In discussing Palo Alto's sidewalk dilemma, Councilwoman Karen Holman borrowed a line from writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who famously said that "architecture is frozen music."

Recent developments, she said, suggest that Palo Alto is "out of tune," she said.

Holman was one of four authors of a colleagues memo urging that the city review its requirements for sidewalk width and consider ways to increase building setbacks -- a recommendation that the council unanimously and enthusiastically approved Monday night.

Narrow sidewalks have been a topic of consternation among residents and land-use watchdogs for years, with the Arbor Real townhouse development on El Camino Real and the new Alma Village on Alma Street as the two recent developments often cited for building too close to the street. Many residents blamed the uninviting configuration of the Alma development for the failure of Miki's Farm Fresh Market, a grocery store at Alma Village that went out of business after less than six months of operation.

Holman said that while the city has made great achievements in the environmental and technological realms, its buildings "have been underachieving." The proposal by her, Mayor Greg Scharff, Councilwoman Gail Price and Councilman Greg Schmid, seeks to address that, she said.

The council's vote directs staff to review the city's sidewalk regulations and make them more consistent with the vision of the El Camino Real Guidelines and the Grand Boulevard Plan, a strategic document created by planning agencies from Santa Clara and San Mateo counties that urges a better pedestrian experience for the major thoroughfare. The process will include reviews by the Architectural Review Board and the Planning and Tranportation Commission and will focus on "sidewalk width and how buildings address the street."

The city's current sidewalk regulations call for 12-foot sidewalks, which includes a 4-foot planting strip. The Grand Boulevard Initiative recommends a minimum sidewalk width of 18 feet. The memo argues that recent new developments, particularly along El Camino Real and Alma, "address the street in ways that are inconsistent with the intent and the vision of the El Camino Real Design Guidelines and the Grand Boulevard Plan."

"This has generated consternation in the community and a strong negative reaction by members of the public as to how close these new buildings are to the street and how the buildings turn their backs on the public right of way due to inadequate setbacks and building articulation and openings to reduce the building mass," the memo states. "New Urbanism principles and/or use of the PC (planned-community zoning) have often incorrectly been identified as the reason for these buildings being characterized as unfriendly and overwhelming."

Bob Moss, a land-use watchdog and leading critic of the recent developments (most notably, Arbor Real and Alma Village), lauded the council for addressing the issue. The problem isn't New Urbanism, he said, referring to a philosophy that encourages dense development near transit hubs, but what he called "New Uglyism," he said.

"People who talk about losing Miki's don't just talk about Miki's going out of business, they talk abut what an ugly, oppressive building it is," Moss said.

Penny Ellson, a longtime advocate for bicycling improvements in school corridors, also praised the memo and argued that sidewalks are critical components of city life. Sidewalks, she said, "are places where things happen."

"It's one the edge of where the cars run, the vehicles move, but it's also a really important place," Ellson said. "It's where kids play; it's where neighbors run into each other; it's where the life of the city really happens. And I think it's important that people of Palo Alto have that space."