this is all due to the management 5
and the mitigation by the school itself. The self-police and can’t same the say for Embarcadero. 6
School conducts traffic monitoring and management. 7
8
Chair Riggs: Thank you, Ms. Marshal. 9
10
Ms. Marshal: I pray that you support Castilleja. 11
12
Chair Riggs: Eric Verwillow followed by Kathleen Foley-Hughes. 13
14
Mr. Eric Verwillow: Hi, thanks for having this hearing tonight. I’m Eric Verwillow. I’ve been a 15
resident of Palo Alto over 30-years and have lived in my current home on Kingsley Avenue 16
roughly midway between Castilleja and Addison School for over about 15-years. I have no 17
current association with Castilleja, however, my daughter attended Castilleja from 2008 to 18
2015. So, I got a first-hand look at just how much Castilleja cares about the neighbor. At Back to 19
School nights they and continuously they have no parking signs posted in front of the houses 20
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1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
across the street. Its always been mentioned be respectful of the neighbors and from my 1
experience, all of us in the Castilleja community did respect the neighbors and took pains. You 2
know we live reasonably close so my daughter either walked or rode a bike and when we went 3
to evening events we often walked although not always. And I know that the underground 4
parking garage is in direct response to concerns of neighbors. If there are issues that need to be 5
mitigated, I know that Castilleja will work the community and with the City to mitigate those 6
issues. So, I support Castilleja in this application and I hope you do too. Thank you. 7
8
Chair Riggs: Kathleen Foley-Hughes followed by Skip Mace. 9
10
[note- unknown female:] [unintelligible – spoke from the audience] 11
12
Chair Riggs: Skip Mace. Sorry, Skip for lack of heads up. So, we’re going to have Trisha Suvari 13
after Skip. 14
15
Mr. Skip Mace: So, Skip Mace you’ve called? 16
17
Chair Riggs: Yeah. 18
19
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
Mr. Mace: Ok, that’s why I’m heard of hearing. So, I live on 151 Melville Avenue and… let me so 1
I can read what I wrote here. I made a little survey of houses close to the campus of Castilleja 2
with lawn signs addressing the issue of Castilleja’s expansion. Survey area included properties 3
across the street from the campus and streets radiating one block away. Now out of the 75 4
houses, 36 had signs which is nearly half indicating a broad interest. In fact, a rather great 5
interest in this issue and out of these 75 houses 36 had signs… ok, nearly half had signs. Out of 6
those 36, 28 had signs opposing the expansion which is nearly four out of 5. This is an 7
overwhelming majority of the people in the neighborhood oppose the expansion. There are 8
no… there were no signs supporting the expansion, therefore… I counted the number of signs 9
supporting Castilleja and supporting women’s education, even though these are not issues of 10
contention. Nearly everyone supports women’s education and facility renovation so it’s my 11
feeling that the Council should prioritize the position of its constituents over that of a business 12
that primarily serves the people outside of Palo Alto. 13
14
Chair Riggs: Trisha Suvari followed by Sulev Suvari. 15
16
Ms. Trisha Suvari: I would like to speak on points in favor of Castilleja’s project that I have seen 17
misrepresented in the community. The fact that two houses on Emerson will be removed has 18
been conveyed in a way that suggests that Castilleja is taking valuable housing off the market. 19
This is untrue. 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
1
Chair Riggs: Order please, order. 2
3
Ms. Suvari: Both of the houses are owned by Castilleja and are solely for school use. Lockey 4
House, in particular, has no historical significance. As the current head of school, Nanci 5
Kauffmann was the one who named it after Castilleja’s founder. Another argument I hear is that 6
the absence of those houses will downgrade the aesthetics of the neighborhood. I beg to differ. 7
Replacing the homes with a neighborhood park as Castilleja is proposing will only enhance the 8
neighborhood by making it more visually appealing. There’s also misinformation about the 9
duration of construction. The school has acted in everyone’s best interest to keep construction 10
time to a minimum. To this end, some portions of the building will be brought to campus 11
partially complete. The entire project, including the underground garage, should take under 3-12
years to complete. Single-family homes sometimes take longer. I feel fortunate that my 13
daughter has access to this unique education and I can’t help but want the same for all girls 14
that will come after her. We can’t halt progress, we must adapt with the times, and allow our 15
school to modernize. Palo Alto has a treasure in Castilleja and it’s only trying to continue to 16
serve future women leaders. Thank you. 17
18
Chair Riggs: Sulev Suvari followed by Al Kendrick. 19
20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
Mr. Sulev Suvari: Good evening. I would like to use my time before the Planning and 1
Transportation Commission to voice my support of Castilleja’s proposal. As a Palo Altan and a 2
parent of a child who bikes to school, I would like to speak in favor of the underground garage. 3
First and for most, the garage is supported by the DEIR report. The garage is permitted by 4
Zoning Code Chapter 4, Page 6. The garage has no environmental impacts from the below-5
grade setback; Chapter 4 Page 24. The proposal… the proposed garage has no soil, water, 6
seismic impacts; Chapter 12 Page 16. Surface lots versus an underground garage would increase 7
building heights, decrease green space, and diminish aesthetics; Chapter 13 Page 8. With 8
thoughtful garage design upon Bryant Street, all Castilleja traffic is quickly removed from the 9
bike corridor ensuring a safer path for all cyclists. In addition, a garage will not create more 10
traffic. Castilleja’s entire enrollment proposal is contingent upon keeping daily car trips level. 11
The school will not be permitted to admit more students if more cars come to campus. This 12
would ensure the school’s deep commitment to Traffic Demand Management. Castilleja School 13
has operated on the existing site since 1910. Over the years as housing encroached on the 14
school and the designation of R-1 came into existence, Castilleja School compromised and 15
worked with the City and its citizens. I have full confidence that Castilleja will continue to 16
compromise and work with the City. With your approval, a solution that serves all will be found. 17
Thank you very much. 18
19
Chair Riggs: Al Kendrick followed by Mayama Raphael. 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
1
Mr. Al Kendrick: Yeah, my name is Al Kendrick, I live on Melville Street, long-time resident. In 2
fact, Castilleja was on my old paper route for the Palo Alto Times. As a father of four daughters, 3
I strongly support women’s education and there’s no doubt that Castilleja supports a very 4
important mission but this isn’t about that. This is about zoning, its about traffic, and I think the 5
plan to route traffic through the garage and exit on a very, very dangerous turn which is off of 6
Emerson onto Embarcadero. I mean just try to do that now and it’s very difficult. It’s very 7
dangerous. Cars come flying up out of that underground where it goes underneath the railroad 8
tracks and then we also don’t know what’s going to happen to the grade crossings at Churchill; 9
which will make even more impact on Embarcadero and who knows what. And I hate to think 10
that some of the girls will out on Melville and try to turn left or right onto Alma. That’s very 11
dangerous so I just think if they’ve done such a great job and everybody agrees that they’ve 12
done a great job with traffic mitigation. Keep doing that, get rid of the underground garage, and 13
I think a lot of the neighbors would be very happy. Thank you. 14
15
Chair Riggs: Mayama Raphael followed by Amna Ali. 16
17
Ms. Mayama Raphael: Good evening everyone. My name is Mayama Raphael, my husband 18
[unintelligible] all with our three kids have called Palo Alto home for several years. Our only 19
daughter is a 7th grade at Castilleja. Although we have been very involved in PAUSD in schools 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
like Greendale, Hoover, and JLS. Stew and I felt strongly about our decision to enroll our 1
daughter at Castilleja for middle and high school. Since I’m a product of an all-girls school 2
education I know first hand the benefits of this type of education has on young girls. I did want 3
to enforce that choice onto our daughter. She has been attending camp at Castilleja and 4
enjoying the experience. Loves bonding with other girls, especially through her Girl Scout troop 5
and felt that it was a natural transition for her. We supported her. So far, she is very pleased 6
with the experience, she has lots of friends, felt confident enough to become 7th grade Senator. 7
She’s taken on classes that are outside her comfort zone like coding and Mandarin. She’s also 8
represented Casti [note – Castilleja] at the Tech Museum Challenge, we followed the girls, 9
where they built a hovercraft and competed among 85 teams, winning the Safety Award. All 10
this she has done in 6th grade. Can you imagine what high school at Castilleja would look like for 11
her? With Casti [note – Castilleja] isn’t for every girl, we think that every girl who wants the 12
Castilleja education should to be able to have one and have the opportunity… all have the 13
opportunity to pursue one. Like many of the schools here in Palo Alto, Castilleja is a non-profit. 14
Accepting girls, no matter the financial means. Casti [note- Castilleja] believes in the power of 15
girls becoming leaders and that if given the opportunity they can contribute significantly making 16
the world a better place. Casti’s [note – Castilleja] Master Plan offers a modernized facility 17
designed with fidelity to reduce the impact on the neighborhood. Like many of the schools 18
here… sorry. Please allow Casti [note – Castilleja] to expand and accommodate thinkers, 19
innovators, and creators like our daughter who seek out a Castilleja education. Thank you. 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
1
Chair Riggs: Amna Ali followed by Leannah Hunt. 2
3
Ms. Amna Ali: Good evening. My name is Amna Ali, I grew up in Palo Alto and graduated from 4
Castilleja this June. I’m grateful to have the opportunity to speak about my time at Castilleja 5
and my hopes for its future. And I want to speak about my support for Castilleja to increase 6
their high school enrollment. I attended Castilleja for 7-years and was constantly impressed by 7
the facility, teachers, and peers who always pushed me to do my best. At Castilleja, I developed 8
my leadership skills not only through student government but through community partnerships 9
such as the Palo Alto Housing Corporation. An organization that seeks to create a more diverse 10
community through providing affordable housing. As a sophomore, I joined a Castilleja student 11
group of volunteers who visit the Rosener House which is a daycare center for adults with 12
Alzheimer and dementia. Castilleja provides countless opportunities for community outreach 13
and leadership and stresses the importance of these relationships to students in middle and 14
upper school alike. It's disheartening for me to read public comments that suggest that 15
Castilleja serves only rich kids or kids who don’t come from Palo Alto. That’s just not true. Many 16
of my classmates who are absolutely from Palo Alto and students come from a range of 17
backgrounds. It has been enlightening to speak with them and learn about their different 18
cultures, families, and traditions. I know that Castilleja hopes to increase their high school 19
enrollment and by doing so they would be able to reach their… broaden their reach, impact, 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
and diversity. I’d like to see Castilleja admit more students from Palo Alto and more students 1
from different socioeconomic backgrounds. I have confidence in Castilleja and I hope that you 2
will agree that increasing their high enrollment will enable them to change more lives as 3
they’ve changed mine. Thank you. 4
5
Chair Riggs: Leannah Hunt followed by David Quiuley. 6
7
Ms. Leannah Hunt: Good evening Chairmen and Members of the Commission. I’m Leannah 8
Hunt, I’ve been a resident at… for 50-years. Celebrating 50-year this summer in Palo Alto and 9
I’ve been a residential realtor for over 30-years, currently, serve on the Local Board of Realtors, 10
State Board and I represent the 48,000 realtors of Silicon Valley on the National Board of Real 11
Estate. So, I’m very familiar with issues of this sort. I am mother of Laurel who was a student 12
at… during 7th and 8th grade at Castilleja. She also attended 3-years of summer at camp and my 13
granddaughter attended 3-years in the recent past at Castilleja. So, I experienced the drop-off 14
and pick up in the playfield. So, I’m very familiar with that traffic pattern and the need for an 15
underground garage and I’m very supportive of the Castilleja plan. The key thing about the plan 16
is that is has gone through all of the processes, the EIR has addressed a number of the issues. I 17
think the important thing is that Castilleja has been a very good neighbor for over 100-years in 18
the community. These neighbors who currently reside were well aware of the school when they 19
purchased their homes. We’ve been using disclosure documents for well over 35-years with any 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
prospective new purchases of homes so they know about schools. I live within a block and a 1
half of now Green Middle School. So, I’m well aware of issues of a school and I welcome the use 2
of my driveway and actually in front of my car of my property when parents are dropping off 3
and picking up children. The key thing is that Laurel when to Castilleja. I had actually just been 4
the PTA President at Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School with my son and when my friends 5
said why are you enrolling her? I said because you have different needs for different children 6
and Castilleja serves that. 7
8
Chair Riggs: Thank you, Ms. Hunt. David Quiqley followed by Paisley de Blank. 9
10
Mr. David Quiqley: Good evening. My name’s David Quiqley, I live at 1326 Emerson, I’m the 11
father of three daughters. The DEIR talks about significant and unavoidable traffic impacts and 12
look, traffic is one of the biggest issues in the City of Palo Alto. We all know how terrible it is. 13
The streets in your City were not designed to carry the traffic that they have to carry today and 14
they’re not getting any bigger. So, the question is why do we want to make it worse? Castilleja 15
has spoken, various people have spoken about the traffic mitigation that… measure that 16
they’ve taken to reduce traffic. And they have for the last bunch of years but let’s have 17
revisionist history. For the 10 plus years that they were not telling us the truth about their 18
enrollment, they did not care about traffic, and the question is will they be a good neighbor in 19
the future or will they go back to being the way they were? And if they go back to being the 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
way they were will the City be able to enforce anything? The City definitely could not enforce 1
anything previously. Fundamentally it doesn’t matter if they do mitigate traffic. The dIR [note -2
DEIR] talks about the fact that it can’t be mitigated beyond a significant and unavoidable 3
impact. And so, the question is what happens? In today’s world, if people are backed up on a 4
street, they don’t just sit there. They pull up a Ways App and Ways tells them where to go 5
faster and so this isn’t just an issue for our neighborhood or some streets in Palo Alto. Its an 6
issue for a lot of streets in Palo Alto because people will go in different directions because they 7
will have the ability to find a different, faster route. I urge you to reject Castilleja’s Expansion 8
Plan. Our City streets can’t handle the traffic. Thank you. 9
10
Chair Riggs: Paisley de Blank followed by Michelle de Blank. 11
12
Ms. Paisley de Blank: Hi. I’m Paisley. I’m currently going to be going into 9th grade, I also live in 13
Palo Alto, and I just want to say that I really support the expansion plans and everything about 14
Castilleja. So, I really love Castilleja and I have been attending Castilleja since 6th grade and I’ve 15
just really appreciated everything about it and all of the opportunities it’s given me. And I really 16
hope that more students and more girls can come to Castilleja which is one of the things that 17
they could have if they expand. And all… one of the things that Castilleja hopes that the new 18
CUP would allow would be allowing the public to access their facilities and see speakers. And I 19
really appreciate the facilities because there’s all these amazing things that we have and it 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
would be so nice to let the public also experience like the basketball courts or the maker’s 1
space. Another thing is the speakers and it would be… there’re so many cool speakers and 2
there’s so many great opportunities and cool people that we get to hear. And it would be so 3
cool if everybody gets to hear them because a lot of people aren’t people you see all the time. 4
For example, there’s this really cool doctor the other… last year where she was a doctor that 5
treated people with infectious diseases in third world countries. And I just really hope that 6
you’ll allow the expansion and thank you for much for listening to everyone. Have a good day. 7
8
Chair Riggs: Ok Michelle de Blank followed by Lian Bi. 9
10
Ms. Michelle de Blank: Hi everyone. Mia is my daughter and I’m just a little bit proud of her but 11
anyway, I just want to say I grew in Palo Alto and for lack of creative thinking I still live here. We 12
live about a mile away from Castilleja so don’t worry my daughter rides her bike every day even 13
though she doesn’t really like to ride her bike but that’s what she does. She has attended 14
Castilleja for 3-years and is going into high school and we support the Castilleja Expansion 15
because it has been so amazing for her. As you heard her talk about the amazing experiences, 16
she had we really want more girls to have that experience. I have read a lot of comments 17
publicly about how Castilleja is elite and I think all of us here supporting Castilleja want 18
Castilleja to be less elite. We want our girls to come from everywhere; from Palo Alto; low 19
income; middle income; high income; everybody. We want any girl who wants the Castilleja 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
experience to have it and that’s why I’m here. But I also am here to give you a parent 1
perspective on the ways Castilleja is really obsessed with traffic reduction and causing minimal 2
