Atherton sinks senior condos Atherton sinks senior condos (January 25, 2006)

By Andrea Gemmet

Almanac Staff Writer

If any Atherton residents approaching their golden years are hoping to retire to a condominium complex near the Atherton train station, they weren't at last week's Atherton City Council meeting.

In November, Skip and Linda Law proposed building perhaps 40 condominiums above a new town hall and police station on about an acre of town land between the Caltrain station parking lot and the Atherton administrative offices.

The town would get larger, updated facilities, and seniors wanting to downsize wouldn't have to move out of Atherton, they told the council.

The proposal met a swift end at the January 18 council meeting. No one in the overflow crowd spoke in support of allowing multifamily housing for the first time in Atherton's history.

"I haven't found an older person who's in favor of it," said Councilwoman Kathy McKeithen. "If anything, they're more opposed to it than younger residents."

The Laws, Atherton residents who built the University Circle development in East Palo Alto, wanted permission to conduct feasibility studies before pursuing the condo project.

The studies would have been the first step down a long road of environmental studies and zoning changes before such a project could be approved, but council members, acknowledging overwhelming public sentiment, acted quickly to put the kibosh on the whole thing.

"I don't want the town to change, and I think it would with this," said Ms. McKeithen. "Under no circumstances should we spend any more time on this. It should be voted down this evening."

The council voted 3-1, with Jim Janz opposed, to reject an agreement allowing the feasibility studies.

Mr. Janz said he thought it was only fair for the council to give the Laws an opportunity to defend their project. They were unable to attend last week's meeting due to a family emergency, according to Mayor Charles Marsala.

Mr. Janz also mentioned Atherton's obligation under state law to provide more housing.

"Atherton is a built-out community. Any public land Atherton owns should be devoted to the public, and not pseudo-privatized as it would under this proposal," said Councilman Alan Carlson.

Atherton residents living nearest the proposed project organized into a group, the Central Atherton Residential Area, and circulated petitions opposing the senior condos.

Several people who spoke cited potential traffic problems and the precedent that such a project would set as their reasons for opposing it.

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