Palo Alto Banned From Reinstituting Exclusionary Ordinance

PALO ALTO, CA — Nearly three months after Palo Alto overturned a controversial policy limiting access to Foothills Park to city residents, a U.S. District court judge issued an injunction ensuring that the exclusionary ordinance never returns.

U.S. District Judge Edward Davila issued the permanent injunction Monday.

Palo Alto Weekly was the first to report the injunction.

The city was in the crosshairs of an ACLU lawsuit when councilmembers by a 5-2 margin voted to overturn a controversial ordinance Nov. 5 that opened the picturesque park to the public.

The picturesque 1,400-acre preserve off Page Mill Road had been off-limits to outsiders since it was purchased by the city in 1959. It finally opened to non-residents on Dec. 17.

The ACLU moved to compel the South Bay city to lift an exclusionary ordinance that's come under scrutiny in recent months in the aftermath of George Floyd's death in police custody.

The ACLU's Northern California affiliate filed a lawsuit September compelling Palo Alto to remove what it calls an "unconstitutional residents-only restriction at Foothills Park" that stands as "a legacy of the city's history of racial discrimination."

Foothills Park had been the state's only such "residents-only" park.