The Palo Alto City Council approved an updated stream corridor protection ordinance Monday evening, Palo Alto Online reported. It sets new building setbacks along the city's creeks. It also lets homeowners on Edgewood Drive fence their yards right up to the top of the San Francisquito Creek bank.
Why update the rules
The city says the update to Municipal Code Section 18.40.140 is meant to protect its waterways from future development and improve them as wildlife corridors. It covers preserving natural plants and habitat, protecting creek banks and managing public access. The update has been in the works since 2024 and went through several community meetings and Planning and Transportation Commission hearings.
What the ordinance does
- Sets a 150-foot setback from the creek bank in new foothills and Baylands subareas
- Keeps a 25-foot setback in the central area between Foothill Expressway and Highway 101, and for residential estate properties
- Creates a "slope stability protection area" where development is generally banned: 20 feet from the top of the bank in the central area and 25 feet in the Baylands and hills
- Exempts properties separated from a stream by a floodwall, not just those directly next to one
The Edgewood exemption
Homeowners along Edgewood Drive had been required to leave a 5-foot gap between the top of the bank and their fences. Residents said the gap created a path for encampments and trespassers. "The existing ordinance unfairly burdens Edgewood properties," Daniel Hansen of the Edgewood Neighborhood Alliance told the council.
The planning commission had recommended the exemption, reasoning that floodwalls already reduce the creek's habitat value there. Homeowners elsewhere can ask for exceptions if a qualified biologist reviews the project.
"We get to see impacted residents happy with the proposal, and environmental groups and people from all around this issue weighing in," Vice Mayor Greer Stone said.