Traffic Reduction Measures, Palo Alto, California; dates vary

City Policy Regarding Employee showers in Commercial and Industrial Developments

In 1983, Councilmember Fletcher requested that the Planning Commission consider a zoning ordinance amendment to require that shower facilities be provided in all employment projects. At that time, shower facilities were required as mitigation measures of environmental assessments for commercial or industrial projects of 50,000 square feet or larger. No specific schedule for number of showers to building size had been established for such large-scale projects. The purpose of this mitigation was to provide facilities which would encourage bicycling to work as an alternative to automobile use. A secondary benefit of shower facilities, particularly in the Stanford Industrial Park, was to provide facilities that would allow employees to participate in some form of recreation or exercise during their lunch break, thus reducing vehicular use from the employment centers to food services.

Staff found that developers of large employment projects had not been resistant to including showers. However, the new State handicapped regulations greatly increased the area required for showers. Standard stall size increased from four square feet to 24 square feet, excluding the interior space necessary to permit access of a wheelchair to the shower stall. Due to these size requirements, staff recommended establishing a graduated scale for number of showers by the size of the development and the type of use. The tables recommended below were developed based on estimated number of employees.

Staff also recommended that new developments or additions to existing buildings which are likely to accommodate less than 50 employees not be required to provide shower facilities due to space allocations necessary and costs of the facilities. Developments likely to house between 50 and 100 employees are recommended to provide at least one shower. If only one shower is provided, it will have to be a facility designed to be used by both sexes. For developments of a size to accommodate 100 to 250 employees, two showers should be required. Any developments large enough to house over 250 employees should provide at least four showers, only two of which will have to be for handicapped employees.

Adopted Policy:

In the commercial and industrial zone districts, employee shower facilities are required as follows:

For additional information on the City of Palo Alto’s regulations relating to transportation issues, contact