impact to the people that live nearby which we also want to do. By the way, even though I live 3
in Palo Alto I have never parked on a street near Castilleja, ever, because I really do respect the 4
neighbors. So, from day one when our kids get into school and I’m not eradicating, we’re 5
inundated about how to do pick up and drop off. And if you do pick up and drop off wrong, you 6
get yelled at because there’s people watching you and helping you get into the street and they 7
will tell you to stop it. Now, I’ve never done it wrong, of course. So, Paisley rides her bike so I’ve 8
been good but I have seen it because when it rains, I do drive her. We also receive emails at 9
least once a week, again eradicating, to remind us how to drive to school, how to do pick up 10
and drop off and where to park and again how to do pick up and drop off. The girls who play 11
tennis after school, my daughter plays tennis, they are not… they can’t drive to the practice at 12
Rinconada which you all know is really close by. They either have to run or ride their bikes there 13
so they’re required. So not only is there like an official thing that they do but they also have 14
informal processes that make sure that the kids aren’t riding their bikes… aren’t driving after 15
school. The efforts have worked. Castilleja has increased biking and walking by 50 percent, 16
shuttle uses is up by 800 percent and car trips have been cut by 20 to 30 percent. And then I 17
just wanted to show you the flyer that we are always reminded. Thank you. 18
19
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
Chair Riggs: Thank you. Lian Bi followed… I’m really sorry, I’m going to read this as Betty Sin 1
(interrupted) 2
3
Commissioner Templeton: Becky Sanders. 4
5
Chair Riggs: Becky Sanders. I’m sorry, thank you. 6
7
Ms. Lian Bi: Commissioner, thank you for the opportunity to speak today about the Castilleja 8
draft Environmental Impact Report. My names Lian Bi and I’m glad to be here to show my 9
support for Castilleja School. Castilleja has been serving Palo Alto and community in so many 10
ways through its long history of educating young women. I know that the school is committed 11
to working with the City and so far, has held many community meetings to provide neighbors 12
the opportunity to give input and share feedback. In response to neighbor feedback, Castilleja 13
has moved deliveries to the center of campus, lowered the swimming pool, added green space, 14
and a neighborhood park and committed to not growing enrollment unless they maintain traffic 15
at its current level. All of that needs to be acknowledged. I also want to speak about bicycle 16
safety. My daughter bike the bike along the Bryant Bike Boulevard every morning around 17
7:50and so does other four 7th grade girls as I know. So, bike safety issues matter a lot to me 18
and many other parents. Some opponents say that our project would be detrimental to bicyclist 19
safety on the Bryant Bike Boulevard but in fact, the DEIR says in Section 7 that the reduced total 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
curb cuts will improve bicycle safety. It states explicitly that the project would not adversely 1
affect use of the Allen Fletcher Bicycle Boulevard. Castilleja has worked very hard to improve 2
life for neighbors, including all of the traffic monitors and TDM plans that have been instituted 3
to improve life for surrounding residents and commuters. I feel so lucky to have Casti [note – 4
Castilleja] as an integral part of our community. Thank you. 5
6
Chair Riggs: Becky Sanders followed by Arthur Keller. 7
8
Mr. Arthur Keller: Yes, Becky Sanders had to leave to go to theater work tonight and I’m reading 9
the letter from PAN, Palo Alto Neighborhoods, on her behalf. I wonder if I can have some of her 10
time? 11
12
Chair Riggs: I don’t believe that’s allowable. 13
14
Mr. Keller: Thank you. Ok so with us… this is a required process of the California Environmental 15
Quality Act and in particular, the California Environmental Quality Act requires that the EIR 16
specifically include the cumulative impact for the project. And also, when analyzing the 17
cumulative impact, the lead agency is required to discuss not only the approved projects under 18
construction such as the Stanford Medical Center Expansion and approved related projects not 19
under… yet under construction. But also unapproved projects currently under environmental 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
review with related impacts or which result in significant cumulative impacts. In particular the 1
Stanford GUP process, which is currently… for which there’s environmental review currently 2
would be… there’s a draft Environmental Impact Report that has been recirculated by the 3
county. My understanding and you can check this with Staff, that has not yet been incorporated 4
in the City’s traffic model. And I don’t think it’s been incorporated in the VTA model and 5
therefore the legal requirement that the Stanford GUP, based on CEQA, be incorporated into 6
the analysis has not been done. That’s a failing of the DEIR that needs to be legally corrected in 7
the FEIR. Now in order to think about why we care about this, you’re saying that traffic is 8
horrible, who cares? Well, the interesting thing is that as traffic becomes sat… approaches 9
saturation, the delays become exponential. And it is the amount of this delay that indicates 10
whether the amount of critical delay seconds exceeds the threshold for the City of Palo Alto 11
Significant Criteria. So, there may be additional impacts on Embarcadero Road as a result of 12
considering the cumulative impacts of all of the Stanford projects. Thank you and I appreciate 13
the opportunity to bring these issues to your attention. 14
15
Chair Riggs: Alright, Mr. Keller and remember you can submit that letter over here if you’d like 16
for distribution. 17
18
Mr. Keller: Sure. Just for the record, it has been submitted. 19
20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
Chair Riggs: Ok, great. Deb Goldeen followed by Christina Gwin. Sorry to surprise you. 1
2
Ms. Deb Goldeen: That’s ok. Mr. Riggs, a quick request? If you could speak a little more slowly 3
and clearly when you announce people’s names. I’m having trouble distinguishing the names. I 4
am a 56-year resident of Palo Alto. Walter Hayes, Green, Pally class of 81. My kids are Pally 5
2004, 2007. I’m a [unintelligible] supporter of public education. I am also a [unintelligible] 6
supporter of private education. I feel that Castilleja is a really important part of the Palo Alto 7
educational community and I hear that traffic is a terrible problem. I remember about 10 or 12-8
years ago biking through Castilleja areas when they were doing their drop off and thing. Oh, 9
good lord, this is going to come back and bite them and it has but I also have been biking 10
through there again and they have changed it. I don’t know any, any organization, Pally, not the 11
City organization, not Stanford who has mitigated willingly their own traffic problems and 12
Castilleja has done that which is amazing. I see there’s a trend in all of Palo Alto to want things 13
to stay the same, to want things to be the way they were 1985 and they’re not. The world is 14
growing, the world is expanding, and Castilleja has the right to expand with it. I think the… what 15
they’re asking for is trivial, it’s a tiny expansion relative to what could be asked for. Thank you. 16
17
Chair Riggs: Christina Gwin followed by Jochen Profit. 18
19
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
Ms. Christina Gwin: Good evening. I understand that people are frustrated by the traffic and 1
changes in Palo Alto but it is misguided to blame Castilleja. I moved to Churchill Avenue 13-2
years ago well aware that Pally was two blocks away and Castilleja one block and I welcomed 3
the idea being close to these two schools. Yes, it gets backed up during school hours for Pally 4
but it doesn’t for Castilleja. It’s inaccurate to point to Castilleja as the problem because they’ve 5
actually reduced car traffic in the last few years. I would think those concerned with the quality 6
of life, generally speaking to the signs around town, would be concerned about the amount of 7
construction for houses that remain empty. On the corner we’ve had construction for over a 8
year, no one lives there. A block and a half away, construction over 2-years, nobody lives there. 9
Across the street construction for 3 plus years and it’s going to be for two people. Around the 10
corner on Bryant they’ve been working on a basement for well over a year, no one plans on 11
living there and so on. All of these construction projects generate anywhere from 5 to 15 cars 12
and trucks a day and most of them are on school routes. I would think those concerned with 13
the quality of life would embrace all schools in the community because schools bring life and 14
that they would look to for-profit businesses to address the issue of transportation. Don’t we 15
want to sought after mission-driven school that is committed to educating women, especially 16
now because we need them? Thank you. 17
18
Chair Riggs: Jochen Profit followed by Marcella Millan and it may be Narcella Millan. Apologizes, 19
Marcella Millan, apologizes. 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
1
Mr. Jochen Profit: Hi. I’m Jochen Profit, I will secede some of my time to my wife Marcella 2
Millian. I am a Neonatologist here at Stanford, we’ve lived in Palo Alto for 6-years now, we lived 3
on Embarcadero and Waverly right across from Castilleja where our 6th grade Sofie, now 7th 4
grade spent her first-year walking to Casti [note- Castilleja] and enjoying a world-class 5
education. We all together have four children. Our children bike all over Palo Alto, all over 6
Bryant, and we are very happy for them to do so. And we will continue to advise them to do so 7
and to use Bryant because we’re entirely certain that Castilleja is doing all they can to keep the 8
streets safe for us around the schools where they have the ability to do so. We strongly support 9
the underground garage. Having grown up in German in a very beautiful town and 10
[unintelligible] I am acutely aware of what ugly above-ground parking can do to a City. So, we 11
strongly support the beautiful plans that have been supported also by the environmental 12
impact assessment. So, we strongly both support Casti [note – Castilleja] and the way that the 13
application is done and hope that you will as well. Thank you. 14
15
Chair Riggs: Marcella Millan followed by Carolyn Schmarzo and I want to clarify you can only 16
pool your time with groups of five. So, where there’s been some suggestions that we need a 17
group of five to pool time and we’re going to enforce that out of respect for everyone. 18
19
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
Ms. Marcella Millan: Good evening. My name is Marcella Millan as my husband said. For the 1
past 6-years we have lived on the corner of Embarcadero and Waverly and we have four 2
children. Our daughter Sofie started Castilleja last year and we want to talk… well, I want to use 3
my time to talk about the benefits of the underground garage. We were happy to see that the 4
draft Environmental Impact Report confirmed what we expected. An underground garage 5
would make room for higher quality open spaces and really improve the aesthetics of our 6
neighborhood. We believe that it would make our neighborhood stronger as it would make 7
room for places where people, students, and Staff can gather and form a community while 8
solving a host of logistical and practical parking concerns. As we drive around, we will not see 9
parked cars but open spaces and a beautiful building. We were also happy to learn that with 10
the proposed setback it would also improve bike safety on Bryant Street which our kids use 11
multiple times daily to bike to school and to soccer. Replacing the underground garage with a 12
surface level parking would put cars on top and working spaces underground which to anyone 13
here should sound absolutely absurd. Wouldn’t we all prefer to see green beautiful spaces? In 14
summary, the report confirmed that an underground garage is consistent with an R-1 15
residential neighborhood and moving cars below the ground not only makes logical sense but it 16
will give our neighborhood more green space, open space. As neighbors, we have appreciated 17
how Castilleja remains committed to making adjustments to the project to mitigate the 18
neighborhood impact. We appreciate your time. Thank you. 19
20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
Chair Riggs: Carolyn Schmarzo followed a group who will be spoken for my Mary Sylvester. 1
2
Ms. Carolyn Schmarzo: Dear Planning Commission please hear my words. This is a hearing 3
about construction, major construction, and major expansion. This project is to avoid benefits 4
to Palo Alto. If approved it will diminish the integrity of our Zoning Codes. R-1 residential is no 5
home for a business of about 600 people, 700 people. That’s the same size as Cliff Bar. Number 6
two it will destroy the Covenant between property taxpaying residents and the City 7
Government. Number three is desecrating the Ellen Fletcher Memorial Bike Path; 9.5 percent of 8
our residents’ bike to work. That is the third-highest in the nation, that is the highest in the Bay 9
Area. Number four, there will be an [unintelligible] of traffic in our neighborhoods. Number 10
five, it dominates a chunk of our urban forest. Number six, deleterious effect on the physical, 11
sociological, and financial health of nearby residents. They will have demolition, construction, 12
and immediate demise of our home values. Home sweet home will become home horrible 13
home. This project is a financial project Dracula for Palo Alto. I invest in Palo Alto by paying my 14
property taxes. In one year, I financed the City 23,000 times more than Castilleja has in 112-15
years. Property taxes pay for our quality of life; schools, police, fire protection. They pay for 16
maintenance and new road construction. The cost of repairing the infrastructure after this 17
demolition and construction project will be bloody big at a time when Palo Alto faces a billion-18
dollar deficit and a nasty unfunded rail project. Cleaning up their mess diverts our tax money to 19
their benefit. This is my home. My three children attended Addison, Jordan, and Pally. We buy 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
Christmas tree… almost done. We buy Christmas tree at the Pally lot, donate to Pally YMCA, 1
West Bay [unintelligible], Gamble Garden, and the First Congregational Church of Palo Alto. 2
(interrupted) 3
4
Chair Riggs: Ok, please we [unintelligible] 5
6
Ms. Schmarzo: We’ve invested in with our time, our money (interrupted) 7
8
Chair Riggs: Last [unintelligible - crosstalk] please. 9
10
Ms. Schmarzo: And our lives. Castilleja is nowhere to be seen. 11
12
Chair Riggs: Ok Mary Sylvester (interrupted) 13
14
Ms. Schmarzo: I would say please dump this expansion project. 15
16
Chair Riggs: Mary Sylvester. Ok, Mary can you just have… appreciate can you just have the… 17
your… the people you’re speaking for stand up please so we can identify them? 18
19
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
Ms. Mary Sylvester (Connie Cavanaugh, Paul Machado, Diane MacDaniels, Penny Proctor, 1
Linda): Alright, Diane, Penny, Connie, I had one more person. 2
3
Chair Riggs: So, they need to be here in the audience if (interrupted) 4
5
Ms. Sylvester: Do you have the cards [unintelligible – off mic] 6
7
Chair Riggs: So, I have Connie, Paul (interrupted) 8
9
Ms. Sylvester: Paul. 10
11
Chair Riggs: Diane. 12
13
Ms. Sylvester: Oh, did Paul leave? 14
15
[note - unknown male:] (speaking from the audience) Diane and [unintelligible] 16
17
Chair Riggs: And Penny. 18
19
[note - unknown male:] [unintelligible - speaking from the audience] and Joe. 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
1
Ms. Sylvester: Joe. 2
3
Mr. Joe [note – no last name]: [unintelligible - speaking from the audience] I’ll give you my time 4
though. I’ll vouch for Diane. 5
6
Chair Riggs: Alright, no, no, Diane needs to be here, Joe. 7
8
Mr. Joe [note – no last name]: (speaking from the audience) What? I have to be here? 9
10
Chair Riggs: Alright so you know what I’m going to shuffle this. We’re going to have Mr. Reed… 11
Andie Reed. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t say Mister. 12
13
Vice-Chair Alcheck: (off mic) Why don’t we see if she can get one more card? 14
15
Chair Riggs: Yeah, just… we’ll do Ms. Reed or Andie Reed. 16
17
Ms. Andie Reed (Beth Rosenthal, Peter Rosenthal, Wall Whittier, Pam McCroskey): 18
Nguyen): Yeah, I’m right here. 19
20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
Chair Riggs: Sorry Andie, I apologize I said… Mary, you can figure this out and we’ll… Ms. Reed 1
(interrupted) 2
3
Vice-Chair Alcheck: Why don’t you fill out one more card and bring it up here and (interrupted) 4
5
[note – unknown female:] (speaking from the audience) Thank you. 6
7
Chair Riggs: Alright so it’s going to be Andie Reed followed by Mary Sylvester followed by 8
Natalie Tuck. Alright, Natalie, you got some time so please sit. 10-minute and so Andie if you 9
could just have the five people, you’re speaking for stand up if you don’t mind? We’re going to 10
(interrupted) 11
12
Ms. Reed: Yeah, could you name them? We had (interrupted) 13
14
Chair Riggs: Yeah, it’s Beth and Peter Rosenthal, Pam McCroskey, and Wally Whittier. 15
16
Ms. Reed: Whittier. There you go. 17
18
Chair Riggs: Thanks. I appreciate you all barring with us. It sounds very procedural but we want 19
to make sure we give everybody a fair shot. 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
1
Ms. Reed: Thank you. So, I use this? Ok. Thank you very much Planning Commissioners for all 2
your hard work on this project. My name is Andie Reed and I live at 160 Melville Avenue. The 3
legislative intent of CEQA declares the maintenance of a quality environment for the people, 4
now and in the future, is a matter of statewide concern. Further, the state should take all action 5
necessary to provide enjoyment, aesthetic, natural, scenic, and historical environmental 6
qualities. That’s Section 2100 of CEQA. I find many areas of inconsistency with these goals in 7
this report. 8
9
In Chapter Three, Project Description, it is important to point out that the project site includes 10
two residential lots where currently houses surrounded by stands of trees, mature Oaks, and 11
Redwoods, exist. Owned by the Castilleja Foundation, however, they are not apart of the 12
school. This report infers differently and states that the proposed site is fully developed with 13
Castilleja School facilities. We’ve heard that here tonight. However, this requires a Variance 14
called a Tentative Map with exception to merge these residential lots into the school property 15
and these assumptions on Variances are premature. This is a… my drawing of a map and you’ll 16
see the green circle is what I call the short block of Emerson. The green outlines the residences 17
