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The proposed mixed-use Parkline project to redevelop the aging SRI International research campus in Menlo Park is eliciting both enthusiasm and worry as the developer readies to present environmental impacts of the plan as soon as June 2024.
“Menlo Park has enthusiastically embraced the proposal to open up the SRI campus in our revitalization,” Eric Bet, an associate with project developer Lane Partners, said following an open-house event earlier this month inviting the community to the site.
Community members “have appreciated the approach to open space, tree preservation (and) housing inclusion and focus on pedestrian and bike flow around and through our site,” he also said in an email. Developers tout the project as all-electric with LEED Platinum buildings, and pedestrian and bicycle connections to transit.
He noted that the developer has been engaging the community for years now about the project, which would transform SRI’s 63 acres at 333 Ravenswood Ave. into a new district of offices, homes and recreational spaces.
“We have received thousands of comments and have had great conversations with our community,” Bet said.
However, other residents remain wary of the project’s potential size and possible traffic and other impacts.
In an email to fellow residents in the Linfield Oaks neighborhood where the project is situated, Sue Connelly urged them to be aware of how big Parkline could get and express their concerns about building heights, traffic congestion and other issues.
The project is exploring two development options. One would feature 550 residential units in buildings rising up to four stories. The other would provide 800 units in buildings going up to six stories.
Connelly said the neighborhood’s issues are with the 800-unit option.
“It’s a density that is really hugely out of context for the surrounding area,” she said. “You suddenly have these very urban, super-tall buildings in an area that only has one- and two-story homes.”
The larger version of the project would “add 2,000 to 2,500 residents” to the neighborhood and increase the number of vehicle trips, she also said.
“It’s just infinitely more traffic gridlock where we already have problems,” she said, “so the chief concern is really the safety of all who are trying to walk, bike or even drive” in the area.
In her email, Connelly told residents that key points to make to the developer include:
• Moving 100 units of affordable housing to Middlefield Road and Ravenswood Avenue to reduce the height, density and traffic at Laurel Street and Ravenswood.
• Making sure there is enough parking per housing unit and office worker to prevent traffic congestion for those looking for parking in the neighborhood.
• Keeping a buffer of two-story townhomes to protect the privacy, noise level and sunlight of families living adjacent to SRI.
Connelly also contended that their part of the city is seeing more than its fair share of possible developments, including a proposal for a towering mixed-used project on the site of the former Sunset Magazine headquarters at 80 Willow Road.
“Your voice is vital,” Connelly said in her email to neighbors. “Our district is bearing an unfair and unequal amount of development, traffic, higher density and the resulting drops in property values.”
‘Our district is bearing an unfair and unequal amount of development, traffic, higher density and the resulting drops in property values.’
Sue Connelly, Linfield Oaks neighborhood resident
Connelly and her neighbors do acknowledge that creating new housing is important, she told The Almanac, “but it also needs to be equitably spread out throughout Menlo Park.”
The developer is listening to the concerns, Bet said.
“We have also heard the community’s significant desire to include more housing,” he said. “The larger number of units is to help meet the city’s housing mandates and a significant request we have heard from the city and the community through our outreach.”
Lane Partners will strive “to balance the various desires of the community with a plan update that seeks to reach consensus on the land plan next year,” he said.
Mayor Jen Wolosin agreed with that objective.
“I’ve met with people who are interested in reducing the density and people who are interested in increasing the density,” the mayor said. “So I think the desire is to strike a balance.”
As for Connelly’s contention that her area is bearing the brunt of development interest, the mayor said the council has looked to distribute new dwellings throughout town as Menlo Park has continued to work on a long-range housing plan that complies with state requirements.
Wolosin also pointed out that Linfield Oaks has key transit corridors and is near downtown, making the area a good candidate for future housing.
A draft environmental impact report is being prepared for Parkline. It could be ready to go before the city Planning Commission in June 2024.
The developer eyes breaking ground on Parkline in 2026 and finishing it in a phased approach over approximately a three-year span, Bet said.
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