Palo Vol. XXXIV, Number 52 N September 27, 2013 Alto City looks for more downtown parking www.PaloAltoOnline.com Page 5 Under one roof Palo Alto’s multigenerational families follow a national trend PAGE 25 Spectrum 14 Transitions 17 Eating 21 Movies 23 Puzzles 48 NArts What does California sound like? Page 18 NHome En route to ‘net zero’ energy Page 29 NSports Stanford baseball coach retires Page 50 Open House | Sat. & Sun. | 1:30 – 4:30 27950 Roble Alto Drive, Los Altos Hills $3,995,000 Beds 5 | Baths 5.5 | Offices 2 | Garage 3 Car | Palo Alto Schools Home ~ 4,565 sq. ft. | Lot ~ 46,130 sq. ft. video tour | www.schoelerman.com Jackie Richard 650-855-9700 650-566-8033 [email protected] [email protected] BRE # 01092400 BRE # 01413607 www.schoelerman.com Atherton Estate 147 Patricia Drive, Atherton 147patricia.com Offered at $7,750,000 Bedrooms 6 | Bathrooms 5.5 Home ±5,765 sf | Lot ±1.07 Acres Michael Dreyfus, Broker Summer Brill, Sales Associate Noelle Queen, Sales Associate 650.485.3476 650.701.3263 650.427.9211 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] BRE 01121795 BRE 01891857 BRE 01917593 Downtown Palo Alto Sand Hill Road dreyfussir.com 728 Emerson Street, Palo Alto 2100 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park )EGL3J½GIMW-RHITIRHIRXP]3[RIH 650.644.3474 650.847.1141 ERH3TIVEXIH UpfrontLocal news, information and analysis City takes the ax to parking exemptions Palo Alto’s planning commission aims to require age more development downtown nate the exemptions. had a 10,000-square-foot lot, the more parking spaces downtown and in the California Avenue busi- The effort to make the code developer would not be required ness district. Now, with the local changes kicked off in earnest a to provide any parking spots for by Gennady Sheyner economy booming and develop- little more than a year ago, when the first 10,000 square feet of the ith downtown’s parking mission took aim at the latter as it ment activity on the rise, few feel the City Council approved a one- new building. On Wednesday, the woes on people’s minds, considered a staff proposal to elim- these incentives are still needed. year moratorium on the “floor-ar- commission voted 5-0, with Com- W Palo Alto officials are inate numerous exemptions that “A lot of development is hap- ea parking exemption” downtown missioners Eduardo Martinez and scouring far and wide for solu- allow developers to provide fewer pening downtown and parking and around California Avenue. Greg Tanaka absent, to extend this tions, from large new parking parking spaces than will be needed issues are at the forefront of the The exemption had allowed de- moratorium indefinitely. structures to the fine print in the by their buildings’ tenants. public conversation now,” Interim velopers to reduce the amount of Commissioners also supported city’s Municipal Code. Many of these exemptions were Planning Director Aaron Aknin parking they provided, based on a removing other exemptions, in- On Wednesday night, the city’s born in the mid-1980s, when the said at Wednesday’s meeting, ex- formula related to square footage. Planning and Transportation Com- city revamped its code to encour- plaining staff’s proposal to elimi- For example, if the property ­VÌÕi`ÊÊ«>}iÊ® EDUCATION Student data indicates room for improvement New data shows certain Palo Alto Unified students are still falling behind by Elena Kadvany alo Alto Unified’s Academ- from 9,247 second through 11th ic Performance Index (API) graders who were tested. Santa P scores, gathered by the Cal- Clara County was also down one ifornia Department of Education, point and the state, two. indicates that the school district is Though Palo Alto ranked fifth making slower progress with some out of the top 10 unified school groups of students than others. districts in California, its sub- At Tuesday night’s school board group scores are not high across 6iÀV>Ê7iLiÀ meeting, the new data on student the board, as in other districts. achievement sparked debate about At Manhattan Beach Unified how much the district has been School District, ranked third out able to close its achievement gap. of the top 10, African American LaToya Baldwin, a representa- students score at 839, Asian at 968, tive from Parent Advocates for Hispanic or Latino at 901, white Andrew Swanson, new manager of the Palo Alto Municipal Airport, stands outside the air-traffic Student Success, criticized the at 938, socioeconomically disad- control tower overlooking the runway in September. board, asking why the district vantaged at 859 and students with hasn’t made more progress with disabilities at 778. Palo Alto is the disadvantaged students. only district in the top five with four TRANSPORTATION “I’m still trying to understand subgroups below the 