Sand Hill complex: traffic is major concern Sand Hill complex: traffic is major concern (August 03, 2005)

** Menlo Park seeks public comment on the impact of the proposed project.

By Richard Hine

Almanac Managing Editor

Don't forget the traffic.

That was the essence of the message that Stanford and Menlo Park city officials heard July 28 during a public meeting on a proposal to build a 120-room hotel and a 100,000-square-foot office complex on the vacant property just southeast of the Sand Hill Road/Interstate 280 interchange.

The city held the meeting to hear public comment on what factors to consider in preparing an environmental impact report on the project.

The message about traffic fears was called out, sometimes angrily, from a crowd of about 40 people who assembled in the Mariposa conference room at the Hewlett Foundation campus near the intersection of Sand Hill Road and Santa Cruz Avenue.

"Have you driven on Sand Hill Road [during rush hours]?" a man asked Bill Phillips of Stanford Management Co., which owns the 21-acre property where the hotel and office complex would be built.

"Why do we need more offices," cried out a woman from the audience, many of whom said they lived near the site in the Sand Hill Circle and Sharon Heights areas.

City officials, including associate planner Deanna Chow, were busy taking notes at the meeting, which is one of several steps in the city's review process. The public has until August 15 to submit comments on the scope of the environmental impact report. On September 19, the Menlo Park Planning Commission will hold a study session on the project.

A draft environmental impact report is expected to be released by the end of the year. There will be a 45-day comment period on the report and a public hearing. After the final EIR is published, the City Council will hold a hearing to certify that the document complies with the California Environmental Quality Act.

The purpose of the EIR process is to identify environmental impacts and to reduce the impacts to "less than significant levels," said Ted Adams of EIP Associates, the consulting firm preparing the environmental impact report.

He said one of the factors the report will consider is the visual impact of the development on the site. He said a photo montage will be posted on a Web site to show in detail how the development would affect the appearance of the property.
Scenic corridor

During Thursday's meeting, people commented from the floor in a random fashion and without identifying themselves.

One woman noted that I-280 is a scenic corridor and there is nothing like this kind of development on the freeway corridor -- at least in this area.

Another woman asked if alternative sites had been considered, such as along El Camino Real where car dealers are closing up shop.

Some residents of Sand Hill Circle said they felt trapped in their homes by the current level of traffic, and this would only make it worse. And they expressed concern that emergency vehicles might have greater difficulty getting to and from their homes.

A man proposed that the city look at this as an opportunity to reduce noise from I-280, such as by altering the roadway as has been done on a portion of the freeway that runs through Woodside.

A woman expressed surprise that the city was even considering development on the site since part of it is a wetland.
INFORMATION

** Public comment. . The deadline to submit public comment on the scope of the environmental impact report is August 15. E- mail comment to city planner Deanna Chow at dmchow@menlopark.org; or mail it to her at Menlo Park Community Development Department, 701 Laurel St., Menlo Park, CA 94025. ** Study session. The Menlo Park Planning Commission will hold a study session on the project at 7 p.m. Monday, September 19, in the city council chambers at the Civic Center. ** The project application may be reviewed by the public at the Community Development Department at 701 Laurel St. Call Ms. Chow for hours: 330-6733. ** Comments for publication. Residents are urged to submit comments to the Almanac by e-mail (editor@AlmanacNews.com), or by mail (Richard Hine, The Almanac, 3525 Alameda de las Pulgas, Menlo Park, CA 94025). Please specify if the comments are for publication as a letter to the editor.

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