Stanford University’s proposal to build a 120-room luxury hotel and 100,000 square feet of office space is scheduled to go before the Menlo Park City Council at its June 13 meeting.
The council is also scheduled to discuss the Belle Haven summer school program at a special meeting at 6:30 p.m. Several parents have sent e-mails to the council, concerned with schedule and fee changes that are forcing children out of the program.
Councilman Andy Cohen asked the council to address concerns voiced in the e-mails, and what he called the “technical nitpicking that is squeezing people who can’t afford it.”
Both meetings will be held in the council chambers at the Civic Center, between Laurel and Alma streets.
The council will consider the hotel proposal during its regular meeting, which is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Check AlmanacNews.com for news updates.
The hotel and office complex is planned for a 21-acre site near the intersection of Interstate 280 and Sand Hill Road.
Stanford is teaming up with Dallas-based Rosewood Hotels and Resorts to propose the hotel, five extended-stay villas, a restaurant, a health spa, and four office buildings on the site. The proposed hotel is 165,000 square feet.
If approved by the council, the hotel could generate an estimated $1.3 million for the city when it opens in 2008 and $1.9 million by 2011, according to a financial study. The bulk of those revenues would come from the city’s hotel tax.
The Planning Commission at its May 22 meeting voted 6-0 to recommend that the council approve the project.
Working group formed
to study zoning
A working group of appointed officials, city employees and business representatives has been formed to evaluate how commercial zoning ordinances affect local businesses.The group will hold four meetings this summer, and work with city staff to decide the extent that future development requests should be reviewed by the Planning Commission and the City Council.
The group will not look at specific projects currently proposed by businesses, or discuss changing the city’s general plan, according to Thomas Rogers, an assistant planner with the city. He said the group will focus on smaller, procedural details, such as whether smaller projects proposed by businesses warrant review by the Planning Commission.
The group’s first meeting is June 29 in the City Council conference room in the administration building at the Civic Center. The meeting time is yet to be announced. All of the group’s meetings will be open to the public.
The working group includes council members Mickie Winkler and Kelly Fergusson; planning commissioners Lou Deziel and Lorie Sinnott; Business Development Manager David Johnson; Development Services Manager Justin Murphy; Rick Ciardella of the Menlo Park Chamber of Commerce; Budget Advisory Committee members Honor Huntington, Patti Fry and Hank Lawrence; and Al Filice and Spence Leslie, who will represent the city’s business community.
