City keeps door open for megacompounds

Palo Alto’s City Council voted on April 13 to drop a proposed crackdown on large private residential compounds and study narrower citywide rules instead. (padailypost.com) The rejected proposal from Vice Mayor Greer Stone and Councilmember Keith Reckdahl would have set construction time limits, occupancy requirements and security-guard licensing rules for owners with more than three properties on one block. It also would have let neighbors sue over violations. (padailypost.com) Instead, the council directed attention to broader rules on construction impacts and vacant homes across Palo Alto, after several members said the original approach singled out a small set of owners and raised property-rights concerns. Councilmember Pat Burt called that approach “legally questionable,” and Councilmember Ed Lauing said he worried about infringing on private property rights. (padailypost.com) The fight grew out of Crescent Park, where Mark Zuckerberg has spent more than $110 million assembling 11 homes over roughly a decade, according to local reporting cited by council critics and supporters. Residents told the council the block has seen years of remodeling, private security and vacant houses tied to the buildup. (paloaltoonline.com; patch.com) Palo Alto’s debate also sits on top of California’s Senate Bill 9, the 2021 law that lets qualifying single-family lots be split and developed ministerially, meaning cities have limited discretion if projects meet state rules. Palo Alto adopted interim local standards after the law took effect on January 1, 2022. (cityofpaloalto.org; cityofpaloalto.org) That matters in this case because some residents argued wealthy buyers could use lot splits and adjacent purchases to extend private compounds, while others on the council said the city should write rules that apply everywhere, not just to one famous block. Palo Alto Online reported the council still agreed the city should address zoning and code-enforcement problems exposed by the Crescent Park buildup. (paloaltoonline.com) Residents on the 1400 block of Hamilton Avenue spoke in favor of tougher limits on compounds, according to the Daily Post, while one resident said the proposal sounded like “Big Brother.” Michael Kieschnick, a Zuckerberg neighbor, told the council that “copycat compounds are almost certainly going to happen.” (padailypost.com) Councilmember Julie Lythcott-Haims backed broader work on vacant homes and construction impacts but opposed relying on private lawsuits, saying ordinary residents should not have to take on billionaires in court. The immediate result is that Palo Alto left the door open to future compounds while it studies rules with citywide reach. (padailypost.com; paloaltoonline.com)