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After the state told Atherton that its housing element plans still need a few minor tweaks, the planning commission revisited the plans at a special meeting on Jan. 29. The commission voted 3-0, with commissioners Paul Tonelli and Thom Bryant absent, to recommend that the council adopt all amendments to the general plan the zoning ordinances recommended by town staff.
The changes to the plan that were requested by the California Department of Housing and Community Development in December 2024 include additional analysis of the redevelopment potential for school sites in town and restructuring of certain tables and figures. The state agency also asked the town to clarify that multifamily housing developments with certain levels of affordable housing do not require discretionary approval and revise the town’s Senate Bill 9 lot split program to include analysis of development trends and to identify alternatives to meet the town’s housing goals if too few SB 9 projects have been built by the middle of the current housing element cycle, which ends in 2031.
Atherton is on track to have a certified housing element in the near future, as the staff report prepared for the meeting states that HCD’s comment letter does not mention any issues with the substantive parts of the town’s housing element approach.
Despite how close the town is to the finish line, several public commenters during the meeting requested that the planning commission go back to the drawing board on the lots that were chosen to be rezoned for multifamily housing. The commenters asked the commission to recommend that the council remove four lots along Bay Road and Ringwood Avenue from the plans that will be resubmitted to HCD over concerns about traffic congestion and safety.
The planning commission had previously recommended that the council remove the four lots from consideration for rezoning due to traffic concerns, but the council opted to include the lots in the adopted housing element that was sent to the state over fears of jeopardizing the town’s progress toward achieving a state-certified housing element.
“The Planning Commission made all of our comments around traffic on Bay Road as part of our original recommendation not to include some of those homes,” said planning commission Chair Eric Lane. “At this point they’ve made their decision, and coming back with another recommendation not to do it would be superfluous.”
Lane said that at this point, he is more worried about the traffic that may come from development at Menlo Park’s proposed “builder’s remedy” development at 80 Willow Road. Builder’s remedy projects are exempt from certain local development standards. He is also concerned that without a state-approved housing element, Atherton remains open to similar projects.
“Without a plan, builder’s remedy is a real risk, as Menlo Park has already found out,” said Lane.
The corner of Bay Road and Ringwood Avenue has been a topic of discussion in Menlo Park as well, as there is currently an appeal that has been filed against a teacher housing development in the Suburban Park neighborhood that cites traffic concerns at that intersection as a reason the development is unsafe.
Though the other planning commissioners agreed that the four lots along Bay Road, and especially the lot at the corner of Bay Road and Ringwood Avenue might exacerbate traffic issues, they also agreed that it was more important to have an approved housing element to avoid the possibility of builder’s remedy.
“The issue that the council is going to have to deal with is that any changes at this point are going to disrupt the (process) with the state,” said Lane. “It’s worse if we just don’t have a plan, by a lot, so that’s the balance that I am trying to make.”
The City Council will revisit the plan at its Wednesday, Feb. 19, meeting. It will do a first reading of the changes to the housing element and associated zoning codes. Currently, a second reading of the changes is slated for the council’s March 19 meeting.
Joan Lane, trailblazing volunteer and Stanford’s go-to for ‘sticky problems,' dies at 97March 25, 2026 3:23 pm