The Matteson condo development project at 389 El Camino Real, near College Avenue, goes to the Menlo Park City Council for approval tonight (July 31).

Seventeen townhomes and nine single-family homes would be built on a 1.23-acre site. Two driveways off El Camino Real would provide access to the site, with the exception of two single-family houses that would be reached via College and Partridge avenues, according to the staff report.

Of the 26 proposed homes, three would be set aside for the city's below-market-rate housing program. The Planning Commission recommended approval of the project in June.

Also on the agenda: Parking. Menlo Park's plans to create a downtown parking task force had barely left the drawing board before drawing the ire of some merchants and residents.

The plan proposes a five-member task force composed of two Chamber of Commerce representatives (one of whom must own property or a business downtown), one resident, one transportation commissioner, and one planning commissioner. The group would evaluate how to implement aspects of the downtown/El Camino Real specific plan related to parking, including the possibility of building up to two parking garages, and develop the scope of a parking management study.

Community members, including Downtown Alliance co-founder Nancy Couperus and former planning commissioner Patti Fry, took issue with the proposed composition. "A representative of the Chamber is fine, but why not representatives from the other groups, too?" Ms. Fry asked, referring to the Downtown Alliance, Farmers Market and Lions Club in an email to the council on July 27.

The council meeting starts at 7 p.m. in the council chambers at the Civic Center at 701 Laurel St. Click here to review the agenda and associated staff reports.

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