By Linda Taaffe

Sharing living space with shops, offices and restaurants isn’t something many would expect to find in a quaint town like Los Altos where residents take pride in the community’s rural character.

Take a closer look - the city is poised to review its third major mixed-use project in the past two years, which combines housing with office and retail space at the corner of First Street and Edith Avenue. The project will update the main post office and add nearly 16,000 square feet of office space, a park and 20 condominiums, including two below-market-rate units, and a 158-space, multilevel parking structure to downtown. A hotel with street-level shops is planned for the other end of First at the corner of Main Street. At the south end of town near Loyola Corners, developers have broken ground on a project that combines office space with housing.

The combined projects will bring 113 hotel and housing units and possibly more than 300 parking spaces to the city on about 91,800 square feet of land. These modern versions of the apartment-above-the-shop arrangement traditionally found in older cities are making a come back in suburban areas nationwide to lessen the impact of urban sprawl. Today’s developers call these projects “smart growth.”

Efficient land use

Combining residential and commercial space is a more efficient use of land and puts homes near businesses, which keeps people out of their cars, said local developer Wayne Aozasa, who grew up in Los Altos.

“Because of the scarcity of available land, you don’t want to waste it. You want to use every inch of land you can,” Aozasa said. “People like to live where they shop. The goal is to create a pedestrian-friendly environment.”

Reports from the non-profit Urban Land Institute revealed that mixed-use developments are breathing new life into downtown areas nationwide by enriching a community’s economic base and promoting a vital sidewalk presence. Some projects have cut the number of car trips by 10 percent to 20 percent compared to typical residential developments because residents can walk to work or to the store.

Safety is another benefit, developers say. Housing creates a 24-hour presence in downtown areas.

Such buildings are characteristically oriented around the pedestrian experience with sidewalks that link shops and add more parking.

“Even before ’smart growth’ became a popular term as a result of suburban sprawl, traffic congestion and the need for affordable housing, this type of urban development has been widely supported,” said Community Development Director James Walgren. “People enjoy the European character of a San Francisco or a Manhattan where your land uses are integrated and residents can walk from their home to work or the market.”

Space solutions

Nearly every Bay Area city has some sort of zoning ordinances to allow mixed-use projects in their general plan. In Los Altos, mixed-use projects can provide solutions for the city’s parking and housing crunch.

Parking has become such a premium downtown, the Los Altos City Council is scheduled to decide next month on a permit parking plan for the downtown plazas that would require employees in that area to purchase permits for all-day parking. The goal is to free spaces from employees outside the district who use the parking spaces.

Areas for new housing are difficult to find there, too. Under state law, Los Altos must add 114 below-market-rate housing units by 2006.

Projects like the one the city is considering for the post office site can add both of these in a limited space.

“It is refreshing to see a plan that incorporates so many aspects … and manages to maintain parking for all employees, residences and additional parking for patrons,” said Amy Randazzo, president of the Los Altos Village Association, about the post office project.

Julie Rose, president of the Chamber of Commerce, said she was “favorably impressed with the (post office project) concept … adding 20 new housing units in the downtown core is a very positive effort.”

Historically allowed

Mixed-use projects have been allowed in all of Los Altos’ commercial districts since the city wrote its zoning regulations in the 1950s. There are housing units above stores in the downtown area as well as shops sharing buildings with office space. City law requires that retail space be on the bottom level and office space be above the street in some areas.

Changes in city laws have made it easier for developers to build such projects. The Los Altos City Council approved a new housing plan last year that identifies more than 80 sites where state-mandated housing units potentially could be added to the city’s inventory.

Walgren said building height and floor area ratio regulations are in place to restrict the size of projects in some districts, including downtown. Housing is on the second floor in all of the city’s commercial districts with the exception of El Camino Real. The city allows housing-only projects and housing on the ground floor as part of a mixed-use project along El Camino, he said.

“El Camino is one area where the city can provide the density and affordability of housing required by state law,” Walgren said.

The area provides the best opportunity to do mixed-use projects, since there are fewer restrictions in the commercial thoroughfare zoning regulations and developers may build to three stories, Walgren said. The city updated its plan to specifically encourage mixed-use projects along El Camino - preferably projects that maintain a strong retail component at the street level with housing above or behind.

Barriers to mixed use

While a mixed-use development provides multiple community benefits, it can present challenges unlike those found in single-use projects. Funding, city zoning laws and community resistance can all become barriers.

The Urban Land Institute said several factors must be in place for such projects to be successful. The land costs can’t be prohibitively expensive and density is necessary.

Each step is complicated by the need to integrate different uses within the same development. Complications may arise with retail or restaurant tenants who need delivery areas or who have specific signage requirements that may be inconsistent with the look desired by other users.

Integrating uses and providing parking are two tough issues when dealing with mixed-use, Aozasa said. The level of difficulty depends a lot on the city in which a developer is working.

The economy, zoning laws and community perceptions have all had an effect on the hotel project that Palo Alto developer Roxy Rapp is building at First and Main streets.

Height regulations made it difficult to include a third story on the project - something Rapp said was vital to the economic feasibility of the project.

Resident concern about creating more traffic and adding too much activity to the .78-acre lot created some delays. And recently, the sluggish economy has affected the project’s timeline.

Rapp said during his meetings with the council, public input ultimately led to an improved project. The hotel concept was approved with much community support last year but is temporarily on hold due to the down economy, his assistant said last week.

Urban designer David Gates, who developed the city’s Downtown Urban Design Plan, said “Intensity is important” for the city’s gateways.

He said such developments should create “synergy” downtown by adding a variety of activities that could help other downtown activities.

“You will get vital uses in a part of town that doesn’t get much use,” he said.