and the red outlines the school property. The red strips indicate the two residential lots the 18
school proposes to subsume into school property. The lucky residents… actually, it’s being used 19
as a school property now but it was a resident for 100-years. Priors heads of school lived there 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
and one of my neighbors lived there until he subsequently moved across the street. To 1
demolish these two houses and merge these lots into the school increases Castilleja 2
Foundation, tax-exempted school site at the demise of a neighborhood residential block. In 3
Chapter 12, Cultural Resources Section, they’ve studied the Castilleja owned building for 4
historical importance but they did not study the surrounding blocks for historic context. Houses 5
across the street in the short block of Emerson across the street from those two striped houses 6
actually pre-date… three out of those five pre-date the school and the Lockey House. Physical 7
and visual changes to land us affect this district. It’s an entire district. Dudek needs to study the 8
area of potential effects of the district per the National Historic Preservation Act, Section 106. 9
In Chapter 5, Aesthetics, the DEIR states that the Emerson Street frontage would experience a 10
great degree of change in conditions because of demolishing houses; including the 100-year old 11
Lockey House. However, it concludes that these changes would not substantially alter the visual 12
character of the site and would continue to present the character of a school campus. Again, 13
these houses are not on a school campus, they are on a residential block. Would a reasonable 14
observer come to the same conclusion? This next slide is another view of the school. Where 15
you see right to the upper left of the word Castilleja, you’ll see all those trees, those will 16
disappear. That’s my short block of Emerson. This is a photo of the two houses that are on the 17
chopping block. This is a photograph of the Lockey House beautifully surrounded by trees. That 18
would be replaced by an underground garage exit. This is an underground garage exit. It’s 19
probably not the one planned, although I think it’s done by the same architect, but the school 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
has declined for 3-years to let us in on what is planned. None of the citizens in the surrounding 1
area were interviewed about whether they would prefer to have two lovely houses surrounded 2
by trees in a residential neighborhood or would they prefer an underground garage exit and 3
streams of cars. 4
5
In Impact 4-2, Land Use Incompatibility, which Dudek determines is significant and 6
unavoidable, the report uses as a mitigation for the frequency and size of events held by the 7
school. This is misleading. Neighbors have continuously over the last years brought to the 8
attention of the City Council, City Staff, and Castilleja School officials at meeting after meeting 9
the current CUP allows five major events and several other. I’m quoting from the Conditions of 10
the Approval. The school has 100 events during the 9-month school year. Disrupting the 11
neighborhood with traffic and non-stop activity at and around the school. Previous Planning 12
Director Gitelman stated in a letter to the school that the City did not agree with the school’s 13
interpretation of this Condition of Approval. The school countered by saying they will reduce 14
events to 90. Using this reduction as a mitigation indicates that Dudek has either not read the 15
CUP or done any study of this issue. Dudek’s Mitigation 4a is lifted from the narrative provided 16
by the applicant in their Master Plan. I request that the preparer explain how the schools asking 17
for 90 events when they are limited to a much smaller number qualifies as a mitigation to Land 18
Use Incompatibility. 19
20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
Table 4.2 shows that the proposed project would come in at floor area ratio which significantly 1
exceeds that which is allowed in large lots in R-1 Zoned neighborhoods. It erroneously does not 2
include in the Floor Area Ration an underground garage with 50,000-square feet which counts 3
towards Floor Area Ration in a residential district operating under a Conditional Use Permit. The 4
report’s Zoning Ordinance analysis concludes that there is no conflict with City standards. That 5
is clearly not the case. Dudek needs to describe how non-compliance with the Muni. Code does 6
not conflict with City standards. 7
8
In Table 3-1 current square footage conditions in 2019 are called out at 122,300. The same 9
chart supplied to the City of Palo Alto by Castilleja with its initial application in June of 2016, 3-10
years ago, Page 6 of the Master Plan shows square footage at 105, 700. How can that be? I’ve 11
drilled down on the numbers and the difference is an attic and pool equipment shed through 12
into the mix to increase the square footage starting point. The reason this is concerning is 13
because there are statements made throughout this document that the school is decreasing 14
their square footage and that can’t be supported. The numbers don’t add up. I request that the 15
preparer correct erroneous statements that the proposal decreases square footage. 16
17
And finally, Castilleja purchased many residences on the 200 block of Melville in past decades. 18
See my red dotted line that goes Melville… takes Melville all the way through to Embarcadero? 19
In 1992 the school applied for the City of Palo Alto to abandon that street to the school which 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
the City Council approved. This resulted in an increase of land becoming school property at no 1
cost to the school but at a loss of public space, biking and walking access to Embarcadero. What 2
did the community get in exchange for this deal? Nothing. The current proposal will increase 3
the school’s property site by merging residential lots into the school which results in the City of 4
Palo Alto losing housing, losing property tax revenue and the neighbors losing their residential 5
block of Emerson. Unmitigable impacts to those of us who live here 24/7 and at no cost to the 6
school. How does this benefit the City of Palo Alto? 7
8
Here is the alternative that I would suggest and that would be no garage, keep the residential 9
block of Emerson intact. Yes, modernize, upgrade, rebuild your school and limit enrollment. 10
Thank you very much. 11
12
Chair Riggs: Mary Sylvester who will pool her time with five individuals and if we can try this 13
again Mary. 14
15
Ms. Sylvester: Alright. 16
17
Chair Riggs: And Natalie Tuck you’ll be following… it will be 10-minutes or (interrupted) 18
19
Ms. Sylvester: Would you like my supporters to stand? 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
1
Chair Riggs: Yeah, if you don’t mind standing up just so that we can visually see you. 2
3
Ms. Sylvester: Diane, [unintelligible – off mic] and Patty. 4
5
Chair Riggs: One, two, three. 6
7
Ms. Sylvester: Oh Paul, you’re back. 8
9
Chair Riggs: Four. 10
11
Ms. Sylvester: So, I’ve got six supporters too (interrupted) 12
13
Chair Riggs: [unintelligible] Thank you, Mary. Alright, please proceed. Let’s keep going. 14
15
Ms. Sylvester: Ok. Thank you. Good evening Commissioners. I’m Mary Sylvester, a 40-year 16
resident of Palo Alto who lives half a block from Castilleja School on Melville Avenue. I will be 17
addressing my remarks tonight to number one, Castilleja Expansion and number two, the 18
inadequacy of the school’s draft Environmental Impact Report. My comments will be made in 19
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
the context of whether this project is in the best interest of the community at large within Palo 1
Alto. I don’t mean just the neighborhood; I mean the community at large. 2
3
Let’s set the context for this DEIR. Castilleja is a fine 100-year old private women’s school 4
providing junior and high school education located on 6-acres of land in Palo Alto in a 5
residential neighborhood. Because it operates in a neighborhood, it requires a special permit to 6
do business there. This is known as a Conditional Use Permit or CUP. Castilleja’s recent CUP 7
went into effect in 2000. The CUP allows for 415 students. This is 2019 and for over 15-years 8
the school has been out of compliance with their legal enrollment. Now the school is asking to 9
increase their enrollment by 30 percent, demolish a good part of the school and rebuild part of 10
it. Until they return to their legal baseline of 415 students it still remains an issue to some 11
neighbors whether this project should be approved. 12
13
Approximately 75 percent of the students you attend Castilleja are from outside Palo Alto. 14
What are the norms for other peninsula private schools serving middle and high school 15
students? Except for the notable three in Atherton and Woodside which are located on 40 plus 16
acres of land, every other private school has split their campus. Crystal Springs, Nueva, Keys 17
School here in Palo Alto, Pine Wood, Saint Francis, and Harker School in San Jose. That was 18
once located in Palo Alto but they needed to expand so why is this DEIR seeking to 19
accommodate Castilleja if they are so far outside the private school norm? Do the benefits to 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
the community at large here out weight the high environmental traffic and financial costs to 1
this community? Most specifically in the way of utilities, emergency services, reconstruction of 2
public streets after Castilleja’s heavy equipment has finished this project; as well as significant 3
traffic backups. 4
5
What are the significant legal and public policy challenges to this DEIR? Number one, the DEIR 6
improperly fails to mentioned or analyze the dramatic environmental impacts of the 7
construction phase of this project. There’s a well-established line of California Appellate Law 8
that forbids chopping up a project into smaller individual subprojects to avoid the responsibility 9
of considering unwanted environmental impacts. There’s also Link in Place Tenant Association 10
which held that demolition of an existing structure in a development project did fall under 11
CEQA and the project was trying to segment our construction despite major environmental 12
consequences. 13
14
Where are we now? The traffic baseline that we are now supposed to live with that Dudek and 15
W-Trans measured if from January 2017 and one has to sloth the appendix to find that date. 16
That will soon be out of date. Number three, traffic impacts are greatly minimized and flawed 17
by this study. Key intersections were not studied. Waverly and Embarcadero which has had 18
significant increases in both traffic and accidents. The Pally crosswalk to Town and Country was 19
not studied, the light at Town and County which also turns left to Palo Alto High School was not 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
studied as well as Castilleja and Pally were not studied simultaneously for its traffic impacts 1
when both schools were starting and ending their school day. The cumulative impacts of other 2
projects were not studied as mentioned by Mr. Keller on behalf of the Palo Alto Neighborhood 3
Association. The new Stanford Hospital, due to go online this fall, was not analyzed, the 4
Stanford development project known as the GUP was not analyzed as well as the possible road 5
closure at Churchill and Alma. 6
7
Additional serious safety issues exist, particularly where Emer [note- Emerson?] Street merges 8
with Kingsley and Embarcadero. This was very poorly studied, it’s a high-risk zone for cyclists, 9
pedestrians, as well as cars. These impacts of this project will largely lead to permanent and 10
irreversible changes to a neighborhood and most importantly a community. They will increase 11
traffic on Embarcadero, Alma, Waverly, and neighborhood arterials. To make room for a 12
commercial-style underground garage, we’re looking at the demolition of two single-family 13
homes at a time of a housing crisis. And I do remember when the Lockey House was occupied a 14
family in the 1980s so it wasn’t that long ago. Also, the destruction of old-growth Redwoods 15
and Oaks as well as a Variance on Embarcadero Road. 16
17
This project is going to be… involve the removal of 60,000 cubic yards of soil. That will result in 18
at least 5,000 truckloads rumbling down Alma, Page Mill, Embarcadero, and neighborhood 19
streets. Match that with a cluster of jackhammers, large earthmovers, dump trucks that will 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
also be rumbling down our streets. Construction workers, road tie-ups all at the time Stanford is 1
expanding. All while people are trying to live in this community, work, raise families, volunteer, 2
and yes, some manage to retire. Now you have the backdrop. To add insult to injury this 3
community has been asked to accept a flawed DEIR. These impacts need to be mitigated as to 4
traffic, greenhouse gases, noise levels and loss of biological resources. Resources that can never 5
be replaced. 6
7
Appropriate mitigations, lastly, were not studied which flies in the face of CEQA. The Topanga 8
Association Case, public agencies should not approve projects as proposed if there are feasible 9
alternatives. What are those alternative? Limit student drivers or no driving to the campus at all 10
like Archer School, run more shuttles, have more off parking… off-site parking for Staff. The 11
data presented is artificially low so as to appear that traffic impacts are less significant than 12
they are. Who will pay the cost? Students will graduate, administrators and teachers will move 13
on. The neighborhood and community of Palo Alto will pay the cost of a cement bunker in the 14
ground which only encourages people to drive to the school and to the neighborhood. How do 15
you repurpose that? There is the lost feeling of a neighborhood. When is enough, enough? 16
There is no overriding public benefit to this project. Thank you very much, Commissioners. 17
18
Chair Riggs: Thank you. Natalie Tuck followed by Raveena Lele… Reveena Lele. 19
20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
Ms. Natalie Tuck: Hi. I’m Natalie, I am a c Castilleja alum that graduated in 2017 and attending 1
Castilleja was an opportunity that I wouldn’t have traded for the world. I was fortunate enough 2
to be able to walk to school (interrupted) 3
4
Chair Riggs: If we could show the speaker some respect, please. 5
6
Ms. Tuck: I live on Melville Avenue and the location of the school I thought was optimal. It 7
enables us to have viable partnerships with Stanford and volunteer at places like Brentwood 8
Elementary and Ada’s Café. Additionally, having extremely educational and enlightening career 9
day trips at headquarters such as Google. When I was in middle school, I benefited greatly from 10
sharing a campus with the high schoolers. They’re inspiring role models who I could look up to 11
and learn from and they provided an example for the kind of person that I wanted to be. 12
Additionally, as a high schooler, I benefited from having the middle schoolers around as I had 13
opportunities to coach middle school swimming and tutoring that established my leadership 14
skills. Coming out of Castilleja I felt empowered and independent. The school fostered my love 15
of learning, my time management skills, and my exposure to an intense academic curriculum 16
that prepared me for Cal in more ways than I could have expected. At Cal I found that I stand 17
apart from some of my classmates in ways in such as community awareness, knowing how to 18
work as a team, and being my own independent leader. All these skills I an attribute to my time 19
and experiences at Castilleja. I hope that eventually the neighborhood can understand and rally 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
around these renovations to the school as I truly believe that Castilleja is an incredible asset to 1
our community. And I hope that even more girls for generations to come have the same 2
opportunities that I did and while this debate might not be about women’s education. I believe 3
that if you truly support it, you’d get behind the school’s goals to improve and renovate. Thank 4
you. 5
6
Chair Riggs: Raveena Lele. 7
8
[note – unknown female:] (speaking from the audience) Oh, she had to leave. She’s 9
[unintelligible] 10
11
Chair Riggs: Ok, alright so sounds good. Phil Coulson followed by Joe Rolfe. Phil Coulson? 12
13
Mr. Phil Coulson: I just wanted to commend Mary Sylvester on a great presentation. She did a 14
very thorough job. I live… I’ve lived in Palo Alto for the last 4-years at the corner of Kingsley and 15
Emerson. I wanted to speak to very quickly about a couple of things. Traffic and safety as well 16
as environmental impact. As far as traffic and safety is concerned, every day I walk down 17
Emerson from my house, down several blocks, cut over to Bryant, and then come back to my 18
house. I also bike the same path and I can tell you in the 4-years twice I’ve been hit by cars 19
coming out of the school speeding off to get quickly to the Embarcadero off of Emerson. And 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
I’ve very concerned about citizens that are local that want to do the same thing, want to be 1
safe, and so this proposal draws a lot of concern from me. The other thing is environmental, 2
tearing out different trees like Sequoias and so on. I teach Ecology and Biology and I am aware 3
of the impact positively on planting trees. Take a look at your emblem. Thanks. 4
5
Chair Riggs: Joe Rolfe followed by Kaitlin Baytz [note – sounds like Bagbe]. 6
7
Mr. Joe Rolfe: Hi. I wrote a letter which as they say is on the record and I have some additional 8
thoughts. Listening this evening is there anybody in the room who doesn’t believe in educating 9
girls and women? Ok. So, we agree that we all believe that girls and women should be educated 10
and I’ve probably lived in Palo Alto longer than the rest of the people here. I’ve lived here since 11
1956. Now obviously Castilleja’s plans are controversial. In fact, I feel strongly they’re not suited 12
to the site. It is time for Castilleja to find a new site and move. Almost what, it says 6-acres of 13
prime residential real estate would probably fast. That’s a whole other topic how we get there 14
from here but in summary, Castilleja is not suited to the site and it’s time to find a new campus. 15
16
Chair Riggs: Alright, Kaitlin Baytz followed by Anjali Jotnami. 17
18
Ms. Kaitlin Baytz [note – sounds like Bagbe]: Anjali Jotnami. I think that’s what you were trying 19
to get. 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
1
Chair Riggs: Ok, you’ll have to correct me in a minute. 2
3
Ms. Baytz [note – sounds like Bagbe]: Good evening. My name is Kaitlin Baytz. I graduated from 4
Castilleja in 2008 and I’m a resident of Palo Alto. I know there’s been a lot of criticism about 5
framing the discussion as being for or against women’s education and I’d like to start with 6
