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Update - 11/1/2019

Stanford has withdrawn its long-term land use permit application and will focus on deepening engagement with local communities. Read the statement.

About the General Use Permit

Group of students smile outside Stanford's Main Quad.
About the General Use Permit

The proposed General Use Permit guides Stanford land use on its academic campus over the next 20 years.

The proposed General Use Permit is an opportunity for Stanford and its neighbors to discuss a plan for a future of education, discovery, and community.

The proposed General Use Permit keeps development within existing academic boundaries and does not propose development in the foothills. It proactively addresses housing needs by authorizing new on-campus housing and manages traffic by expanding successful transportation programs.

Download the Application Summary and Overview

Get involved in the General Use Permit process

Planning for our future

Student looking at experiment in lab

World-class research

Stanford is committed to conducting world-class medical, environmental, and social research to benefit the world and local community. The physical space that’s needed to achieve success grows and changes as the world's most pressing challenges change.
students and visiting parents at lunch in Stanford dining

New campus housing

Living on campus enhances learning and research, encouraging collaboration and a sense of community. Stanford’s proposal adds 3,150 new housing units for students, faculty, and staff.
Crew installing solar panels on rooftop

A track record of accountability

Over the past 17 years under the current General Use Permit, Stanford has met every one of more than 100 annual requirements. The proposed 2018 General Use Permit will have similar requirements that will be monitored by Santa Clara County.
General Use Permit process chart – step 11; public hearings

Flexibility with accountability

If approved, the proposed General Use Permit will provide Stanford flexibility to develop academic and housing facilities over time, allowing the university to respond to innovations in teaching and research. It also establishes a framework for Stanford to report on how it has minimized the environmental impacts of development.

Establishes how academic campus lands can be used for new academic and residential space.

Sets mitigation and reporting requirements to minimize impacts on the surrounding community

Does not approve construction of particular buildings; creates a framework for future approvals.

Responsiveness to changing needs

The proposed General Use Permit provides flexibility to address opportunities that cannot be planned for in advance while ensuring that Stanford remains accountable for its land use. Like the current permit, all individual building proposals will require review and approval by Santa Clara County.

Student plays trumpet on campus
Student performing at the Anderson Collection

The Anderson Collection, which could not be envisioned when the current General Use Permit was approved, was made possible by the flexibility allowed by the permit.

Enjoy campus opportunities

Making space to address pressing challenges

The need for groundbreaking research has never been greater. Stanford still has important advances to make in addressing Alzheimer's, cancer, cybersecurity, climate change, and many other pressing problems that impact our community.

If approved, the proposed General Use Permit will allow Stanford to add academic facilities within the core academic campus area to provide solutions to the modern-day challenges that impact the lives of so many here in our community and around the world. New academic facilities will be added in connection with new housing.

Some areas of campus are more dedicated to housing development, while others are used largely for academic space. There is no planned development in the foothills or arboretum.

Get the details

Learn more about the details of Stanford’s application for the 2018 General Use Permit.

View General Use Permit-related resources