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Instead of retail and restaurants, Menlo Park may soon see new kinds of businesses, like veterinary hospitals, and more beauty services and banks filling vacancies in the heart of downtown thanks to a proposal by the owners of a Santa Cruz Avenue building seeking to loosen up the city’s “restrictive” zoning rules.
“Downtown has a retail vacancy problem, and it has for years. Building owners don’t want to invest in their buildings because they can’t get the rents or tenants to support their investment,” said Menlo Park native Tod Spieker, who applied for the changes. Spieker’s company, Windy Hill Ventures, owns and recently renovated 870 Santa Cruz Ave. but said it has struggled to find tenants.
Windy Hill says the changes would provide more flexibility to building owners and prospective tenants, which could increase investment in the city.
On May 18, the Menlo Park Planning Commission unanimously recommended the City Council approve some expanded uses in the “main street” area designation along Santa Cruz Avenue. However, it recommended that banks continue to be prohibited and some modification to use for recreation. The proposal also includesd allowing portions of some retail spaces to be converted to offices and modifications to the broader El Camino Real and Downtown Specific Plan, first adopted in 2012, which governs land use in Menlo Park’s core commercial area.
The City Council is expected to make a decision at its June 23 meeting, and if approved, the change would take effect immediately.
Changes that affect Santa Cruz Avenue buildings
Under current rules, buildings on Santa Cruz Avenue face stricter limits on what kinds of businesses can operate compared with other downtown properties located off the main street. The proposal would allow tenants to seek permits for animal clinics, banks and business services on Santa Cruz Avenue. While prospective business owners would still need Planning Commission approval, those uses are currently prohibited.
The proposal would also relax rules that limit certain businesses on the first floor of Santa Cruz Avenue buildings. Salons, spas, barbers, fitness studios and non-surgical cosmetic services would be allowed to open on the first floor without a permit, instead of being banned from street-level spaces. The banks and salons currently operating on Santa Cruz Avenue predated the current restrictions. The Planning Commission unanimously agreed that more banks should not be allowed on Santa Cruz Avenue.
Windy Hill argued that allowing gyms, wellness services and financial institutions downtown could increase foot traffic and help fill vacant storefronts. The firm said those businesses could also draw customers to nearby shops.
Allowing offices
The proposal would also allow parts of some ground-floor retail spaces to be converted to offices. Offices would be limited to the back half of spaces and could not front on Santa Cruz Avenue. The conversion would require Planning Commission approval and pay fees to funds for public benefits.
Windy Hill says many existing spaces are too large for most retailers and too expensive for tenants. Even in occupied spaces, Spieker said, the rear portions of many downtown buildings are used for storage or clutter rather than as viable office space. Allowing the back half to be converted would create more flexible retail space in the front while increasing the number of office workers who patronize downtown businesses, he said.
Associate Planner Matt Pruter told the Planning Commission that, after discussions between Windy Hill and city staff, the office conversion should be very limited and apply only in select circumstances.
Windy Hill said Luminaire, the furniture store in its building, cannot afford to lease such a large space downtown. While the store wants to remain, it needs to reduce its footprint. At the same time, Windy Hill says it is concerned about vacancy issues affecting all of downtown.
“As invested tenants and property owners, we take pride in being part of the downtown community and are committed to maintaining and enhancing the vibrancy of Santa Cruz Avenue,” Windy Hill wrote in its application. “However, we are increasingly concerned about the growing vacancy rates, empty storefronts and reduced sales that have affected our community in recent years.”
Broader changes
As part of the proposal, Windy Hill is seeking to revise the city’s definitions of restricted and general personal services. The goal is to allow newer aesthetic businesses, such as laser treatments, injections and IV infusions, to be grouped with uses like nail salons. Previously, those services were classified as restricted personal services, defined as uses that have a “blighting or deteriorating effect on the surrounding area,” such as tattoo parlors and check-cashing services.
These reclassifications would apply across the El Camino Real and Downtown Specific Plan, covering most of El Camino Real and downtown areas without a frontage on Santa Cruz Avenue.
The Planning Commission received 87 written public comments and 10 in-person comments ahead of the meeting. City staff said the written comments were overwhelmingly supportive of the changes.
The City Council will now decide whether to approve the proposal.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include how the Planning Commission’s recommendation differed from the proposal
Imagine if you would, a Menlo Park where, instead of a planning commission’s coercive control in trying to dictate the market, property owners, entrepreneurs and customers got to decide what is in their best interests. I know, sounds crazy.
I agree with Self Evident that the existing zoning was choking our downtown too much. It’s good to see the Planning Commission open up the zoning and allow the free market to decide which new businesses can come in.
Better to have something, almost anything in the empty storefronts. Hopefully if they get filled the building owners might actually improve their properties so they don’t look so old and run down. If they don’t improve their properties after getting tenants, the council should consider fining owners that don’t.
I agree that fewer restrictions allow a wider variety of businesses on Santa Cruz and nearby areas, and that many of the businesses on Santa Cruz need refurbishing. The sidewalks are filthy, and flies linger in places.
Please consider attracting businesses that meet the everyday needs of many people: We may need furniture or lighting or blinds several times in a lifetime; however, we need hardware, or a pharmacy, or toys or pet supplies or a bank, etc., weekly or monthly. These everyday businesses bring foot traffic of everyday people to a town’s Main Street in the daytime.
Please consider that enlivening the restaurant culture on Santa Cruz will also increase foot traffic. More reasonably priced food options will attract more people. Look at Broadway in RC, University and California in PA, and Castro in MV, to name a few, that are vibrant — hopping — at all times. In each case, there is a wide variety of options, from very inexpensive to very high end. Food is what keeps the street vibrant in the evening.