saying that that’s not the objective of my statement. However, I want to share a small piece of 7
my experience… about… at Castilleja to highlight why understanding the school’s impact on the 8
lives of students is a crucial consideration in the review of the draft report. I’d respectfully ask 9
for you to consider the major impact Castilleja made on my life and could make on the lives of 10
its future students. Castilleja was life-changing for me. Castilleja was life-changing for me as a 11
woman in a severely male-dominated profession and industry. Castilleja uniquely prepared me 12
for the headwinds I’ve faced in law school and the legal profession. I strongly believe that I 13
would not be where I am today without the 7-years that I spent at school. Castilleja is well 14
known for its rigorous academics but what people fail to highlight is how influential the school 15
is on the character development of the young women who attend. Castilleja helped me find the 16
confidence to do difficult things. The school unique, all girls, non-sectarian environment helped 17
me find confidence in a profession where I do not see myself reflected in the leadership roles 18
yet. Castilleja helped me find the courage to seek out for others and encourage other young 19
women like me to open doors and step in spaces we aren’t commonly seen or heard. Castilleja 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
taught me to be a leader, not in the sense that I always need to be ahead of the pack but to 1
lead by example, lift others in my successes and set the path for other women to follow where 2
I’ve walked. A Castilleja education was one of the greatest gifts I ever received. Of course, I 3
want other women to have the same life-changing experience. I feel strongly that a Castilleja 4
education must be made available to more young women in the Bay Area. Thank you. 5
6
Chair Riggs: Anjali followed by Kyle Bordeau. 7
8
Ms. Anjali Jotnami: Thank you. Hi, my name is Anjali Jotnami and I graduated from Castilleja in 9
2008. I’ve seen the incredible impacts Castilleja has had on many women’s lives over the past 10
15-years. One of the major projects Castilleja has taken on is their enormous and systematic 11
effort to reduce traffic in the neighborhood supporting their campus. Believe me, I understand 12
as someone who’s grown up in Palo Alto and still live here today that the Bay Area traffic 13
problem is very real and is only getting worse. However, Castilleja has mad material efforts to 14
make sure that they are helping, not hurting the congestion in our neighborhood. I’m very 15
proud that the school has reduced car trips by about 30 percent in the last 5-years during a 16
period of time where traffic is only increasing in the rest of the Bay Area. Since I was at 17
Castilleja students have materially altered their transit behavior going from 57 percent driving 18
in a single-occupancy vehicle only 43 percent today. When it comes to public transportation, 19
when I was at school only 2 percent of students took Caltrain or buses and that number is now 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
20 percent. 16 percent of student’s bike or walk now versus 10 percent in 2012. These are 1
dramatic changes that wouldn’t have happened without a very systematic and supported plan 2
in place my Castilleja. This focus on decreasing traffic in the area is now ingrained in the school 3
culture and it’s something that we are all very proud of. I encourage you to watch pick up 4
someday and you will see there are no lines, no idle engines and the whole process is carefully 5
monitored. I urge you to consider Castilleja’s demonstrated success in their traffic mitigation 6
program when considering the results of the DEIR. I’m hugely thankful for the education I 7
received at Castilleja and I’m thrilled that the school is trying to offer an education to more 8
women. I know how important it is to them and therefore they will continue to be 100 percent 9
committed to reducing traffic and being a really positive part of the neighborhood in Palo Alto. 10
Thank you. 11
12
Chair Riggs: Kyle Bordeau followed by Sara Cody. 13
14
Mr. Kyle Bordeau: Hello Chair Riggs and Planning Commissioners. My name is Kyle Bordeau. I’m 15
a close neighbor of Castilleja, living one block away, for about… for 4-years and I would like to 16
start by saying that I love living near the school. There’s a lot of talk about the quality of life of 17
neighbors near the school and I can say that I feel I have a very high quality of life because of 18
my proximity to Castilleja. I walk my dog by the school intentionally every morning and every 19
evening and everyone that works there is always extremely courteous and says hello to both of 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
us. The traffic monitors are not only courteous but they have become neighborhood fixtures 1
and friends. The traffic management that Castilleja employs has noticeably improved in the 2
time that I have lived near the school. I can only imagine that this process will become even 3
better with the inclusion of the underground garage to move traffic off of the street. I just hope 4
that I will still see some of the employees above ground to say hi. While there is a lot of 5
frustration around the proposed development from other directly adjacent neighbors, I think 6
that Castilleja has gone to great lengths to ensure accountability and build trust in the 7
neighborhood. As a close neighbor of the school, I trust the promises made, the administration, 8
and the enforcement programs in place through the City of Palo Alto. I hope Castilleja is 9
empowered to continue its great work in educating strong leaders for our future. I support 10
Castilleja and I encourage you to do the same. Thank you. 11
12
Chair Riggs: Sara Cody followed by Rita Vrhel. 13
14
[note – unknown female:] (spoke from the audience) Sara had to leave [unintelligible] our 15
county Health Director. 16
17
Chair Riggs: Ok, Rita Vrhel followed by Jeff Levinsky. 18
19
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
Ms. Rita Vrhel: Good evening. It is hard to trust Castilleja when for 15-years they have not 1
followed the City mandated and agreed to CUP. When you speak about trust, past performance 2
usually tends to influence what will happen in the future. When I listen to all of the speakers 3
tonight supporting Castilleja speak that they want all the girls who want an education at 4
Castilleja to be able to have that education. I wonder if a new CUP is granted if it, in fact, will be 5
followed or rather the neighbors will still have the same frustration. My daughter went to 6
Castilleja for 6-years. It was an interesting experience. I think girls benefit from a girl’s 7
education but just like everybody who wants to live in Palo Alto cant. Every girl who wants to go 8
to Castilleja can’t. I think equating girl’s education or even a quality girls’ education with 9
Castilleja Expansion is derisive, I think it is minimizing and I think it is ignorant. We have 10
excellent schools in Palo Alto. We have afterschool organizations. We have wonderful libraries 11
that all the taxpayers support that support both girls and boy’s education. I would like you to 12
gather 55 Pally or Gun girls and ask them about their experiences. I bet you would hear that 13
they have had a wonderful education. Thank you. 14
15
Chair Riggs: Jeff Levinsky followed by Winter Dellenbach. 16
17
Mr. Jeff Levinsky: Good evening everyone. I’m Chair of the Palo Alto Neighborhood Committee 18
that looks at zoning compliance. Whoops, oh I’m done, thanks. 19
20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
[note – unknown female]: (speaking from the audience) [unintelligible] I’m next Levinsky. 1
2
Mr. Levinsky: Shall I start again? 3
4
Chair Riggs: Yeah. 5
6
Mr. Levinsky: I’ll just continue. I’m Chair of the Palo Alto Neighborhood Committee that looks at 7
zoning compliance. We wanted to raise tonight four issues that we didn’t put in our general 8
letter that Arthur Keller mentioned before. Number one, our R-1 zoning rules say in two places 9
that garages count as floor area but the proposed underground garages is not being counted 10
that way. The project description in the EIR should be corrected and the project will need a 11
Variance to allow the excess 50,500-square feet of floor area that the garage comprises. 12
13
Number two, we’ve heard that one or both of the residential sites proposed to be merged into 14
the larger Castilleja parcel are presently being used for functions rather than as homes. If true, 15
they need a Conditional Use Permit for that school use in the R-1 zone. I checked and I didn’t 16
find any such permits today so there’s possible another violation of a law right there. Three, 17
we’re concerned that the EIR is not fully reflecting our ever-worsening local traffic conditions. 18
The PAN letter mentioned the EIR doesn’t site the new Stanford hospital or the traffic the City 19
anticipates from the GUP but we also wondered about other growth. For example, the recent 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
removal of the Downtown Commercial CAP will undoubtedly create more traffic on 1
Embarcadero. Although the EIR did look at projected 2030 conditions using a county model, it 2
should look further out and use local trends and historic patterns for that. 3
4
And finally, the proposed project requires Variances and a Conditional Use Permit. To grant 5
those are Staff, the Planning Commission, the Council and perhaps the courts must find the 6
project has no significant negative impact. The DEIR already says there are significant impacts 7
that can’t be mitigated. In other words, as of this moment, the project fails to qualify for the 8
Variance and Conditional Use Permits it will require. So, I’d urge everyone and especially the 9
Castilleja Board to consider saving time and money by adjusting the project to eliminate those 10
impacts. For example, why not invest in more ways to reduce car trips to and from campus 11
rather than spend 10s of millions of dollars on the underground garage. Thank you. 12
13
Chair Riggs: Winter Dellenbach followed by Ruth Oku-Ampofo. 14
15
Ms. Winter Dellenbach: Longtime Palo Alto resident. I want to associate myself with Jeff’s 16
remarks, Arthur Keller of PAN, Mary Sylvester and Andie Reed and Rita. I thought it was really 17
interesting the consultant stated tonight something so obvious and yet profound. “The amount 18
of students strives the amount of traffic.” Traffic was found to be a significant and unavoidable 19
impact so clearly, enrollment must be limited. Enrollment must be limited, how obvious is that? 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
How simple, how elegant? Enrollment must be limited. It is driving the unavoidable impact of 1
traffic. The only other thing I want to say is… younger sisters in the audience, younger sisters in 2
the audience be true to your school. I know about that. I went to high school, I graduated when 3
dinosaurs still walked the earth. I still feel I’m true to my school, I get together with my school 4
mates still after all this time but I want you to know I got an elegant education. And people die 5
to be in Palo Alto public schools and the public school system is fabulous in this town. I have 6
two granddaughters in it and they are going to be as successful as you are. Their going to get 7
into college, they have great self-esteem, they have fabulous friends, they are leaders, they are 8
terrific, they don’t need scholarships, their parents don’t pay tuition, they ride their bikes to 9
schools, they go to neighborhood schools, their lives are rich, their programs are rich, they are 10
doing all kinds of things in their lives, and so they don’t have to go to a private school to do 11
that. Your school sounds wonderful. I support you. I think you sound wonderful but you need to 12
respect our Municipal Code, you need to respect the land use laws, and our zoning laws and 13
Planning Department, we expect you to do the same. Thank you. 14
15
Chair Riggs: Ok, thank you Ms. Dellenbach. Ruth Oku-Ampofo followed by Sutchi Ofori-Nyako 16
but Ruth of Sutchi we’re going to take a pretty strict 5-mintues break before you speak. Just to 17
give everybody a little time to use restrooms etc. So, Ruth please proceed and then we’ll take a 18
5-minute break and I’ll hold us to a strict 5-minutes. 19
20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
Ms. Ruth Oku-Ampofo: I have lived in Palo Alto for over 12-years and Sutchi Ofori-Nyako is my 1
daughter who attends Castilleja. As she will mention in her speech allowing both middle and 2
high to share a campus creates opportunities for students to appreciate and learn from each 3
other as they all come from different cultures, races, and life experiences. This shared campus 4
fits so well with Castilleja moto of women learning, women leading, and I’m happy that the 5
DEIR did not [unintelligible] splitting the campus. Watching my daughter grow in this 6
environment I have observed her mature as a mentor and rise to the occasion whenever she 7
sees the opportunity lead. 8
9
On another topic I have heard there has been opposition to the underground garage. I find it 10
difficult to understand. Wouldn’t it be better to look at a beautiful neighborhood park instead 11
of a parking lot? Underground garage is permitted in residential and it promotes safety and the 12
visual environment. I fully support improving the environment my moving parking below 13
ground and I look forward to hearing how Castilleja will address the impacts caused by traffic 14
distribution. Thank you for considering these remarks and allowing me to share my opinions 15
with you. 16
17
Chair Riggs: Ok thank you. So, we’re going to take a 5-minute break. We’re still on public 18
comment… we’re going to set the timer, thank you. That’s 4-minutes and Sutchi we’ll hear from 19
you and followed by Cindy Chen when we come back. 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
1
[The Commission took a 5-minute break] 2
3
Chair Riggs: Alright, alright, we’re still in a public hearing so we’re going to get started again. 4
So, we get… just get some order. We’ll have everybody sit down. Please don’t start yet, let’s 5
just make sure that we give you the same respect that we gave everybody else. You’re Sutchi, 6
right? 7
8
Ms. Sutchi Ofori-Nyako: Sutchi. 9
10
Chair Riggs: Sutchi, ok. So, after Sutchi we have Cindy Chen just as a reminder followed by 11
Nancy Strom. If we could have attention, please. Ok, you can take it away Sutchi. 12
13
Ms. Ofori-Nyako: Good evening. My name is Sutchi Ofori-Nyako and I’m a Palo Alto resident 14
and a rising sophomore at Castilleja. I have heard that some people believe Castilleja should 15
divide into two campuses and I strongly disagree. Over the years I’ve been part of multiple 16
clubs and organizations; Black Student unions, the Dance Fundraiser, the Arts with a Heart, and 17
water polo to name a few. All of these bodies include students from the upper and middle 18
schools and through them, I have made meaningful connections with students of all grades. 19
This past year I mentored a 6th grader in Mandarin Chinese. A language that I have studied for 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
over 7-years. While helping her practice her Mandarian I was able to gain more confidence in 1
my own skills. And as a new 6th grader myself starting out in water polo for the first time my 2
upper school students’ coaches taught me the fundamentals, helping me play with a 3
competitive level I do today. I still remember Georgia, who is currently a sophomore in college, 4
getting in the pool to help me with my egg beater. For this reason, I am glad that the DEIR did 5
not explore splitting campuses. Keep the middle and upper school students together is an 6
essential part of learning and growing at Castilleja. I appreciate that the DEIR prioritized the 7
connections between grades and I am grateful for the support I have received as a mentee and 8
the responsibility I have been given as a mentor. Both have formed who I am today. Thank you 9
for considering my comments. 10
11
Chair Riggs: Cindy Chen followed by Nancy Strom. 12
13
Ms. Cindy Chen: Hi. My name is Cindy Chen. For the last 8-years my family has lived near 14
Castilleja on Emerson Street as both as a neighbor and for the last year a daughter who is a 6th 15
grader at Castilleja. I want to express my support for Castilleja’s thoughtful plan to redevelop 16
their campus. Of course, keeping our neighborhood safe, walkable, and pleasant is important to 17
us. Our two kids biked and walked to Walter Hayes almost every day. I walk with our dogs to 18
Gamble Gardens and we walk to Town and Country. Our family bikes to Stanford events. These 19
are things that are very important to me. I appreciate all the efforts to manage the traffic by the 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
City, residents, businesses, and the schools. Castilleja is very conscientious about directing 1
traffic out of the neighborhood and mitigating parking on site. At every opportunity, Castilleja 2
communicates their expectations about where to drive and where to park. On my very first 3
email from Castilleja to schedule a tour for prospective students, there in bold in the email it 4
says to where to drive and park. At the new family orientation, there was a PowerPoint slide 5
showing a map of directing parents where to park and where to drive. This message is 6
communicated consistently through my experience at Castilleja for the last year. People want 7
to come to Palo Alto to work, play and learn. Castilleja’s desire to invest millions of dollars into 8
the community to build the state-of-the-art place to teach and learn is similar to what other 9
Palo Alto schools have done as well as the Children’s Junior Museum. Having seen Castilleja 10
Staff’s [unintelligible] commandment to Traffic Demand Management as a neighbor and as a 11
parent. I’m confident that Nanci along with her colleagues can come up with a plan that 12
balances the need of our neighborhood while benefiting both our community and Castilleja. 13
14
Chair Riggs: Alright, Nancy Strom to be followed by Nelson Ng who will speak for a group of 15
five. 16
17
Ms. Nancy Strom: Hello. I’m Nancy Strom and if I had a tee-shirt on tonight it would be white 18
with a green tree on it because I’m very Palo Alto first. My husband and I own a triplex on the 19
100 block of Melville and a single-family residence on the 100 block of Churchill. We’ve lived… 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
we currently live in Los Altos but we’ve lived in Palo Alto for many years and I grew up in Barron 1
Park and moved back to Palo Alto after college. So, I know the area very well and over the years 2
we’ve rented our house to a number of people. We’ve rented to NASA’s scientists, we’ve 3
rented to surgeons, we’ve rented to students, we’ve rented to professors, we’ve rented to 4
nannies, we’ve rented to families, and my conviction is that all those people really deserve their 5
own chance to live safely, quietly, and peacefully. And I feel like this development is way to 6
