A proposed housing development at Palo Alto’s Town and Country Village shopping center hit a roadblock last Wednesday when the Planning and Transportation Commission split evenly on whether to recommend the project to the City Council. The 3-3 vote meant the commission failed to advance the proposal, which would transform an existing parking area into residential units.

Housing supply and affordability are a contentious and pressing issue in Palo Alto and the wider Bay Area. Research from the Californian Association of Realtors found that only 15% of households in the state can afford a median-priced home, and the median home price has increased 10% since 2023.

The Stormland Group, a land development firm, proposed the condominium project by Town and Country and has managed it since 2022. Stormland aims to use Palo Alto’s “planned home zoning” process to advance the project, which creates a pathway for residential developers to exceed zoning regulations if they allocate at least 20% of units to affordable housing.

Ed Storm, head of the Stormland Group, urged the Commission to support the recommendation. “We’re showing the path forward to put housing in a location that now is just parking cars,” Storm said. “This is a good chance not to stop something, but to move something forward, that shows the city really does care about housing.”

The plan faces staunch opposition, including from Ellis Partners, the owners of Town and Country, who condemned the proposal. 

“We believe the proposed development … would negatively impact the character of Town and Country Village,” Dean Rubinson of Ellis Partners wrote in a letter to the City Council. 

Randolph Popp, an architect contracted by Ellis Partners, said the proposal would create a lack of “harmonious transition” between the shopping center’s single-story Hacienda-style structure and the planned housing’s multi-story stucco construction. 

Ellis Partners’ lawyers also suggested in a letter that the plan violates the Palo Alto Comprehensive Plan, a document that generally governs the city’s infrastructure and land use. Specifically, they point to a policy which states that “conversion to residential capacity should not be considered in Town and Country Village.”

Since 2022, Stormland has reduced their plan for the condominium from five stories to three in response to the pushback, halving the proposed number of units from 20 to 10.

Jeffrey Galbraith, a representative of Stormland’s architects Hayes Group, presented an updated rendering of what the building would look like from inside Town and Country Village at Wednesday’s city council meeting. 

“We came away from this exercise, as did the [Architectural Review Board (ARB)], feeling like the scale of the project is very appropriate to Town and Country,” Galbraith said. He added that while the materials, palette and architectural style of the project would be different from Town and Country, the two would still be “compatible.”

Town and Country’s director of development Dean Rubinson remained dissatisfied with the new plan, saying that Stormland Group has not completely addressed the previous concerns.

Rubinson added that Ellis Partners are working on a counterproposal, a collaborative project which would “ensure operational compatibility with the existing and much-loved retail center and any future housing development.” Through negotiations with Stormland Group, the company aims to find a “holistic development solution,” Rubinson said.

The motion to recommend passing the project to the City Council ultimately failed, with Bryna Chang ’97, chair of the city council, and commissioners Kevin Ji ’21 and Doria Summa in opposition.

Summa expressed concerns over the building’s design affecting vehicular circulation, as well as a lack of cohesiveness between the property and Town and Country. Ji and Chang also pointed out a thin setback between the building and the property line, which could affect future adjacent properties.

“I understand that, geez, this really stinks for [Stormland Group] … but I’m a little stuck,” Chang said.