Downtown Los Altos is headed for a showdown over its parking lots, as residents and merchants rally behind a November ballot measure that would strip City Hall of the power to sell, lease or significantly change the city’s downtown plazas without voter approval.
The proposal would throw a major wrench into ongoing plans to turn several surface lots into a new park with replacement parking, a parking garage and a performing-arts theater. Supporters stress that their measure still leaves room for two specific plazas to be used for subsidized housing and would not block farmers markets and similar community events.
The campaign, organized by a coalition calling itself FORLosAltos, launched in-person, ink-on-paper signature gathering this month and says it must turn in petitions by April 30 to meet city filing deadlines, according to FORLosAltos. Organizers say they are targeting the number of valid registered-voter signatures needed to qualify for the November 2026 ballot and describe the measure as a way to rein in what they see as piecemeal decisions about public land.
What the City Has Been Planning
Council records trace the current effort back to a downtown vision process in 2018 and subsequent studies on reusing multiple public parking plazas for mixed uses. A City Council agenda report shows that staff and consultants examined options including hotels, offices, apartments, parks, a theater and parking structures as possible future uses for the downtown lots.
Those ideas have slowly migrated from slide decks to actual work plans, with city leaders treating the plazas as one of the few big levers left to reshape the compact downtown core.
Theater Deal and Fundraising Jitters
One of the highest-profile pieces of that vision is a deal with the Los Altos Stage Company. The local theater group has been operating under a memorandum of understanding with the city that reserves half of Parking Plaza #2 while it pursues a capital campaign and feasibility studies for a new venue.
The group’s board president told the Palo Alto Daily Post that a voter initiative “probably kills any project to put this to a vote,” warning that the cloud of uncertainty will make fundraising significantly harder. According to the same reporting, Mayor Sally Meadows declined to comment on the ballot effort.
Park Design and Consultant Work
Parallel to the theater talks, the city has been paying for detailed design work on what it calls a “Downtown Park with Parking.” A City resolution approved a contract with Watry Design for community engagement and concept designs, authorizing up to $2,288,500 for work related to Plaza 1 and Plaza 2.
The design team’s own project listing outlines the parking-study components and planning tasks the firm is handling as it works through layouts that try to balance green space with the stalls merchants say they need.
Downtown Merchants Push Back
Downtown business owners and campaign organizers argue that the city has not adequately evaluated the economic hit that could come from losing or shifting parking. They say that if quick, in-and-out shopping trips become a hassle, customers will simply redirect their errands to other cities.
Campaign organizer Cindy Andrews and Draeger’s Market owner Richard Draeger have both argued that decisions of this scale should go to the voters, according to reporting in the Palo Alto Daily Post. Leaders at Los Altos Stage Company have also warned that the initiative will undermine their ability to secure large donations for a new theater.
Legal Angle: Surplus Land and State Rules
Complicating the picture is state housing law. In 2024, the city declared Parking Plaza 7 and Plaza 8 to be surplus land, identifying them as potential sites for subsidized housing. Staff reports describe the notices, offers and timing the city followed under California’s Surplus Land Act, as well as consultation with the state Department of Housing and Community Development.
Guidance from HCD details the required notice, review and good-faith negotiation process that governs how surplus public land can be offered and disposed of for housing and other qualifying uses, adding another layer of rules on top of the local ballot fight.
For now, organizers plan to keep collecting handwritten signatures through April. If they gather enough and the measure qualifies, it would trigger a citywide vote unless the City Council opts to simply adopt the ordinance itself before Election Day. Either route would put the city’s downtown redevelopment plans into a holding pattern, with residents, merchants and project boosters all left to argue over what the future of those asphalt lots should look like.