large for the neighborhood, I feel like the garage is impactful in a negative way and I feel like 7
Castilleja should be split. Please listen to or please read Mary Sylvester’s comments. I think 8
they’re very factual and accurate and I support what she says in addition to the statements that 9
I’ve just made. Thank you. 10
11
Chair Riggs: Alright so Mr. Ng if you could just have the people that you’re representing stand 12
up really quickly. We can just do a show of hands. 13
14
Ms. Nelson Ng (Francesca Milone, Terry Holzmer, Suzanne Keehn, David Pitt): [unintelligible] 15
16
17
Chair Riggs: Ok, yeah so you have more than five so I have Kay. Is Kay here? I have Gogo. 18
19
Mr. Ng: Gogo left already. 20
21
Chair Riggs: Ok. Terry Holzmer? Terry. Suzanne? Brian? 22
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
1
Mr. Ng: Brian? What’s the last name? 2
3
Chair Riggs: Brian. 4
5
Commissioner Roohparvar: Last name. 6
7
Mr. Ng: What’s the last name? 8
9
Chair Riggs: Sorry, Brian Hamicheck [note- phonetics]. Alright, you know what Mr. Ng I’m going 10
to have you work this out and we will take you after this. I’m… we got to… and folks we got to 11
be able to be a little more orderly than this. We still have almost an hour and half of public 12
comment to go so I need you to have your people ready if you’re speaking on behalf of a group. 13
Irene Au? Are you ready to go? I have a group of five of Irene. Am I mispronouncing your last 14
name? Au. Ok. Going once? Mora Oommen followed by… and followed by Mr. Ng if he’s ready 15
to go after that. 16
17
Ms. Mora Oommen: Good evening. Thank you very much of the opportunity to speak this 18
evening about the Castilleja draft EIR. My name is Mora Oommen, I’m the parent of a 7th-grade 19
student at Castilleja. And I’ve been a Palo Alto resident for the last 12-years and an active 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
community member donating my time, energy, resources as the Executive Director of a local 1
non-profit and serving on multiple City non-profit Boards. I recognize that the topic we are 2
addressing today have been heated in our community. However, I strongly support the 3
thoughtful, well-researched proposal presented by Castilleja School to modernize its campus, 4
increase high school enrollment, and reduce its impact on the neighborhood. In our City with its 5
array of nationally regarded schools, including Castilleja, there have been many, many campus 6
modernizations. As we speak Addison School and the Junior Museum and Zoo and Castilleja too 7
is in need of this update. In this context, the no project [unintelligible] mentioned in the DEIR is 8
an alternative that I believe is not an option at all. CEQA, the California Environmental Quality 9
Act says that an alternative should not be considered if it does not meet most of the basic 10
project objectives. Choosing to do nothing on the Castilleja campus absolutely does not meet 11
most of the project objectives. Section 1.3 of the Executive Summary lists eight project 12
objectives and when you look at them you can see that a no project alternative does not meet 13
most of the basic project objectives. For example, only with a new modernized campus will 14
Castilleja create extensive sustainability measures. Without the project, the City’s Sustainability 15
Goals will not be reached and current greenhouse emissions levels would persist. A school 16
building and landscaping that blends more seamlessly with the surrounding neighborhood and 17
parking moved below ground with an increase in open space and tree canopy. Additional 18
Castilleja project objectives include… well, thank you. 19
20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
Chair Riggs: So, Mr. Ng are you ready to go? And 1
2
Mr. Ng: Yeah. 3
4
Chair Riggs: And could you just have your four other individuals stand up for us just real quickly 5
so we can see who they are. 6
7
Mr. Ng: (spoke from the audience) three and four is Francesca. 8
9
Chair Riggs: Thank you, Francesca. Alright, we’re all good, we did see you. Ok. 10
11
Mr. Ng: Alright, thank you. Hi. My name is Nelson Ng and I live at 1260 Emerson Street for the 12
last 23-years. For the first 20-years, I have been very supportive of Castilleja actually. In fact, I 13
was house guests with the previous Head of Master, Joe Eligan [note – phonetics] and I 14
frequently go over there for dinner and also have… she babysits our kids but since June of 2016, 15
a lot has changed. I was… I just came back from vacation and then I had to find out that the 16
underground garage is actually going to be built directly to my front door. Actually, since then it 17
has changed somewhat to align with the street but this is how I found out and Castilleja has 18
been talking about… the last speaker I mean talking about how they’ve been treating the 19
neighbors. While I was finding out I had to actually find out by going to the City Hall website 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
and as I was reading it, I have to actually find out that it was saying the project has been 1
working for 3-years and they have been working closely with the neighbor. And I have to find 2
out from the City Hall website just to get the facts out there. 3
4
Now let’s go on about the DEIR study. So, this Dudek presentation consultant has talked 5
about… I’m not going to talk to about this… for the three significant and unavoidable impacts 6
even after mitigations. So, everybody already knows that. Also, in the DEIR we find that… I 7
found that it’s very incomplete. The three studies, that alternative that was being studied. First 8
namely is an alternative to do nothing and then the second and third is basically allowing 9
Castilleja to have 73 percent of their enrollment request to 506 students by either tearing down 10
one house or two houses. Ok, it’s not how they… really an alternative. When you give a 11
hammer you… everything is a nail. They… I found that the DEIR was trying to justify or mitigate 12
enough that… how the underground garage will work. So, one of the big things is that we need 13
to have a study to include all possibilities. Including some alternatives such as limited 14
enrollment without an underground garage. Underground garage… Castilleja has always been 15
trying to say is that they’re not going to increase any traffic but then why do you need an 16
underground garage? And this just does not make sense and I hope a lot of the people who are 17
being educated by the school should try to question things, not just accept the fact thing. 18
Things are just… it would not be increasing traffic but actually, the study has found that it will. 19
20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
The other thing is that the satellite parking to shuttle to and from the campus, that will also 1
help this; there’s another one. And distribute the campus if Castilleja really wants to grow. This 2
is one of the things that a lot of the company and also namely, for example, just as the PAMF. 3
They were trying to grow inside the Professorville neighborhood and then eventually they 4
found a new place and they grow. Not just within Palo Alto but outside of Palo Alto, many 5
places. So those are things that I would like the study to really consider as alternative. 6
7
Another thing is that about the traffic study impact. One of the statements I found in Chapter 7, 8
Page 7-313. The specific… site-specific trip generation is actually based on counting cars on the 9
driveway of Castilleja property and also based on the survey. As you can see that a lot of the 10
students… not all the traffic will be going into Castilleja parking lot so it will not be very 11
complete on the study. So, therefore, we really need to understand what is the complete 12
impact to the neighborhood so that we can understand. One other this is that to study Castilleja 13
with and without Castilleja traffic in session with the Palo Alto school so that we… both in 14
sessions we understand. And then we understand without Castilleja in session and with 15
Castilleja in session so that we understand that how Castilleja traffic is incrementally impacting 16
to our neighborhood. And then also Castilleja has over 100 events each year and sometimes it’s 17
evenings and weekends. Those have to be studied as well to really truly understand the true 18
impact of the school impact to the neighborhood. The other is summer school is not being 19
studied and they also have impacts to our neighborhood as well. Also, the study should be done 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
24 by 7, a full week at a time so that unlike what the study did just one day, it’s missed all the 1
significant pattern changes in the school. So those are some of the things that I think the traffic 2
study should do. This is a map that what the traffic study actually did, where they studied. This 3
is Figure 7.1 and this is what we actually asked. There’s some [unintelligible] in the section that 4
was not being studied; like for example Kellogg by Alma Street, Coleridge and also Lowell and 5
then also Lowell and Embarcadero. Lowell is a major street just as such Waverley. Those are 6
major intersections there that needs to be studied. In addition to that, this is the streets that 7
were being studied and yes, but then a lot of them still are missing. These are some of the 8
major streets, entire segments of Embarcadero was not studied or it's not shown there and also 9
Kellogg that was not being studied there; as well as Waverley. I mean [unintelligible] Waverley 10
is Cowper and then also one of the important things is that we need to understand how 11
Castilleja’s traffic impact to our immediate neighborhoods which is the one that is also adjacent 12
also to it like Coleridge and on Lowell. How the traffic pattern will be different compared with 13
and without Castilleja traffic? Those are some of the major things that need to be studied. 14
15
This is just a very quick diagram I think that Dudek has already mentioned about how the traffic 16
flow will be. This will create major impacts… well, first of all, it will tear down two houses to 17
build the underground garage as we know. And also create very significant possibly significant 18
impact at the intersection of Bryant and Embarcadero which is a bike boulevard as many 19
speakers have talked about this. And then we are concerned about the safety of the students 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
who are going to be riding there as well as the major backup on… by Emerson by Embarcadero 1
as well as mentioned on Kingsley by Alma as well. So those are the things that people already 2
talked about and this is a picture. It's just… actually, it was only a couple years ago and it’s the… 3
the picture is still applicable today, maybe it’s even longer time during the day… longer period 4
of time during the day it happened. You can see constantly cars from westbound or eastbound 5
of Embarcadero is completely gridlocked most of the time. So, what I’m trying to say is that this 6
project is in a neighborhood that has a very… it’s a single-family neighborhood. We already… its 7
emendated with a lot of traffic and adding more is not going to help by any [unintelligible] by 8
imagination. I know they are trying to mitigate, I know, but then… there is only so much that 9
the neighborhood can do and I hope you guys will press on to make sure that it is studied so 10
that it will not have adverse impact to our neighborhood. Thank you. 11
12
Chair Riggs: Alright so we have Ray Nayder. Ray, are you here? Alright, Nancy Tuck followed by 13
Ericka von Kaeppler. 14
15
Ms. Nancy Tuck: I have owned and lived at 113 Melville Avenue for 8-years and I am a 16
supporter of Castilleja’s renovation and increased enrollment application. I have never 17
experienced inconvenience because of traffic emanating from or going to the school. For 18
several years now there has been traffic management personal ensuring orderly flow for drop 19
off, pick up, and events. I have seen the increase in the use of shuttle vans that pick-up girls 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
from the train station. I have attended roughly 20 meetings hosted by the school where they’ve 1
listened to input or displayed draft of their desired renovations. I’ve received notes from the 2
school along with gift card for the local pastry shop notifying me about expected heavy 3
attendance on opening day or graduation. I find the school to be an excellent and respectful 4
neighbor, the girls to be polite and the administration to be responsive and caring about the 5
community. Please work with the school to approve their plan to both renovate and increasing 6
enrollment. Thank you. 7
8
Chair Riggs: Ericka von Kaeppler followed by David Fields. 9
10
Ms. Ericka von Kaeppler: Good evening. My name is Ericka von Kaeppler, I’m here to express my 11
support for Castilleja School’s proposed high school enrollment increase. I’m currently a 6th-12
year MD-PhD student at Stanford where I study bone biology and Arthritis with hopes of 13
pursuing a career as an orthopedic surgeon-scientist. Long before I became a medical student 14
at Stanford, I was a middle and high school student at Castilleja from 2002 to 2009. I can say 15
with utmost confidence that the values of hard, integrity, and respect that I learned during 16
these 7-years were key to my development as a student and more importantly as a person. 17
Throughout my time at Castilleja, I was the fortunate recipient of both financial aid and 18
scholarships that granted me access to the most important stepping stone to my success. 19
Particularly as women in science, I benefited greatly from the confidence that I gained at 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
Castilleja. Everything from chicken wing dissections to required senior speeches contributed to 1
my transformation from a painfully shy 6th grader into a [unintelligible] scientist. It is my hope 2
that more women can be afforded the same unrivaled opportunity for growth that changed my 3
life. I recently have had the pleasure of returning to Castilleja as an athletics coach where I was 4
struck by how many of my athletes rode their bikes to school or took the school shuttle. 5
Certainly, more than when I was a student. This is just one example of the many… one example 6
of the changes implemented by our leader Nanci Kauffmann who has worked tirelessly to earn 7
the trust of the community. The ultimate mission of Castilleja is to educate young women to 8
become confident thinkers and compassionate leaders with a sense of purpose to effect change 9
in the world. I asked the PTC to share in my faith that the current leadership of Castilleja will 10
honor this mission by working with the City to ensure a positive path forward that includes 11
increased enrollment while respecting the surrounding community in which Castilleja thrives. 12
Thank you. 13
14
Chair Riggs: Ok David Fields and I ask that you continue to come up because this… if you hang 15
out in the back it does delay us a little bit and afterward, I have Rob Levinsky speaking for a 16
group of five. And Rob, if you are here, make sure you have your group ready to go. Thank you. 17
18
Mr. David Fields: Good evening Chair and Commissioner Members. My name is David Fields, I’m 19
a principal with Nelson/Nygarrd Consulting. I have about… I have more than 20-years of 20
experience focusing on transportation planning that supports the community’s long-term goals 21
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
such as environmental sustainability and quality of life. Nelson/Nygaard has worked Castilleja 1
for 6-years, we’ve been involved in the monitoring process with the City to determine the 2
effectivity of the school’s Transportation Demand Management Program, the current one. The 3
TDM Program has been successful and achieved better results than originally anticipated. At 4
time even up to 30 percent reduction in auto trips. As part of the project, the school is 5
proposing to continue and improve upon the existing TDM Program. The TDM plan is 6
anticipated to reduce trips by between 12 and 22 percent. The trip generation study indicates 7
that currently there are 1,198 daily trips with 540 students and no TDM measures applied, 8
that’s anticipated that there’d be 1,477 daily trips. However, with TDM programming and… 9
which has a history of success daily trips would actually be in the range of 1,152 and up to 1,300 10
trips but much more likely on the lower end of that; similar to current daily trip numbers. In my 11
opinion, Castilleja will be able to implement a successful TDM Program because they already 12
have done so. They will be able to continue it and expand and will make the potential impacts 13
of the project on the surrounding neighborhood less than significant. Thank you. 14
15
Chair Riggs: Rob Levinsky. 16
17
Mr. Rob Levinsky (Laura Tarpey, Anna Lee, Caroline Daws, Nina Hamacheck): Yeah, my groups 18
there. 19
20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
Chair Riggs: Rob if you could have your folks stand so that we can… oh, ok. Thank you. 1
Appreciate that and so George Jemmott you’ll be up after Rob but Rob has 10-minutes. 2
3
Mr. Levinsky: I’m ready. Ok, the Environmental Impact Report is supposed to bring up all the 4
issues and impacts regarding a proposed project which then allows the decisions makers, like 5
the City Council, the ability to make decisions knowing all the issues regarding the impact of a 6
project. I’m going to talk about trees and aesthetics. 7
8
The symbol of Palo Alto is a Redwood tree based on El Palo Alto. From the Palo Alto Technical 9
Tree Manual Oaks wider than 11.5-inches in diameter and Redwoods over 18-inches in 10
diameter at 54-inches height are protected in Palo Alto. It is has been that way for over 20-11
years. Oaks and Redwoods of that size are protected unless the tree is dead or dying, the tree 12
has structural problems like a branch that’s going to fall, the tree roots of a tree trunk are near 13
somebody’s foundation and affecting the structure of a house, the tree is crowding another 14
protected tree, the tree is disrupting or interfering with City utilities, or if the tree reduces the 15
otherwise buildable area of a lot by more than 25 percent. Now, these are the trees at 16
Castilleja. You see six Redwoods, the tallest one is in the 90 to 100-feet tall range and behind it 17
is some Oaks. None of these trees would be cut by any those possibilities of tree roots or 18
hazards or dead or dying, that’s listed in the Palo Alto Technical Tree Manual. So, let’s first look 19
at what happened with Stanford’s EIR for the medical center so this is 10-years ago 2010. 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
Stanford is being… in the jurisdiction of Palo Alto and they’re trees are subject to the same 1
Technical Tree Manual. And so here is actually a map of the Stanford Med Center and here are 2
a handful of Oaks and these, as you can see, have a significant diameter at the 20… 54-inches 3
best height and they’re protected. So, these Oaks are listed in the biological review for the 4
