Neighbors wonder: How big will Stanford grow?
University plans to add 40 football fields worth of buildings
The long-tumultuous relationship between Stanford and Santa Clara County is facing new growing pains, as the esteemed university seeks permission, again, to expand.
Stanford aims to add about 40 football fields worth of academic buildings and enough beds to fill 17 Four Seasons hotels over the next two decades — construction it says is essential to keep its world- class stature as an engine of innovation.
But some neighbors and local officials fear worse traffic headaches and housing problems, adding that the university failed to meet the terms of a previous approval: declaring when all the growth will end.
“How big can they get? Will they someday stop?” asked Tina Peak, of Palo Alto, at a meeting last month at Palo Alto City Hall. “Or will they just come back every 15 years to build more millions of square feet?”
Stanford’s ultimate size — its so- called “maximum planned buildout potential,” an estimate that was required but never delivered in 2000 when it last pe- Hoover Tower is the centerpiece of the Stanford University campus. The university is seeking county permission to expand.
titioned the county to expand — “is information that would be important to have,” said county Supervisor Joe Simitian, who represents the region. Back then, after much debate, the county authorized construction of 2 million square feet and 3,000 housing units, the equivalent of three Stanford Shopping Centers.
Stanford says it is not reasonable to predict future growth beyond the year 2035, and that previous county leadership agreed. A 15- to 20-year time horizon is standard practice for cities and counties, said Stanford’s Jean McCown, associate vice president of Government and Community Relations.
“The idea that it could be for a very long time or even ‘ forever,’ as compared to the accepted planning horizons of 15, 20 and 25 years, does not make sense,” said McCown. Stanford’s future growth scenario is consistent with the current growth rate, she said.
“The Farm” has become an innovation machine, turning the once- sleepy Peninsula into an economic juggernaut. With half of its 8,100 acres in Santa Clara County, Stanford’s campus is the size of a small city and includes a major shopping center, research park, homes, schools and recreational facilities, in addition to open space. But it is exempt from paying most property taxes.
By the end of this next phase of development, Stanford will havemore than tripled its 1960 size, from 4 million tomore than 14million square feet — in addition to housing.
There’s one month left for community members to comment on a draft Environmental Impact Report, part of a so- called General Use Permit — essentially, Stanford’s permission slip from Santa Clara County to continue developing its property between 2018 and 2035.
The county rated four issues as “significant” in its report: construction noise, conservation of historic buildings, increased congestion on freeways and increased traffic on intersections.
Traffic would be most affected, it said, along already-congested routes: intersections along Foothill Expressway; the Page Mill Road “off-ramp” from southbound Interstate 280; and the intersection of Alma Street and Charleston Road.
After Dec. 4, the county’s report will be finalized and supervisors will vote on Stanford’s application.
Stanford’s plan envisions 2.3 million square feet of new academic buildings and up to 3,150 new housing units. There’s a strong focus on expanding postdoctoral research facilities, which could spur the creation of new Silicon Valley
tech companies.
Another 9,000 students, faculty and staff would be added to the campus. Currently, Stanford holds about 30,100 people.
The plan keeps development out of Stanford’s foothills and open spaces like The Arboretum, an issue that has been contentious on the Peninsula. Also, there is no new construction planned for the San Juan area of campus, a subdivision of elegant and historic faculty homes.
Instead, the university will develop its central campus more densely.
To accommodate this growth without adding traffic, Stanford plans to develop new transit programs. The university has achieved the “no net commute trips” terms of its 2000 permit, offering transit incentives, bike programs, bus fleets, steep parking fees and other programs. There’s been a decline in the number of people driving solo to Stanford.
New housing means that more students can live on campus, rather than adding to commute stress, Stanford says.
“I know 2 million square feet and 3,000 housing units can feel like a lot of development, but Stanford has a unique opportunity to address this in a successful way,” said Catherine Palter, Stanford’s associate vice president for land use and environmental planning.
Neighbors were relieved that the newplan doesn’t intrude into the serene foothills, and some welcomed the role that the university plays in the valley.
“I believe that Stanford has been a good neighbor, consistently responsible in dealing with the community around it,” said Hal Mickelson, a Palo Alto resident and retired Hewlett-Packard attorney.
Others were skeptical about promises of no new traffic.
Residents are already bracing for more congestion as the university finishes major expansions of its two hospitals. The 844,000- square- foot Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, slated to open in December, is double its original size. The new 824,000- square-foot Stanford Hospital, to open in 2019, will increase patient capacity to 600 beds, enlarge a Level-1 trauma center and offer an emergency department nearly three times the size of its current footprint.
“The hospitals haven’t even opened yet … and the quality of life is becoming extreme from transportation and housing problems,” said Alice Smith, of Palo Alto.
Meanwhile, the city of Palo Alto is struggling with its own congestion problems, with more jobs than available homes. The companies that lease space at Stanford Research Park are more densely packed with employees than in the past, residents said. They also worried about pending development in south Palo Alto, on the Fry’s Electronics site.
“Stanford is a great institution,” said Arthur Keller, a former member of Palo Alto’s Planning and Transportation Commission. “However, too much of a great thing is not good.”