800 mark. this idea that we should celebrate Demographic data was also what we’ve done,” she said. “The presented, showing that Palo Alto Palo Alto Airport gets ready to fly solo honest truth is that Palo Alto is Unified has higher percentages still doing really poorly by espe- of some of these subgroups than Sunday’s public Airport Day could be the last while under county control cially black students, Hispanic other higher performing districts. students and low socioeconomic- Nine percent of Palo Alto students by Eric Van Susteren status students.” are socioeconomically disadvan- ven as Palo Alto’s airport ty,” Lenox said. “The city has a which he says is sorely needed Within the world of API, the taged; none of the top four dis- risks losing $150,000 in much clearer vision and vested to repair the dips and potholes magic number is 800, which is the tricts break 4 percent. E Federal Aviation Adminis- interest in seeing the airport op- in its aging pavement. state’s standard for proficiency. Baldwin countered the idea that tration (FAA) grant money, one erated and run well.” “Reliever airports” like Palo Four subgroups within the Palo having a greater percentage of representative for the Palo Alto Santa Clara County runs Alto receive entitlement grants Alto school district have yet to disadvantaged students than other Airport Association said he is three airports: Palo Alto, Reed- from the FAA because they hit that mark: African American districts makes it more difficult to “cautiously optimistic” about Hillview in San Jose and South play an important role in reduc- students (761), Hispanic or Latino raise each group’s scores. the bustling airport’s future. County Airport in San Martin. ing congestion at larger nearby (795), socioeconomically disad- “We’re still really talking about Control of the Palo Alto Air- As the Palo Alto Airport is airports, such as San Francisco vantaged (768) and students with small numbers of kids,” she said. port on Embarcadero Road will managed now, it can become International. disabilities (734). “So 9 percent of whatever’s in Palo soon change hands from Santa mired in the financial and legal But the South County Air- All of those subgroups’ scores Alto versus 3 percent of whatever’s Clara County to the City of difficulties of the other two. port’s skydiving lawsuit has put did improve from last year. Stu- in another district; it’s not really Palo Alto, a shift that associa- A lawsuit between the South the county in noncompliance dents with disabilities had the that big of a difference.” tion Vice President Bob Lenox County Airport and Garlic City with the FAA, which makes greatest uptick — 31 points. She also argued that districts said is welcome. Lenox said he Skydivers, a skydiving opera- Palo Alto, as part of the county Asian and white students came with fewer disadvantaged kids feels the county doesn’t give tion seeking a permit to oper- system, ineligible for the grant. out well above 800. Asian stu- might actually have a harder time the airport the management it ate out of the airport, is a prime “It’s frustrating to be that dents’ score is 976 and white stu- reaching them and providing them deserves compared to the other example, Lenox said. It may close and lose it at the last min- dents’ 941. with necessary services. airports it runs. prevent the Palo Alto Airport The district’s overall API score Board members were quick to It’s the “stepchild of the coun- from getting a $150,000 grant, ­VÌÕi`ÊÊ«>}iÊ£ä® for 2013 is 932, down one point from last year. The number comes ­VÌÕi`ÊÊ«>}iÊ££® ÜÜÜ°*>Ì"i°VÊUÊ*>ÊÌÊ7iiÞÊUÊ-i«ÌiLiÀÊÓÇ]ÊÓä£ÎÊU Page 5 Upfront 450 Cambridge Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94306 QUOTE OF THE WEEK (650) 326-8210 PUBLISHER William S. Johnson (223-6505) EDITORIAL Editor Jocelyn Dong (223-6514) Associate Editor Carol Blitzer (223-6511) Sports Editor Keith Peters (223-6516) Express & Online Editor Eric Van Susteren (223-6515) If you want to build it, you need Arts & Entertainment Editor Rebecca Wallace (223-6517) to park it. Assistant Sports Editor Rick Eymer (223-6521) Spectrum Editor Tom Gibboney (223-6507) — Jeff Levinsky, a Palo Alto resident, on his Staff Writers Sue Dremann (223-6518), Chris guideline for developers who don’t provide enough Kenrick (223-6512), Gennady Sheyner (223-6513) Editorial Assistant/Intern Coordinator parking for their buildings. See story on page 3. Elena Kadvany (223-6519) Staff Photographer Veronica Weber (223-6520) Contributors Andrew Preimesberger, Dale F. Bentson, Peter Canavese, Kit Davey, Tyler Hanley, Iris Harrell, Sheila Himmel, Chad Jones, Karla Kane, Kevin Kirby, Terri Lobdell, Jack McKinnon, Jeanie K. Smith, Susan Tavernetti Intern Alexandra Armas Around Town PALO ALTO: ELECTRIC STAR ..