In the latest salvo in a long-running fight over the rights to a parking lot, the owner of a building at 1414 University Ave. has installed a fence between the Savers Thrift parking lot and a string of businesses known as Strawberry Walk. Palo Alto’s Berkeley Bazaar Partnerships (BBP), owner of the building that houses Savers Thrift Store, installed the fence on May 1. BBP’s first attempt to install a fence on April 15 was thwarted when Cecile Isaacs, the owner of the Strawberry Walk complex, asked the contractor to produce a city work permit. The contractor did not have one, and left. The new fence worries business owners, who fear it cuts off an easy means of escape during an emergency. If a fire erupted or an earthquake struck, people would have to walk through the fenced-in area to University Avenue rather than get outside easily through the parking lot. “We feel a little trapped in here right now,” said Richard Taing, the owner of Dollar Depot on Strawberry Walk. Taing says many of his elderly customers live at Strawberry Creek Lodge on Addison St. and used to be able to walk through the lot directly into his store at the north end […]
In the latest salvo in a long-running fight over the rights to a parking lot, the owner of a building at 1414 University Ave. has installed a fence between the Savers Thrift parking lot and a string of businesses known as Strawberry Walk. Palo Alto’s Berkeley Bazaar Partnerships (BBP), owner of the building that houses Savers Thrift Store, installed the fence on May 1. BBP’s first attempt to install a fence on April 15 was thwarted when Cecile Isaacs, the owner of the Strawberry Walk complex, asked the contractor to produce a city work permit. The contractor did not have one, and left. The new fence worries business owners, who fear it cuts off an easy means of escape during an emergency. If a fire erupted or an earthquake struck, people would have to walk through the fenced-in area to University Avenue rather than get outside easily through the parking lot. “We feel a little trapped in here right now,” said Richard Taing, the owner of Dollar Depot on Strawberry Walk. Taing says many of his elderly customers live at Strawberry Creek Lodge on Addison St. and used to be able to walk through the lot directly into his store at the north end […]