Palo Alto's effort to redesign and ultimately redevelop a large portion of the Ventura neighborhood is stoking hopes among local residents about new parks, bikeways and housing developments, as well as anxieties about more cars cutting through the eclectic neighborhood just south of Oregon Expressway.

These sentiments were aired during a Tuesday community meeting on the North Ventura Coordinated Plan, an effort that the city launched last year. For the City Council and staff, the 60-acre site represents a rare opportunity: A place close to transit services that has large, underdeveloped parcels – most notably, the sprawling complex anchored by Fry's Electronics. As such, the site is identified in the city's Housing Element as one particularly ripe for housing.

In addition to bringing more housing to the neighborhood, the main goals of the North Ventura Coordinated Area Plan are to create better transportation options and add public amenities, including retail and open spaces. The area under study is bounded by El Camino Real on the west, the Caltrain corridor on the east, Page Mill Road on the north and Lambert Avenue on the south.

So far, most of the work has occurred behind the scenes, with a 14-member Working Group composed of residents, business owners and property owners discussing the possibilities over the course of three meetings. The Tuesday community meeting was an opportunity for the greater community to weigh in.

About three dozen people, many of them Ventura residents and members of the Working Group, came to Mitchell Park Community Center. Most voiced supported for improving bike paths, supporting retail, revitalizing Matadero Creek and creating more affordable housing, even if it means relaxing the city's 50-foot height limit.

But while residents broadly supported pedestrian and bike improvements, they were far less enthusiastic about cars. When polled, 69 percent of the attendees said they would support a plan that creates more connections for pedestrian and bikes but not cars; while only 12 percent they would like to see more connections for all three modes.

Many in attendance said they prefer a layout where cars primarily use roads on the periphery of the study area, namely Park Boulevard, El Camino Real and Page Mill Road.

Residents also supported more park amenities, with the restoration of the currently channelized Matadero Creek proving particularly popular. Attendees also made a case for more rooftop gardens and community gardens, particularly if new multifamily developments are approved in the neighborhood.

Overall, the vast majority of those in attendance – 89 percent – either "agreed" or "strongly agreed" with the city's goal to create in Ventura "walkable neighborhoods with multi-family housing, ground-floor retail, a public park, creek improvements and an interconnected street grid." A somewhat smaller majority of 75 percent also approved the idea of raising the height limit to support multifamily housing developments, with varying levels of enthusiasm.

When polled, 33 said they support raising the height limit, while 42 percent said they would be willing to increase the limit while expressing concern about buildings taller than three stories (21 percent said they opposed breaking the height barrier).

The residents' willingness to break the 50-foot barrier was by no means unconditional. Throughout the meeting, residents repeatedly expressed support for "affordable housing" for residents making 80 percent of area median income or less, while making clear they don't want to see much more market-rate housing. Attendees made clear that any tall buildings should be spaced out to avoid a "canyon" effect.

The sentiment was widely shared among participants, who first offered their opinions through real-time electronic votes and later discussed their positions with their tablemates.

Cedric de La Beaujardiere, representing one of the tables, spoke for many in attendance when he shared his group's views on building heights.

"If heights are increased, it should be stepped up – not just big canyons," de La Beaujardiere said. "If we have affordable housing, it should be nice designs, not cheap and ugly and dehumanizing."

There was far less consensus on what types of new retail and services the city should attract to Ventura. When asked, 26 percent gave top preference to "neighborhood-serving retail" (hardware stores, pharmacies, grocery stores and the like) and 30 percent said they would like to see more restaurants and cafes. Rebecca Parker Mankey, a Ventura resident who serves on the Working Group, said she would like to see a place where local teenagers can have coffee and hang out with friends so that they "won't have to leave town to have fun."

Another 26 percent supported the idea of creating "artist and maker spaces," or other places where people can gather, create, invent and learn.

There was one point of complete consensus on this question: The idea of attracting a boutique hotel to Ventura didn't get a single vote.

The Ventura neighborhood is only the second in Palo Alto to undergo a "coordinated area plan" – a process that includes intensive collaboration by area stakeholders and that results in zone changes and, presumably, redevelopment. The only area that has had undergone such a plan is the South of Forest Avenue area in downtown. That multiyear process occurred in two phases and was completed in 2003.

In addition to the Ventura plan, Palo Alto officials are preparing to undertake a coordinated area plan in the downtown area, an ambitious effort that will consider – among many other efforts – the reconstruction of the Transit Center and the separation of Palo Alto Avenue from the rail corridor.

While the turnout at Tuesday's meeting was somewhat modest, city officials hope to get more residents involved as the process moves along. The city plans to hold a Town Hall meeting on March 11 dedicated completely to Ventura. The City Council and the Working Group will both partake in the meeting and residents will have another chance to offer their views on the neighborhood's future.

Interim Planning Director Jonathan Lait said the goal of the meetings is to gauge the residents' interest in new housing, additional services and realignment of roads. Some areas in the plan are intended to be preserved or enhanced, he said. Others would see new uses.

"We're going into this with the expectation that there will be some changes in the neighborhood," Lait said.