Why Zoning Matters

By Val Carpenter

What you can build where in Los Altos—whether it’s your dream home, an apartment complex, condominiums or townhouses, a hotel, a continuing care retirement facility, a private school, a church, a retail store, or an office building—is determined by the Los Altos General Plan, the zoning ordinances in the Los Altos Municipal Code, any Specific Plans that have been adopted for that area, and the City’s Residential and Downtown Design Guidelines.

Other than single-story buildings, which are reviewed and approved by the City staff, and public schools, which aren’t subject to City review and approval, projects are also reviewed by the Planning Commission’s Architecture & Site Review Committee, and more complex projects are also reviewed by the entire Planning Commission and the City Council.

Why?

All of these documents and processes are designed to ensure that what gets built in Los Altos reflects what we collectively want our community to look like. Without them, property owners could, and likely would, build whatever they wanted, without any other considerations. What’s wrong with that?

Zoning is what controls aspects of buildings such as allowed uses (residential, commercial, etc.), height, number of stories, setbacks from property lines, lot coverage, and many other characteristics. Without zoning, for example, your neighbor could build a three- or four-story—or even taller—home, right up against your property line, with large windows and balconies on the upper stories overlooking your back yard, and no landscaping to give you privacy or screen their lights at night.

In fact, they could build . . . anything at all—an office building, a retail store, multi-family housing, a school, a church, and so on. Our zoning ordinances are what protect our privacy, which drove residents to incorporate the City of Los Altos nearly 60 years ago, as well as our property values, from “anything goes” development. 

The same is true for our commercial districts. Without zoning, property owners could, for example, build very tall buildings—such as the 15-story office building on University Avenue in downtown Palo Alto—with no dedicated parking. Our zoning ordinances and design guidelines provide specific and detailed guidance to property owners as well as our City staff, volunteer Planning Commissioners, and City Council to preserve our cherished village character throughout Los Altos.

Finding the right balance between community values and property owner desires isn’t easy. Los Altos has done a very good job in recent years of striking that balance in ways that serve our community as a whole, long-term. After all, buildings can last 50 years or more. Taking the time to get each individual structure right before it’s built is worth it, even if it delays a project.

It’s been my experience, on the City Council and before that on the Planning Commission, that projects which adhere to the zoning ordinances and design guidelines are quickly approved, while those that ignore them go through a lengthy process until the property owners modify their projects to align with community desires. To me, that demonstrates that the process is working to benefit all Los Altans, today and for decades to come.

Los Altos Mayor Val Carpenter previously served on the Los Altos Historical and Planning Commissions.

 

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