Stanford Medical Center just as the trees at the Castilleja site should be listed in the biological 5
resources section. But curiously enough there is no biological resources section in the Castilleja 6
because of an exception made earlier on in 2017 saying that… in this thing called a Notice of 7
Availability that says the initial study circulated in 2017, which is incorporated by reference as 8
part this EIR, identifies impacts in the following areas which were determined to be less than 9
significant than with mitigation incorporated. So, what does that mean? Don’t we have rules? 10
We have a rule in Palo Alto protecting Oaks and Redwoods, it applied perfectly in the Stanford 11
situation and the Stanford EIR suggested seven or eight different alternatives. Things like you 12
could make an alternative for historic resources, you could make it an alternative for trees, and 13
in the Stanford case, they chose the alternative that protected the trees the most. That’s the 14
alternative they chose. So, what do we have for the Castilleja site? No, we’re not even going to 15
study the trees, oh they’re insignificant, and so then there’s no alternative to protect the trees. 16
So, I think this thing has to be reworked in the DEIR. The DEIR has to then protect the trees and 17
look for alternatives. 18
19
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
And talking… and secondly, about the aesthetics, this is with the view we have from Emerson 1
Street. You’ll see the Redwoods in the back towering above, Oaks in front. Castilleja seems to 2
think that they’re going to improve the aesthetics of this block. Just by cutting down all the 3
trees or most of them, they’re talking about at least half and bulldozing the houses. That 4
somehow is supposed to improve the aesthetics of the neighborhood. We would lose a whole 5
concept of Emerson Street in the 1200 block if we let them go ahead with this project. Now you 6
wonder what would happen if the Planning Department saw this straggly tree in 1894. They 7
probably just would have said let us just cut it down and here’s what Castilleja has done over 8
the last couple years since they proposed this project. A bigger Oak… a bigger Redwood that 9
was there before got cut down. Here you can see the chainsaw and just last week they cut 10
down the Atlas Cedar. It was healthy in May, green leaves, and all of a sudden, it’s dying and 11
dead. Here’s what they use most of the athletic field that the City gave them 27-years ago. It’s 12
mostly used as a car park. That’s the daily view and here’s what we would expect if they were 13
allowed to go ahead with this because right next to me, I would have this open-pit mine for 18-14
months or more while they dig out 63,000-cubic yards, maybe six 8,000 dump truck running on 15
City streets for what? An underground parking garage when Palo Alto has just turned down a 16
parking garage downtown because we’re trying to do sustainable things. So, here’s our street 17
now. Beautiful, can’t be improved upon. Look at that; colorful, Oaks, Redwoods, houses, a nice 18
neighborhood, and I think the DEIR has to be reworked to study this. Thank you. 19
20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
Chair Riggs: Alright so we have Georgia Jammot and followed by Robert Eckols. 1
2
Mr. George Jemmott: Thanks for your time. I live on Emerson across the street from Castilleja. 3
One part of the Environmental Impact Report that is overlooked by the Environmental Impact 4
Report is the neighborhood, the community aspect of the environmental. I mean you’ve 5
probably seen all the polarizing yards signs and maybe felt the tension that this expansion 6
proposal has already caused in an otherwise peaceful neighborhood. I also teach and champion 7
women’s education in my own way at another private school here in the Bay Area which has 8
also been expanding a lot in the last… at least for the last decade. And when it seemed like our 9
school would outgrow the neighborhood, not fill up the entire property we still had tons of 10
empty acres, but rather when concerns and signs of the same sorts of things that neighbors of 11
Castilleja are expressing today started to appear. The school bought another piece of property 12
7-miles away in a different City. I hear that Castilleja doesn’t want to split their campus and 13
that’s entirely what the DEIR said. We didn’t investigate that possibly because Castilleja doesn’t 14
want to do it because of the coordination between middle and upper school. I get that but one 15
alternative that hasn’t been proposed or studied is to start a new school. As a founding student 16
of Owen College of Engineering and a founding faculty member of a high school I ask all of you 17
and also the EIR authors to consider if this money could be better… could better further 18
women’s education if you start another Casti [note – Castilleja] like school in a different town 19
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
instead of expanding and causing more tension and more strife in the neighborhood. Thank 1
you. 2
3
Chair Riggs: Robert Eckols followed by Adam Woltag or Woltag. I… apologizes, it’s hard to read 4
your last part, Adam. 5
6
Mr. Robert Eckols: Hi. My name is Robert Eckols and I work with Fehr and Peer, I’m a principle 7
there. Their a transportation and planning engineering company. And we’ve been working with 8
the school since 2012. We’ve done their bi-annual monitoring for them which are reports that 9
are then sent to the City. We also were involved in the earlier Master Planning of the site and 10
it’s been stated a couple of times by different people about how the parking structure and the 11
one-way circulation was really a response to trying to figure out the best way to minimize the 12
amount of traffic in the neighborhood. Now the EIR looked at the TIRE Index, this is a measure 13
of relative change on roadways, lower volume streets. You put a higher volume on it and that’s 14
the impact. What doesn’t really come out in this report is that while there is a significant impact 15
identified on the Emerson section, some of the other nine or so ten roadways that were looked 16
at. Those are actually experiencing a decrease in the volume because of the shift of traffic. So, 17
while there is an impact on Emerson between Melville and Embarcadero, there are some 18
benefits to the other roadways that always surface in the EIR because we focus on the 19
significant impacts and not what the other effects are. So, thank you very much. 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
1
Chair Riggs: Adam followed by Susan Lindsay. 2
3
[note -unknown female:] (spoke from the audience) Susan is not here. 4
5
Chair Riggs: So, sorry, Elaine Meyer will follow Adam. 6
7
Mr. Adam Woltag: Evening Commissioners. My name is Adam Woltag and I’m the design 8
partner at WRNS Studio and we are honored to be part of this innovative and exciting project 9
working with the school. Our practice over the last 15-years has been fortunate to work on 10
many academic projects, educational projects for schools all over Northern California, K 11
through 12, higher ed, public and private schools. And it is so rare in our experience as a 12
practice to find a client, a school that has invested so heavily in design elements from… and 13
planning elements that really do benefit the surrounding neighborhood. From visual impacts 14
looking at elevations, material palettes that do try to reflect the character, the cadence, and the 15
warmth of this neighborhood, to look at ways to mitigate acoustic concerns by burying 16
underground service, mechanical, trash elements as well as their pool. And finally, I’d just like 17
to state for the record that it’s also wonderful to be supported by the school, to try to achieve 18
the City’s very ambitious sustainable goals, the 2024 goals and we’d just like to acknowledge 19
that we do appreciate that was also noted in the DEIR. Thank you. 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
1
Chair Riggs: Elaine Meyer followed by Stephanie Norton. 2
3
Ms. Elaine Meyer: Thank you for this hearing. The Castilleja Expansion is a developer lead, 4
money-making plan, and there’s a lot of money and effort being spent to this… to hide that 5
fact. Hiding behind the slogan we support women’s education hasn’t fooled everyone. 6
Women’s education will not be diminished if Castilleja doesn’t expand. By the EIR not taking 7
Stanford’s project adequately into account strikes me as very odd and it’s also odd because 8
Stanford can do magic. Stanford will, as you know better than I do, they propose a big project 9
and then they show there’s no new traffic. It’s magic. This huge omission needs to be corrected. 10
A big underground garage is not going to improve women’s education but it could turn into a 11
future money maker. Hiding behind the young students to [unintelligible] the reality of this 12
project is dishonest. Thank you. 13
14
Chair Riggs: Alright Stephani North and then we’ll have Eugenie Van Winen [note – spelling]. 15
16
Ms. Stephanie Norton: Good evening. My name is Stephanie Norton and I live in Old Palo Alto 17
on the other side over near North California. I actually lived in Professorville for 4-months last 18
year and I biked by Castilleja every day on my way to work. I’m a teacher at another school. It is 19
was between 7:15 and 8:30 every day. I was actually looking forward to seeing this big traffic 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
problem that I had heard about on Next Door and I thought finally I’m going to see it in person. 1
Not one day was there even a single car backup on Embarcadero or Bryant. You won’t even 2
know that drop off was happening. They had two people helping cars in and out but there were 3
only one to three cars visible at a time. I saw more students in Castilleja uniforms walking and 4
biking to school every single day than I saw cars going through the loading zone. So, to me the 5
traffic currently is non-existent. If you multiple nothing by 1.3 which is the proposed new size 6
you still get nothing. I don’t think we know that 100 kids will make a significant difference. If 7
you think about Green and Pally where my kids go, they’re huge compared to Castilleja. Try 8
parking near there, try driving near there near drop off or pick up time. It is many folds bigger 9
than it is at Castilleja, the impact. So, I think we do have traffic on Embarcadero but it’s not 10
from Castilleja, it’s from everything else in our City. Thank you. 11
12
Chair Riggs: Eugenie followed by Monica Yeung Arima. 13
14
Ms. Eugenie Van Winen [note -spelling]: Good evening. My name is Eugenie Van Winen, I’ve 15
been a resident of Palo Alto since 2007, a member of the Duveneck community, a current 16
Castilleja parent, and a trustee of the school. Having raised my family in this community I care a 17
great deal about the wellbeing of our neighborhoods. I also care a great deal about the future 18
of women’s education and the future of Castilleja. As a trustee, I want to assure you that 19
Castilleja’s Board has taken the utmost care with respect to the planning behind our CUP 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
application. The Board is committed to ensuring a strong future for the school and serving the 1
needs of our neighborhood and the communities around us. I would like to focus my remarks 2
on environmental sustainability because it’s one of the areas where I’ve been particularly 3
impressed with the school’s careful and extensive planning. As Nanci said earlier the Castilleja 4
Master Plan surpasses League Platinum Certification guidelines as well as the Sustainability 5
Goals of both the City of Palo Alto and the State of California. This is achieved through 6
environmental features such as an entirely onsite renewable energy, high-efficiency water use, 7
and the use of green construction materials. Castilleja’s efforts to minimize its environmental 8
footprint were validated by the DEIR’s findings with less than significant impacts related to 9
energy consumption or greenhouse gas emission and no mitigation required. The school plans 10
to use the building as an opportunity to teach students about sustainability, educating 11
environmental stewards for the future. With respect to the school’s Tree Plan, the DEIR finds a 12
less than significant impact with appropriate tree protection, replacement, and proposed 13
additional planting. I am so proud of this level of leadership around environmental 14
sustainability. Castilleja’s plan is forward-looking and very much in keeping Palo Alto’s 15
commitment to strong environmental stewardship. I have faith in the school’s will and integrity 16
to work together (interrupted) 17
18
Chair Riggs: [unintelligible] 19
20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
Ms. Van Winen [note-spelling]: To find a solution. 1
2
Chair Riggs: Thank you. 3
4
Ms. Van Winen: Thank you. 5
6
Chair Riggs: Monica, are you here? Monica Yeung Arima? Ok, thank you, Monica, and after 7
Monica Cecilia Willer or Willer. 8
9
Ms. Monica Yeung Arima: Good evening Commissioner. I’m Monica Yeung Arima, I lived in 1052 10
Bryant Street for the last 25-years, and in Old Palo Alto for another probably 10 plus years on 11
Bryant Street also; both times. And I graduated from a girl’s school myself so I respect all the 12
young ladies that are sitting here to support what they wanted to support for. And I graduated 13
from elementary school, Sacred Heart, and high school, [unintelligible] Girls School which is a 14
Presbyterian Church school and I support girl’s education. However, I have to say that I cannot 15
support the project that is on the platform right now because I wanted to pass these to you. I 16
didn’t have the overhead pictures but these are the pictures that I took in the last few weeks in 17
less than a month. These are the accidents that actually happened that I can capture. So, could 18
you imagine the ones that I cannot capture? I live on right on Bryant and Lincoln. Right at the 19
corner and an average about… to my experience, it increased over the last 25-years 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
dramatically. It probably has at least one accident or more each week and it’s scary. So, Bryant 1
Street is a very special street. It’s a bike lane and in that intersection is very interesting. I have 2
advocated to put in a circle there but nobody listened to me. So (interrupted) 3
4
Chair Riggs: Ok, thank you, Ms. Arima, thank you. 5
6
Ms. Yeung Arima: I’m very important about the health and safety of our children and our 7
citizens. Thank you. 8
9
Chair Riggs: Thank you. Cecilia Willer or Willer. Cecilia, are you here? Ok. Going once? Herb 10
Borock and after that Mindie Romanowsky. 11
Mr. Herb Borock: Chair Riggs and Commissioners I urge you to continue the public hearing until 12
your regular meeting of September 25 which would be after the close of written comments on 13
the draft EIR and to leave the public hearing open including for comments of people spoken 14
today. Especially the majority of whom haven’t made comments on the EIR but instead made 15
comments on whether they supported the project or not, whether they support the applicant 16
or not or whether they can read back to your text from the draft EIR or whether they’ve been 17
hired as consultants by the applicant. The purpose of this public hearing is to get comments 18
that need to be responded to in the Final Environmental Impact Report on such things as 19
whether there’s a reasonable range of alternatives, whether all of this potentially significant 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
effect have been identified and when there is appropriate mitigations. This hearing tonight was 1
originally scheduled when the issuing date was going to be June 30th so this would have been 2
day 45 but it’s no longer day 45 of the availabilities. It’s day 29 because when the issuing date 3
was moved to July 17th this hearing date was not moved. If you want to get a copy of the 4
printed report, I hope you can do it during working hours because in this neighborhood only, 5
the two places where its available are both closed in the evenings. Ones the Development 6
Center and ones the Downtown Library and one is closed both weekend day and the other is 7
only opened on Saturday. Finally, this date is scheduled when public schools are returned in 8
Palo Alto. In other words, the period up till now people have been on vacation. There are many 9
more people in public schools effected and families affected by this than [unintelligible] 10
applicant but it’s their vacation time when this draft EIR has been available up till now. So 11
clearly you have not had that opportunity to read it or to comment on. Like the rest, I would 12
haven’t had an adequate opportunity and I would like you to have the opportunity of all those 13
written comments before you have a final opportunity as I suggest on September 25 to make 14
your comments. Thank you. 15
16
Chair Riggs: Mindie Romanowsky followed by Dandan Wu. 17
18
Ms. Mindie Romanowsky: Good evening. Thank you for your time. My name is Mindie 19
Romanowsky, I’m a partner with the Law Firm of Jorgenson, Siegel, McClure, and Flagel in 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
Menlo Park. Tonight, I come before you on behalf of Castilleja as their land use attorney to 1
provide some brief comments on the draft EIR. First and for most I want to emphasize that it is 2
in the best interest of the City, Castilleja, and the community that this EIR is legally defensible. 3
And to that end, given that I only have a few moments to speak tonight, I do intend to submit a 4
detailed comment letter regarding the draft EIR in the next few weeks to ensure the legal 5
defensibility. This evening you’ve heard many comments. I would respectfully encourage that 6
Commission not to be suede by emotion but rather to objectively consider the EIR as an 7
informational document what it’s intended to be. Generally speaking, Castilleja is very pleased 8
that the draft DEIR reinforces the merit of ways that our project compliances with legal impact 9
threshold and is consistent with the land use goals of the City; including the Comprehensive 10
Plan. I do want to highlight a few key points that will require clarification. One is regarding the 11
two significant traffic impacts. We will take those very seriously. We intend to consider 12
opportunities to either reduce or elevate those impacts altogether. Another problematic 13
conclusion is found in Chapter 4 at Section 4.2. The statement is made that the project 14
physically divides the community and we believe that the conclusion is unsupported. CEQA is 15
intended to look at impacts over existing conditions. Here the project will occupy the same 16
physical space that it’s occupied for over a century and it will also provide greater open space in 17
the existing campus. So how it physically divides the community is puzzling, to say the least, and 18
insufficient data in the document to support that conclusion. However, in the end, I just want 19
