They are scaling DOWN housing on Encina? How, exactly, is this project "out of scale" with the area? This project site is abutted by commercial buildings and a sea of auto parking. It is close to the city's best supported train and bus transit stations, easily walkable and bikable to PAUSD schools, Stanford University, shopping, downtown PA jobs, Palo Alto Medical Foundation. The 5-story Opportunity Center apartment building is on Encina, right nearby. How was the scale of the former project not compatible?

By comparison, City Council (also through a plan pushed by Eric Filseth) is pressing forward to upzone huge swaths of land for THOUSANDS of new units in south Palo Alto that have far fewer resources to support housing--with no plan to improve or expand existing support resources. Council and City Manager Shikada, if you say you don't treat south and north PA differently, this is a moment to demonstrate that. Eric Filseth is no longer on Council. YOU have the power to balance land use in north and south Palo Alto more fairly.

Please consider that Council just approved a 5-story, 50-unit apartment building across from a single-story south Palo Alto neighborhood that stands next to single-story schools, churches, and a park and another community shopping center. This project is only going to have 10 parking spaces so it is likely to impact the center parking lot and nearby neighborhood streets for off-site parking. Please explain to the public why this project is being treated so differently. Why does this retail center owner have such outsized influence in this process? Why is south Palo Alto being treated so differently?

Town and Country is a mess with too much traffic and not enough parking. I rarely go there since it is so overcrowded. How is taking away parking and adding more people helping anyone but developers to line their pockets. Greed is their only purpose.

Our community's lack of housing is our biggest problem. 70 Encina Ave is a great place to build new homes. I hope we can bring back the original plan: 5 stories and 20 homes. It will be good for Town & Country Mall to have new customers living nextdoor.

Without adequate parking in the new development, residents will go to the nearest parking lot, which is a private lot -- not a city parking lot. Who would be responsible for parking enforcement? I have a feeling that if T&C were to give nearby residents parking privileges, it opens the door wide to RVers who are threatenened of late by having CALTRANS permanently eliminate parking on ECR's RV Row. You can't let housed residents park in a lot while at the same time prohibit RV parking. It's discrimination. Actually you can, since poverty is not yet one of the protected classes under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but it will be someday. Soon, I hope.