Northern News

Too late for ousted residents, Palo Alto denies hotel application

By Gennady Sheyner, Palo Alto Weekly, updated March 11, 2019. “A proposal to convert the President Hotel Apartments to a luxury hotel hit a roadblock this week, when Palo Alto’s Planning Director Jonathan Lait concluded that the project described in the development application would violate numerous zoning laws. “The controversial project, which prompted the eviction […]

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Kevin Roche, 96, got his start as architect of the Oakland Museum of California

The New York Times, March 3, 2019, Paul Goldberger • Dublin-born Architect Kevin Roche “ … believed that because each building emerged out of a different situation, each called for something very different. It was a view he took from his mentor, Eero Saarinen, whose thriving architectural practice formed the foundation of Mr. Roche’s own. Mr. Roche was hired by Saarinen in 1950 …”

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Families, including Pete Parkinson’s, rebuilding in Sonoma County

Sonoma Index-Tribune, February 23, 2019 Christiane Kallen • “Like most of the rest of Sonoma County, the Bennett Ridge neighborhood is beginning to recover. The October 2017 wildfires incinerated 92 homes on Bennett Ridge, destroying more than two-thirds of the neighborhood of 129 homes. “The Parkinson family— Pete, his wife, Celia, and 10-year-old son Henry

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Meet a local planner, Shannon Fiala

By Catarina Kidd, AICP. FIALA is Planning Manager at BCDC. She served on the APA California Northern Section Board, 2014–2016. “We are set up like a traditional planning department: there is a division that handles permits for shoreline development proposals, and my division handles long-range planning. … The most important thing is to care about your employees, be interested in their professional goals, and be courageous enough to give them the constructive feedback that will help them grow.”

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In memoriam, Joseph Kott, AICP, researched benefits of ‘green streets’

Transportation planning and management expert and scholar Joseph Kott, PhD, AICP, was well known at public agencies, private consultancies, and universities, and especially in California. A longtime lecturer at San Jose State University, he was in the midst of teaching two courses, “Introduction to Local Transportation” and “Sustainable Transportation Planning,” when he died unexpectedly and suddenly at his home from a massive heart attack on February 14. He was 71.

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Director’s note – March 2019

By JAMES CASTAÑEDA, AICP. At our section board’s retreat in January, we noted that Northern News is on its way to becoming mobile responsive, and discussed its future and its value to our members. Separately we noted the tremendous effort that goes into coordinating and hosting our many workshops, lectures, and training sessions, and we are looking to make some of our programming available online later this year.

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Aggressive push against local housing development restrictions

Los Angeles Times, February 20, 2019 Liam Dillon • “Citing the increasing cost of housing across California, state Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) has introduced new legislation that would block high-cost regions from imposing new prohibitions on housing construction or decreasing the number of homes allowed on certain pieces of land.” [According to the Legislative Counsel, http://bit.ly/2STswaK,

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