Committee advances lease negotiation for Gamble Garden, refers Winter Lodge and Lawn Bowls for more detail

The Policy & Services Committee reviewed a staff‑proposed framework for long‑term nonprofit leases and recommended advancing a lease negotiation for Gamble Garden while directing staff to refine details for Winter Lodge and the Palo Alto Lawn Bowls before returning to council.

Assistant to the City Manager Lupita Alamos described Phase 2 of the nonprofit partnership work plan and presented three "leading examples" for long‑term lease evaluation: Gamble Garden (lease expires 2037 and the organization is seeking a 50‑year renewal to support capital fundraising, including a proposed horticulture classroom), Palo Alto Lawn Bowls (lease expires in December but includes a holdover; club pays about $14,000 in annual rent while the city covers roughly $60,000 a year in clubhouse and landscape maintenance), and Winter Lodge (ice and tennis operations; the tennis lease expires in 2026 and staff proposes combining separate tennis and ice leases into a single agreement consistent with historical practice).

Staff recommended that renewals incorporate performance metrics tied to public benefit and community access, clarify financial relationships and nonmonetary contributions, and consider stability of the partnership. Gamble Garden’s executive director, Mika Piri, addressed the committee in public comment, saying Gamble Garden draws about 40,000 visitors annually, engages roughly 500 volunteers and reaches nearly 600 schoolchildren through programs, and urged support for an extended lease to facilitate fundraising.

Council questions and staff responses

Council members asked detailed questions about public access (whether timed classes and lessons constitute public availability), resident discounts or resident‑priority access, the nonprofit’s role in maintenance and capital fundraising, and how long‑term agreements would handle nonperformance. Representatives from Winter Lodge and the Lawn Bowls Club explained that Winter Lodge classes are open to anyone to sign up but are fee‑based and that Lawn Bowls offers weekly free lessons and membership options; Lawn Bowls president John Yee said a membership costs about $160 per year and that the club offers weekly free lessons on Sundays.

Motion and disposition

The committee moved to advance staff’s recommended framework and to authorize staff to negotiate a lease renewal recommendation for Gamble Garden consistent with committee guidance, and to refer the Winter Lodge tennis lease and Palo Alto Lawn Bowls lease back to staff for additional refinement. The motion passed unanimously.

What happens next

Staff will co‑create performance metrics with each organization, negotiate lease terms per regular process, and present each lease for City Council approval on separate consent calendar items once staff returns with the refined terms.