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Published on 06/02/1999 All articles from this issue

Council OK's study of downtown zoning

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By Joanne Griffith Domingue / Town Crier Staff Writer

The Los Altos City Council directed the city's planning staff to begin a study of uses in the downtown, focusing on Main and State streets. Also included will be a look at the downtown ambiance.

"I'm interested in the design issue," said Councilwoman Kris Casto. "It's just as critical as the use and mix, the streetscape and pedestrian feel," she said at the May 25 council meeting.

Initially the proposed study was to look at zoning issues regarding mailing services and other services downtown.

Cindie Eberhardt, vice president of the Los Altos Village Association, a downtown merchants' association, asked that the effort "be a comprehensive study, the most comprehensive study as possible. A zoning review has not been done in years," she said.

The council agreed and authorized a study of uses, not just services. The study will begin by the end of the year and continue into the fall of 2000, according to a timeline presented by the planning staff.

In the meantime, any owner who wants to open a business downtown, which is not specifically mentioned as a permitted use in the city's zoning code, must now go to the planning commission or the city council for approval.

In a 3-2 vote, the council took away the approval process from the staff, for businesses not specifically permitted, and put it into the hands of elected officials.

Casto, who opposed this move, said going only by the list is "really restrictive. There's no costume bank on the list. Does that mean we don't want the costume bank? There's no shop to sell telephones or medical supplies. You can sell computers but not software. The list is meant to be a guide, not an end all."

Julie Rose, president of the Los Altos Chamber of Commerce, said she was "concerned about the message to the business community. On the surface it looks to be very anti-business. Nowhere does the list say linens or lamp shops are OK. A lot of businesses downtown are not on the list."

Council concern about permitted uses for downtown businesses grew from a staff approval of Mail Boxes, Etc., to open at a Main Street location. Mailing services is not on the list of permitted uses.

But the planning staff, working with Doug Farnham of Mail Boxes, decided that the majority of the business is retail and business services, and thus approved the business.

Councilman Francis La Poll did not agree. "The list is the law," he said. "We should simply uphold the law."

The planning staff is scheduled to begin the downtown zoning review Dec. 1.