Palo Alto is one of the country’s most expensive housing markets and has been one of the most challenging places to build new housing. To reverse this trend, the City Council has prioritized opportunities for multi-family housing production, affordability, and preservation. Lexington Planning led a Zoning Ordinance update to remove constraints to multi-family housing production through a local density bonus program, increased density, reduced parking requirements, and streamlined review by removing two decision-making bodies from the review process. The project included analysis of the City’s ordinance, a parking occupancy study, interviews with developers and architects who regularly use the City’s code, and a series of study sessions and hearings with the City’s decision-makers. The ordinance went into effect in 2019.

Bolstered by its 2023 Housing Element, Palo Alto has made further revisions to its Zoning Ordinance to support housing development. Based on physical site tests, prepared by Urban Field Studio, Lexington Planning analyzed potential constraints to multifamily housing development to identify necessary modifications. Key changes to the Zoning Ordinance included increased densities, lot coverage, and building height standards to support housing production and affordability, and an overlay district where incentives for higher density development are achievable in exchange for affordable housing. The ordinance went into effect in 2024.