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
to close with our… we are very optimistic that we can find solutions so that a project will be 1
approvable that will be supported. 2
3
Chair Riggs: Thank you. 4
5
Ms. Romanowsky: Thank you for your time. 6
7
Chair Riggs: Alright so I have Dandan’s card. Dan… Ms. Wu or Mr. Wu, are you here? Ok so if I 8
don’t see… and does anybody else want to provide me with a slip? If you haven’t spoken, you’re 9
welcome to submit one here. We won’t close the hearing. I’ll give 30-seconds for anyone to fill 10
another out. Please, we welcome your comments. Alright, if that’s it. No, that needs to go in 11
that pile. They’re not here. With that, the public hearing is closed and we’ll bring it back to the 12
Commission. You all doing ok? Alright. Oh (interrupted) 13
14
Ms. Dandan Wu: [unintelligible – spoke from the audience off mic] gave you my card. 15
16
Chair Riggs: I’m sorry miss, I already closed the public hearing so should we reopen? 17
18
Ms. Wu: (spoke from the audience) Sorry, I just had [unintelligible] go to the bathroom. 19
20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
Chair Riggs: Ok. We’ll reopen the hearing and I will put out the offer again. If someone has not 1
spoken feel free to fill out a card. Go ahead, Ms. Wu. 2
3
Ms. Wu: My name is Dandan Wu. I have lived in Palo Alto for over 6-years. I live on Bryant 4
Street close to North California. I currently have a daughter in Walter Hayes. I wasn’t planning 5
on speaking today but having hearing all this I just wanted to add a perspective. When I first 6
came to the United States in 2003 as an international student to pursue my Master's Degree in 7
journalism at Stanford. One of the first things I got introduced by the people here was that Palo 8
Alto has great schools and it also has an excellent girls school called Castilleja. It is the best girl’s 9
school in the area. Now whenever I have friends visiting and we’re driving down Embarcadero I 10
became the one that proudly introduces to my friends, this is Castilleja, one of the best all-girls’ 11
schools nationwide. So, I can testify that Castilleja has only added a lot to the great reputation 12
of Palo Alto being a world-class education hub. It’s an invaluable asset. Castilleja is not a 13
business or just a school in Palo Alto. It’s part of Palo Alto. It’s a dear community member, it’s 14
what a lot of us are proud of, and a school so many Palo Alto girls aspire to go too. I went to 15
Stanford and I send my girl to Walter Hayes every day. I’ve never seen a local school Staff 16
enforce such rigorous traffic standards. I never have traffic issues on Bryant. I’m confident that 17
through this tough, thoughtful, and rigorous process Castilleja is able to better manage this 18
campus [unintelligible] program to support an even better girls’ education with updated 19
facilities. When it comes to education it’s critical that we take a long term and futuristic 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
perspective. We’re standing on the legacy of the past 125-years to say that Castilleja is an 1
awesome school but our times have changed and are changing rapidly at an unprecedented 2
speed. In another 10-20-50 years, what do we want people to say? We hope that we can still 3
say Castilleja continues to be a leading flagship girl school nationwide and its home is Palo Alto. 4
It will be a shame that we didn’t give it enough support today. Thank you. 5
6
Chair Riggs: Alright thank you, Ms. Wu. Final opportunity if anybody wants to fill out a speaker 7
card. We are (interrupted) 8
9
Vice-Chair Alcheck: You’re glutton for punishment. 10
11
Chair Riggs: Thank you, the hearing is closed. Thank you, everyone, for being here and we’ll 12
bring it back to the Commission. So, I just would like to… clearly a lot of comments. I think what 13
I would like to do is just do a round down the row of comments, questions, thoughts on the EIR 14
that we can document and then we can go again. Sorry, yeah, go ahead. 15
16
Ms. Sandra Lee, City Attorney: Thank you Mr. Chair. Sandy Lee, City Attorney’s Office. Before 17
the Commissioners start providing comments and asking questions, I just wanted to emphasize 18
something that the Planning Director and Ms. French both mentioned in the opening comments 19
and also in the Staff report. And that is about the scope of this hearing, that it’s on the draft 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
EIR. We have just heard several hours of comments from the public, many comments have 1
been on the merits of the project, the merits of the applicant pro and con, and that’s fine for 2
the public to provide those comments but because the Planning Commission will be sitting as a 3
quasi-judicial body in the near future on these applications. The scope of the Commissioners 4
comments should really be on the adequacy of the EIR and not on the merits of the project 5
itself. 6
7
Chair Riggs: Thank you for the reminder. I was trying to give the same instruction but I think 8
we’re… I think that we’re all well versed in that and I always start on my right, if you don’t 9
mind? So, can I just continue the tradition Commissioner Summa and is everybody ok if we just 10
take it one by one? And I know that… why don’t we just plan… we can go do another round if 11
we need too but I… hopefully we don’t. I think everybody’s read it so please take it away, 12
Commissioner Summa. 13
14
Commissioner Summa: Ok. Well thank you everybody and I hope despite the fact we had to 15
limit your comments to 2-minutes that everybody had a sufficient time to say what they 16
needed to say. I think that’s really important. And thank you to Staff and the consultant and 17
everyone who is here who didn’t speak as well. 18
19
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
At a high level, I agree with the attorney who just spoke that this… it’s very important this is 1
legally defensible for everybody that’s involved. And to that end, I found some deficiencies in 2
the DEIR unfortunately and I will just… I think that the traffic issues need to be explained better. 3
It is not clear to me and it doesn’t seem to be clear to the public that the traffic issues haven’t 4
been studied well enough around… specifically around the one-way ingress and egress of the 5
garage. And I think there should be more detail to that and I think it would be especially helpful 6
to understand how the right turn out of the garage egress would be enforced. I think these are 7
generally enough right? Ok. 8
9
I felt a lack of information on the impacts of the encroachment into the special setback on 10
Embarcadero. I just didn’t see any information about that at all and maybe there are no impacts 11
and maybe I missed it. We had a lot to look at but if I’m correct that there wasn’t discussion of 12
that, I think that would be useful to know if there are any future impacts to the City’s useful use 13
of that special setback. 14
15
I wanted to see more an analysis; I think it’s usually considered a standard that you would for 16
the cultural resources section that you would have an analysis of other nearby structures that 17
are eligible for the National Register. And I certainly think the Lockey House needs a little more 18
consideration. 19
20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
I was confused about the tree relocation. The tree information was very, very detailed in that 1
every single tree is called out and its species and what’s going to happen to it. I felt like the tree 2
relocation was a bit… it seemed like there was a lot of consideration of those trees being 3
successfully relocated. So, that seemed like it was more of… would add more to the impacts of 4
tree removal than relocation due to the size of some of the trees that were being removed. 5
6
And one other thing is that from sort of the beginning of the discussions about this project I 7
thought… I was under the impression that a no garage alternative was going to be considered 8
which is was not. So those are just… and I think that these… if these things were cleared up in 9
the DEIR, you’ve done so much work on it already that I don’t think that this would hold things 10
up too much; the process. I think it would answer some of the public’s questions and keeping it 11
at a high level I think I will leave my comments there for now. 12
13
Chair Riggs: Alright, go Commissioner Templeton. 14
15
Commissioner Templeton: Hi. Thank you for everybody who engaged in this process as well and 16
for those who have prepared the documentation. I was particularly… I want to call out the birds 17
and bat survey, thank you. I appreciate that very much. I also share some concerns about the 18
trees. You may be familiar with how much we love our trees here in Palo Alto. I had a question 19
about how many protected trees will be removed or moved because of the underground 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
garage versus if that wasn’t built? So, I guess I’m echoing the comments that Commissioner 1
Summa made about I’d prefer to see that included as an alternative so we can understand that 2
better as part of the DEIR. 3
4
I would also like to know how many other properties in the neighborhood have underground 5
garages. If we could include that as well. 6
7
And then this may be included, I’m trying to rack my brain if I saw it but can you tell me if 8
there’s electric car chargers were described as any of the parking spaces for electric vehicles? 9
10
Ms. Waugh: They are required by yeah by code but… and I seem to recall there are some 11
marked on the garage plan but I need to check. 12
13
Commissioner Templeton: Ok. I can follow-up with you offline but I’m glad to hear that those 14
are included. And would like to echo some comments that the public spoke today about 15
clarifying the Floor Area Ratio numbers so I think that would be super helpful. 16
17
A couple more questions. Just by my count with the tree situation, going back to the trees, 18
we’re going to be removing or relocating more than half of the protected Redwoods from the 19
property and around 10 percent or close to 10 percent of the Coastal Live Oaks. That is 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
troubling, especially… one of the things that the students and other members of the Castilleja 1
community have mentioned is how much they appreciate the environment that’s there. So, I 2
would love to hear more about the mitigations for that. I’m concerned. 3
4
Let me see. Also, in terms of the removal of the two residential structures, the homes, having 5
no impact on housing. On the block, there’s about seven homes so removing two is removing 6
30 percent of the homes from that block. So, I would just want to just take one more look at 7
that and see if we can clarify why that would count as no significant impact. 8
9
Ok and then finally I just want to reflect back what I heard from the community as it relates to 10
the DEIR. The enrollment numbers, there seems to be a lot of support for increasing 11
enrollment. You also mentioned that enrollment is driving traffic. There’s still a lot of concern 12
about traffic so I think clarifying how those two factors relate and perhaps breaking it down 13
into a more fine-grained type of relationship chart would be super helpful. 14
15
Bike boulevard impact to be more prominently discussed and then we have a lot of bike 16
information contained in the report. In my read, it felt very focused on the students and not 17
necessarily on those who pass through and use the bike boulevard. So maybe calling that out of 18
structuring your paragraphs so that is more prominent. 19
20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
I heard a lot of support around the construction and it felt like people really understood all the 1
work that’s gone into planning this and how it would be environmentally friendly and that a lot 2
of consideration was being taken for those plans. So, I think that was a really strong area of the 3
report. 4
5
The underground garage is definitely an area of concern. I also have a concern about that. That 6
I would love to see explained more clearly in the report, specifically the visual appeal of the 7
ingress and egress. 8
9
And that’s it. Thank you very much. 10
11
Chair Riggs: Ok, I’m going to take my comments inline. Thank you, Commissioner Templeton. 12
So, given my background, most of these comments will be about the traffic analysis and 13
transportation focus but I actually want to… one of the comments that was made earlier about 14
4.2 about the physical division from a land-use standpoint. I agree, it’s not substantiated and I 15
actually think that particularly from a visual standpoint that the existing [unintelligible] would 16
likely improve from a physical division standpoint. So, I think that needs some work in that 17
Section 4.2 I believe that was identified earlier. 18
19
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
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provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
Now to pivot to transportation. I think that particularly the bicycle exposure and the ingress and 1
egress need more work. I don’t believe there’s going to be a lot of queuing on the right-hand 2
turn from ingress. I mean there could be queuing into the intersection if you’re going to be 3
having cyclists turn right into the garage or you’re having a cyclist having to yield to a right-hand 4
turn vehicle. It creates a conflict point so one of the things that I’m not seeing as a mitigation is 5
are physical interventions to actually… so think that we need to look at actual physical 6
interventions. Whether or not it’s paint or curbs but those need to be requirements or projects 7
mentioned as mitigations as a part of this EIR. So that includes… I think that includes some of 8
what was mentioned already but possibly physical barriers on both sides of the site. Whether or 9
not their rubber delineated batons or whether or not their curbs. We don’t have to get into the 10
engineering design now but that needs to be considered as a mitigation measure given the level 11
the impacts we’re talking about. And I would say that’s on the Bryant side as well as the 12
Emerson side. So, I do think from a queuing standpoint this will… the underground potential… 13
the potential for the mitigation of the thing. I’m satisfied with the potential ingestion of that, 14
I’m satisfied from the transportation engineering standpoint but I’m more worried about the 15
seams on both sides of the sites. So again, the ingress and potential queuing on the Bryant side 16
for the right turn and then the right out. Going to the Emerson side I think I would… I think that 17
needs to be… the queuing on the Emerson side needs to be reevaluated. I… there was one 18
member of the public that identified very clearly what I observe at that intersection which is 19
human behavior doesn’t match your transportation model. That is a very tricky intersection to 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
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turn right on. It is a blind turn and I don’t think we’re going to see… I think we’re going to see an 1
increased level of delay there. They may back up into the garage so I think it may require even a 2
more finessed approach. So, I think that needs to be reevaluated perhaps with a higher level of 3
tolerance on the turning model. I don’t think that… I think it will be a Level of Service even 4
higher and it could be that a physical intervention on Embarcadero might be needed. So, some 5
type of exclusive turn pocket to where there’s away… and I don’t know and this would just kind 6
of focus… design this now. It could be that there needs to be some work done with that corner 7
neighbor because there’s clearly an amount of space to be able to do a mitigation there. So, I 8
just think that needs a lot more work. 9
10
I think the other thing I’ll just go back too. One thing if you look at, again focusing on queuing 11
back onto Emerson if you go back and look at the bicycle traffic on Emerson. Even down closer 12
towards Oregon Express Way, it’s actually quite significant and so I think we’d want to consider 13
kind of the ripple effects that will happen. Particularly if there are people that are not picking 14
up and dropping up through this underground queuing area. It could be that we need more 15
mitigations that actually are further down on Emerson; whether or not they’re actual speed 16
tables. So elevated speed tables or they’re pinch points similar to what we have on the bicycle… 17
you know the bicycle boulevard. And I believe I think that’s Seal where there’s the constrained 18
and kind of the pinch point where you can’t get through. But those types of interventions are 19
things that I think we need to consider given the ripple effects and given what we’re seeing in 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
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terms of the volumes that are probably coming to this destination. They’re also going to other 1
places in the City. So again, considering physical… I think the general principle is looking at 2
physical interventions and physical planning as a potential mitigation measure. They’re not just 3
the magic wand of TDM which again, it’s working but I think that we’re going to have to have 4
some physical interventions here. That’s it. Commissioner Alcheck [note – Vice-Chair]. 5
6
Vice-Chair Alcheck: I’m going to… I just need a couple more minutes. Come back to me. 7
8
Chair Riggs: Alright, yes so Commissioner Roohparvar. 9
10
Commissioner Roohparvar: I echo Commissioner Templeton’s sentiments as we need more 11
data on enrollment and how it relates to traffic. You know things like the break down of 12
students, the CAP, is it going to be they can increase at any grade level, is it going to be juniors 13
and seniors that are driving? How does that relate? 14
15
Also, it’d be helpful to have more information as to whether you’ve studied the Stanford GUP 16
and the impact of that. 17
18
One thing I was maybe confused about in terms of queuing. It seems like you have one… and 19
maybe I’m incorrect but this is how I understand it. You have one lane coming in, it breaks out 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
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into three lanes, one lane going out, but you have parking spots off of that drop off isle. So are 1
cars coming in and then waiting for other cars to come out and park there because that is going 2
to impact the queuing time. I don’t know if that was considered but that jumped out at me. 3
4
A bit more discussion on the no increase on the number of trips or not a significant impact on 5
the number of trips. I need more clarity on that. 6
7
It would be helpful to have any sort of analysis on (interrupted) 8
9
Mr. Lait: I’m sorry Commissioner, over here, what was that last comment? 10
11
Commissioner Roohparvar: [unintelligible] 12
13
Mr. Lait: No, no, just what was that… I missed that last comment. 14
15
Commissioner Roohparvar: Oh, the increase in the number of trips? I was a bit confused as 16
