HomeMy WebLinkAbout0529.093october 7, 1993
THE HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL
PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA
LVJZ 1QRi) EGalsS '1'0 MAYBELL
Kembers of the Council:
This rep¢rt is for informational purposes only; no council action
is required~
For some months City staff has been 'Working witn Lutz Ford,
surrounding residents, and the adjacent property owners {Chez Louis
site) to resolve an access easement issue critical to Lutz pord's
service operations. presently, vehicles seI',\riced by Lutz Ford exit
the back of their site through the parking lot behind Chez Louis to
Maybell Avenue. That arrangement has been facilitated by a private
agreement between th~ owners and lessees of the respective
properties.
Hovever, re-use of the Chez Louis site is being actively pursued by
both the property owner and tenant. If the chez Louis property
were to redevelop, egress through that site for Lutz Ford would he
jeopardized.. Lutz maintains that the narrow El Camino Real
frontage and single driveway to Lutz are insufficient to
accommodate both sales and service operations easily. Staff
recognizes tbe constraints of a single driveway serving the site,
particularly since vehicles being serviced are frequently test
driven by the mechanic after the work is performed.
On September 1, 1993, members of City statf met ~ith the owners and
manager of Lutz Ford and the adjacent Chez Louis si~e. The purpose
of the meeting was to discuss a proposal from Lutz Ford to allow
Lutz: to joint.ly use the City's access easement, from the rear of
the L'lItz Ford parcel through the City's Mayhell substation and
across the rear of the Chez Louis site to Maypell t for egress of
vehicles serviaed by Lutz. The City-ownea portion of the proposed
driveway easement is located at the rear of the Maybell electric
power substation. The remaining portion of the easement, to ~hich
the City has non-exclusive rights to use for access to the
substation, is located at the rear of the parcel behind Chez Louis
restaurant~ Rights to use that portion of the driveway from the
Substation to Maybell must be granted by the property owner and
lessee (Walt Harrington and Louis Serel, respectively} of the
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parcel behind the Chez Louis site. In summary, ~hile the City has
the lE::gal right to use the drive'Way across the Harrington property,
the city cannot grant sucn use to a third party.
In conjunction with the use of the entire driveway, Lutz Ford has
expressed a willinqness to install a sound barrier (fencing or
'Wall) and landscaping abutting the adjacent single family homes,
and maintain the driveway surtace. The easement would be used only
by Lutz employees, and venicular t~ips 'Would not exceed fifty per
day. Exiting vehicles would turn right onto Maybell, avoiding the
residential neighborhood along Maybell Avenue.
Neither the owner nor the tenant of the Che2 Louis site object in
principle to the Lutz ford proposal. However, they would like to
neqotiate an agreement in conjunction ~ith e development proposal
on their own site. They contend that attempts to market the
property for retail commerciul use have been hampered by the ~ 15
zoning on the rear portion of the site. The small size of that
parcel would permit only eight townhouse style units; and the
project ~ould be located adjacent to a car dealership, an unknown
retail coll'tlllercial u::oe, and a City-owned pover su'"o:ls-tation. In
particular, the owner questions the desirability of a r~sidential
use adjacent to the subst~tion. Given planned and e~isting use of
surroundinq properties, the difficulty in mitigating noise fro~ the
substation, and the current-debate an electromaqn~tic fields, staff
agrees with the property owner that residential use on the rear
portion of the site may not be suitable.
staff advised the owner {Harrin9~on} that a Co~prehensive Plan and
zoning change would have to be initi&ted, in order to market the
entire site for commercial use. The O"Wner is reluctant., ho-weve.r,
to initiate such an action outside of the Comprehensive Plan update
process without some Council indication of rec~ptivity to the
application. Staff supports removing the residential designation
on the r~ar parcel, and the creation of an access to Maybell fro~
the. Lutz site throuqh the Cit,y's substation site and the property
to the rear of Chez Louis. Absent different direction from the
Council, staff will advise the applicant to submit such an
application for a change from Multiple-Family to Commercial on the
rear portion of the propert}·.
Staff will also continue to work with Lutz Ford and the adjacent
property owners, inclUding single family r~sidents and the Barron
Park A$sociation, to ~itigate issues related to vehicular access
along the rear portion of the site. Architectural Review Boa~d
approval would be required for the final wall and landscapinq
design prior to city council approval of an access agreement~
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RespeetfQlly sUbmitted,
bl L,J~~,
CAROL L. JAlIS"£l-i
Manager, Economic Resources Planning
B~~ARD M. STROJNY
Assistant City Manager
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