Menlo Park: More rules may be streamlined for businesses Menlo Park: More rules may be streamlined for businesses (May 11, 2005)

** Some building changes would no longer require commission hearing.

By Rebecca Wallace

Almanac Staff Writer

A city effort to streamline zoning regulations for Menlo Park businesses continues this week at Tuesday's City Council meeting.

Under a plan being eyed by the council on May 10, many business people would no longer have to go through a public hearing at the Planning Commission to get a permit if they wanted to make structural alterations to their commercial buildings.

This change would affect businesses in several zoning districts, including areas of Willow, Marsh and Middlefield roads and El Camino Real.

In addition, buildings in the M-2 light industrial area, which includes property in the area of U.S. 101 and Bayfront Expressway, would not have to get a use permit for structural alterations affecting 10,000 square feet or less of gross floor area. The requirement would also be eliminated for changes of building use in which the new use does not constitute an increase in intensity -- typically meaning it does not require more parking spaces.

Other pieces of the plan include changes in the way parking requirements are calculated. The Planning Commission has unanimously recommended its approval.

An affirmative council vote on May 10 would mean that the zoning change is introduced. The council would need to give final approval at a later meeting, but that is generally a mere formality.

The plan grew out of the council's earlier decision to make commercial streamlining a high priority. In another measure, the council agreed last November that El Camino Real and downtown restaurants seeking to add outdoor seating or sell alcohol would no longer need a commission permit.

The plan has drawn criticism from former commission chair Patti Fry, who said public review is necessary for many projects to ensure that they don't harm the city's economy.

Under the plan, a structural alteration accompanied by a change of a building's use would not necessarily have to go through the Planning Commission. So a change of use could be approved without public review, such as a video rental store being converted to a real estate office, which would generate less sales-tax revenue for the city, Ms. Fry wrote in a letter to the Almanac.

(A change of use may not require Planning Commission review if the new use is a permitted use in the zoning district.)

On the other hand, Howard Crittenden, who owns the shuttered Park Theatre on El Camino, said in a brief letter to the council in April that he supports the plan. He did not say why, but he had in the past unsuccessfully sought a more lucrative tenant for the building.

Even if the streamlining plan is approved, making structural alterations to the 1940s Park Theatre would likely not be easy, City Attorney Bill McClure said. Nearly any plans to change the old building would probably require a lengthy assessment to determine its historic significance.

The May 10 meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the council chambers at 701 Laurel St. For more information, go to menlopark.org, click on "City Council" and go to the May 10 agenda.

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