there’s been talk about there’s going to be no increase to the number of trips. Is that true or 17
not? I need a little bit more clarity on where we are on that. 18
19
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
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provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
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3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
And then I think that’s it and just to make sure that traffic counts were during the time when 1
school was in session that’s considered too. I don’t have any other comments. 2
3
Chair Riggs: Oh, sorry. 4
5
Commissioner Lauing: Am I on? 6
7
Chair Riggs: I’m falling asleep, sorry. Commissioner Lauing, I apologize. 8
9
Commissioner Lauing: Pass the caffeine to that Chairmen. 10
11
Chair Riggs: Figuratively falling asleep on the job. 12
13
Commissioner Lauing: Yeah, I’m glad it turned out, I’m almost last because one of the things 14
that I wanted to underscore here increase it wasn’t obvious is that Casti [note -Castilleja] is just 15
a wonderful educational institution. Great academics led by great teachers. I know this inside 16
out because my daughter was in the middle school there and spent a year in high school after 17
that. 18
19
Chair Riggs: Commissioner Lauing we’re going to keep to the (interrupted) 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
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3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
1
Commissioner Lauing: Yeah, we are. I’m going on an (interrupted) 2
3
Chair Riggs: Alright I think our attorney is advising you (interrupted) 4
5
Ms. Lee: Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just wanted to keep at a minimum sentiment about how 6
wonderful the applicant is or how not wonderful they are just because the body will be sitting 7
as an (interrupted) 8
9
Commissioner Lauing: I’m trying to take this issue off the table is my point. 10
11
Mr. Lait: (off mic) Yeah don’t, just [unintelligible] (interrupted) 12
13
Ms. Lee: Please don’t, yeah. 14
15
Chair Riggs: I think you should listen to your [unintelligible]. Thank you. 16
17
Commissioner Lauing: Anyway, what I want to say is that the… there’s no question about the 18
mission of the school. The question is about the particular problems that are being caused by 19
the particular form of the application so… and I’m not going to repeat anything. I think there’s 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
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high agreement from the three Commissioners, four Commissioners I’ve heard speak. I’m not 1
going to repeat that other than just emphasize a couple points. The traffic that’s here is not 2
Casti’s [note – Castilleja] fault. The point is that the proposal adds to the existing problem so it’s 3
not as if they were going to do this expansion 50-years ago, we’re doing it now. So, it creates a 4
bigger problem here and that’s a controllable variable by which I mean that this is not 5
something that has to be done. This is an option for the City to discuss. 6
7
So, going with a couple points that weren’t mentioned precisely. I don’t agree that there’s a 8
carte blanche pass, A+ pass on analysis relative to the Comp Plan. I mean I think a number of 9
these tree things are actually quite in violation of some of those things. Policy N-29, I won’t go 10
into details, but it says preserve trees and all this stuff and minimize damage and this project 11
right now is not minimizing damage. So, I wouldn’t give… the EIR I don’t think is accurate in that 12
regard. 13
14
I do think you should take a look at other things which is construction damage that might occur 15
after 3 ½-years of work. 16
17
And we definitely need more traffic counts, the grade crossings as was mentioned. So, here’s 18
where at this point on this draft it rolls up for me. Fundamentally, the Council has to make a 19
_______________________
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decision about compelling benefits to citizens. I think this thing needs to be fixed to give more 1
specifics and guidance to all of us; all the Commissions and the Council. 2
3
And I think that because the Council needs to see benefits one of the things that we have to 4
look at a little bit closer is alternatives. If we look at the current enrollment at about 25 percent 5
is Pally… sorry is Palo Alto girls then if 100 students do come in, there’s 25 girls that… for Pally… 6
from Palo Alto that are going to get in so that’s a benefit. I don’t know if there’s any more 7
benefits than that but I think one of the things we should look at, as a group, and this is going to 8
require incremental flexibility on the part of the applicant. Is to consider some other 9
alternatives than the three that were suggested in there as back up plans for all of us and 10
ultimately the Council to look at. And the one I would suggest would basically be what I’d call 11
an Alternative 1A which is… we know what one is which is do nothing. I’m not suggesting that 12
that is the right alternative. Tonight, wouldn’t be the night to suggest that anyway but if you 13
use that as a base and look at a much lower impact remodel than a complete rebuild and add 14
some students instead of 100. That would just have another approach to things, otherwise, we 15
might be looking at a… it might be looking at an all or nothing approach to Council on the 16
existing things. I would just encourage the EIR to give more alternatives that are realistic. The 17
ones that were rejected… there is this CEQA thing that’s noted on 13.6 that EIR can… CEQA 18
guidelines provide that reasons to eliminate potential alternatives can include failure to meet 19
the most basic project objectives. And most of the alternatives that were rejected as noted by 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
the writer of this were because they didn’t meet the chosen objectives which was the growth in 1
enrollment as requested by Castilleja. So that’s why there’s not many alternatives in here right 2
now which is why if we’re going to put in more alternatives there has to be a level of 3
cooperation to get it there. 4
5
So, I look forward to seeing a revised draft. 6
7
Chair Riggs: Alright Commissioner Alcheck [note -Vice-Chair]. 8
9
Vice-Chair Alcheck: Ok, well first I just want to say thanks for this draft. I thought it was really 10
informative. I’m generally satisfied and I want to echo many of the comments that fellow 11
Commissioners made. 12
13
I’ll reemphasize that I also struggled with Impact 4.2. I wanted to understand a little bit how… 14
maybe in the follow-up, you can address how a conclusion… how you relate an existing CUP in 15
that sort of framework if that makes any sense. How… can a sort of similar CUP from a use 16
perspective create a significant and unavoidable impact if the use is the same as the existing 17
CUP? So that… I’d like to see some more elaboration there. 18
19
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
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provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
And then I’ll dip my toe in a transportation question here. Does… do you as a consultant 1
evaluate alternative queuing options than… I think at one point you had suggested… it may not 2
have been you. At one point you had suggested that 16 cars can queue up in the two-lanes in 3
the 200-feet that are under the thing. Is there an alternative loop that can be designed in that 4
same space that would allow for 24 cars? I’m… so I was sort of curious to know if that was 5
something you had evaluated or if it’s something you can look into? 6
7
Ms. Waugh: Yeah, that’s not something that we specifically evaluated. You know the findings 8
were that there was significant room in the garage for the necessary amount of queuing. So 9
that’s… so typically we don’t start redesigning it if we haven’t found a specific problem with it 10
but we can certainly look at that as we evaluate all the full body of comments and provide 11
additional information. 12
13
Vice-Chair Alcheck: I mention this only because I think to some extent not understanding sort of 14
the strategy of the use makes it, I imagine, harder to evaluate the impact. By way of example, I 15
think at another site in our community there’s a single lane of traffic for a local school and they 16
actually double up the cars in that single-lane. So, it’s not two-lanes of traffic even, it’s a single-17
lane and they double up the cars in advance of pickup. So, I think pickup is let’s say at 3:15, cars 18
begin to queue up as early as 3:00 and they pull all these cars off the street right away. So that 19
they are not essentially waiting for the school to get dismissed and they are able to take off 24 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
cars sort of immediately. So, I imagine that maybe… I assume that the applicant has spent time 1
and energy trying to figure out the most efficient use of that space but it would be I think 2
beneficial to understand if there is a strategy. 3
4
Another question that I had was does the… do you as a consultant, are you made aware of for 5
example a bifurcated pickup? Like, are under… are certain grades picked up between 3:00 and 6
3:15 and other grades are picked up between 3:15 and 3:30 and so there’s sort of a different 7
intensity. It’s not necessarily all 400 and something students. It’s smaller amounts. 8
9
Ms. Waugh: Yeah, that’s definitely a strategy that’s used. If you’ve got one school that serves 10
multiple grade levels or two schools in close proximity to each other, perhaps operated by the 11
same district. 12
13
Vice-Chair Alcheck: So, is that something they communicate and then that becomes apart of 14
your analysis or? 15
16
Ms. Waugh: Yeah, that’s something that we can… that’s a typical mitigation strategy. 17
18
Vice-Chair Alcheck: Ok. 19
20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
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3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
Chair Riggs: (off mic) It’s not in the analysis? 1
2
Vice-Chair Alcheck: But it’s not in this analysis. 3
4
Chair Riggs: [unintelligible – speaking off mic] 5
6
Vice-Chair Alcheck: Ok. 7
8
Ms. Waugh: We did? Yeah, I believe that… I don’t remember the details off the top of my head. 9
I can look them up for you but we do have some discussion in here about staggering drop off 10
and pick up for the different grade levels that Castilleja serves. 11
12
Vice-Chair Alcheck: Ok I’m… ok, I was just sort of curious. That’s… ok, yeah that’s… I look 13
forward… I think there were a lot of great comments. I just look forward to those responses in 14
the final draft. 15
16
Chair Riggs: Alright I want to go back. Commissioner Summa do you have anything else? Ok and 17
then feel… anyone else feel free to prepare anything else. 18
19
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
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Commissioner Summa: Thank you so I did want to ask Staff, Mr. Borock I think he’s gone, was 1
concerned that didn’t follow the timing of the DEIR correctly. Do we have… could you comment 2
on that? Is there something that should have been done differently legally per CEQA or did he 3
just think it needed more time? I was kind of unclear. 4
5
Mr. Lait: Yeah, I mean I could be wrong on this but I… my recollection of his comments where 6
that the date that we scheduled this meeting before the Planning and Transportation 7
Commission did not shift even though our release date of the document did. And we feel 8
though that we’ve given the Commission… you know we wanted to strive for about a month to 9
give you a chance to review the document and I feel like we’ve achieved that with our release 10
and this hearing. It may be off by a couple of days but there’s certainly nothing in proper about 11
(interrupted) 12
13
Commissioner Summa: Ok so there’s not a 45-day requirement? 14
15
Mr. Lait: Well there is a 45-day minimum requirement for the document to be available to the 16
public (interrupted) 17
18
Commissioner Summa: Right. 19
20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
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Mr. Lait: But we’ve done a 60-day or we are doing a 60-day so we are exceeding the 1
requirement by (interrupted) 2
3
Commissioner Summa: But there’s not a 45-day requirement between the Notice of Release 4
and when this meeting should have taken place (interrupted) 5
6
Mr. Lait: No, that’s (interrupted) 7
8
Commissioner Summa: Is my question. 9
10
Mr. Lait: That’s is… that’s correct. 11
12
Commissioner Summa: Ok. 13
14
Mr. Lait: We do not have that requirement. 15
16
Commissioner Summa: I just wanted to check on that and I just finally wanted to associate my 17
comments with what I believe Commissioner Lauing said. That I think we could… my preference 18
would be to do some more work on this DEIR and then get it out again with some of the 19
requested information. Thank you. 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
1
Chair Riggs: Alright, I don’t see any other comments. I think we’re probably good on this end. I 2
think I want to just thank everyone for coming out. Other than that, that probably concludes 3
this item. Alright, thank you, folks. 4
5
Commission Action: No action was taken by the Commission. 6
7
Approval of Minutes 8
Public Comment is Permitted. Five (5) minutes per speaker.1,3 9
3. June 12, 2019 Draft PTC Meeting Minutes 10
Chair Riggs: So, we still have approval of the minutes. Can I get a move of approval? 11
12
MOTION 13
14
Commissioner Summa: I’ll move approval. 15
16
Chair Riggs: Thank you. Do I have a second approval of minutes? 17
18
SECOND 19
20
Commissioner Roohparvar: I’ll second. 21
22
Chair Riggs: Alright so that was Summa/Roohparvar. 23
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
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1
MOTION PASSED 6-0-1 WITH COMMISSIONER WALDFOGEL ABSENT 2
Commission Action: Motion to approve the June 12, 2019 meeting minutes made by 3
Commissioner Summa, seconded by Commissioner Roohparvar. Motion passed 6-0-1. 4
Committee Items 5
Commissioner Questions, Comments or Announcements 6
7
Chair Riggs: Anything… any announcements, any feedback from Ventura before the Ventura 8
meeting? Hey folks, if you could just take your conversations out to the front area that would 9
be great. We still have a couple things to deal with. Thank you. 10
11
Commissioner Summa: I’ll be brief and that is about the North Ventura CAP is that Staff 12
contacted I believe every member of the North Ventura CAP to have a meeting with them to 13
check-in (interrupted) 14
15
Chair Riggs: Hey folks, we still have a meeting going on. 16
17
Commissioner Summa: To check-in and see how things were going. And you heard from the 18
Director that they’re going… Staff is going back to Council on the 19th or the 20th, I forget, 19th 19
to suggest… to give them an update and ask for more time in the process. So, and then we have 20
a regular NV CAP meeting the 21st I think. So, I guess they had a successful meeting with all the 21
members so good for them. 22
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1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
1
Chair Riggs: Alright, anybody else? Alright, any announcements from Staff or Jonathan anything 2
else on your end? Alright, ok, well we did well. Nice work everybody. It’s 10:22 and I think we’re 3
adjourned. 4
5
Commissioner Lauing: How about next month? Do we have to talk about [unintelligible – 6
crosstalk] 7
8
Chair Riggs: So, we actually… we have another meeting this month. 9
10
Commissioner Lauing: Yeah, that’s what I meant, next meeting. 11
12
Chair Riggs: So, I believe in 2-weeks and we’re going to have tentatively… ok, so we aren’t 13
adjourned yet but just tentatively it's going to be a transportation update from Chantel who’s 14
leading up the Transportation Division currently. And so that will include I believe some stuff 15
about what’s coming out about the rail crossing issues. Anything else? I mean other… do we 16
have [unintelligible] that meeting? 17
18
Mr. Jonathan Lait, Director of Planning and Development Services: No, I… there may be one 19
other minor item on there but what I want to do is get the Commission sort of a schedule for 20
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
the rest of the year. Some things that we’re looking at so that you have a sense for what’s 1
coming. Some dates may shift a little bit but I want to sort of giving you the bigger picture of 2
where we’re going. I’ll be working on that for you next time. 3
4
Chair Riggs: Magnifico. Alright, is that good? Alright so it’s now 10:23, we’re adjourned. 5
6
Adjournment 7
10:23 pm 8
_______________________
1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at
the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair,
provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually.
2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers.
3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers.
Palo Alto Planning & Transportation Commission 1
Commissioner Biographies, Present and Archived Agendas and Reports are available online: 2
http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/gov/boards/ptc/default.asp. The PTC Commission members are: 3
4
Vice-Chair Michael Alcheck 5
Commissioner Ed Lauing 6
Chair William Riggs 7
Commissioner Giselle Roohparvar 8
Commissioner Doria Summa 9
Commissioner Carolyn Templeton 10
Commissioner Asher Waldfogel 11
Get Informed and Be Engaged! 12
View online: http://midpenmedia.org/category/government/city-of-palo-alto or on Channel 26. 13
14
Show up and speak. Public comment is encouraged. Please complete a speaker request card 15
located on the table at the entrance to the Council Chambers and deliver it to the Commission 16
Secretary prior to discussion of the item. 17
18
Write to us. Email the PTC at: Planning.Commission@CityofPaloAlto.org. Letters can be 19
delivered to the Planning & Community Environment Department, 5th floor, City Hall, 250 20
Hamilton Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94301. Comments received by 2:00 PM two Tuesdays preceding 21
the meeting date will be included in the agenda packet. Comments received afterward through 22
2:00 PM the day of the meeting will be presented to the Commission at the dais. 23
24
Material related to an item on this agenda submitted to the PTC after distribution of the 25
agenda packet is available for public inspection at the address above. 26
Americans with Disability Act (ADA) 27
It is the policy of the City of Palo Alto to offer its public programs, services and meetings in a 28
manner that is readily accessible to all. Persons with disabilities who require materials in an 29
appropriate alternative format or who require auxiliary aids to access City meetings, programs, 30
or services may contact the City’s ADA Coordinator at (650) 329-2550 (voice) or by emailing 31
ada@cityofpaloalto.org. Requests for assistance or accommodations must be submitted at least 32
24 hours in advance of the meeting, program, or service. 33