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Menlo Park has granted entitlements to a project that plans to turn a long-vacant parcel previously serving young students into new affordable housing catering to local teachers.
On Monday night, Jan. 13, the city Planning Commission voted 5-1 to approve use and architectural-control permits and a below-market-rate housing agreement for the construction of three multifamily buildings at 320 Sheridan Dr., the site of the former James Flood Magnet School.
Commissioner Katie Ferrick dissented, citing arguments over adequate space for bicycle parking, identifying a second ingress/egress location and other concerns.
Commissioner Linh Dan Do was absent for the voting, having mentioned that she needed to leave the meeting early.
The three-story project by Calabasas-based developer Alliant Communities would total 88 units, according to a city staff report. All but the manager’s unit would be offered at below-market rents for very-low-income to low-income households.
The approximately 2.5-acre plot in the Suburban Park neighborhood has sat vacant for years after the Flood campus closed in 2011, but the Ravenswood City School District still owns the land.
The housing project with a modern-farmhouse architectural style would give educators and other employees from the district first dibs on the units, the staff report said. But other eligible households from the larger community could get their turn afterward.
“One of the most significant barriers we face is housing affordability,” district Superintendent Gina Sudaria told commissioners before their vote. “A recent analysis revealed that Ravenswood staff experienced the largest gap in the state between their salaries and the cost of a typical-priced home.”
Many of the district’s teachers and staff commute long distances because they can’t afford to live in the area, Sudaria said. “This challenge directly affects our ability to retain talented team members and build the strong, stable school communities that our students need to thrive.”
According to an Alliant presentation, more than 40% of Ravenswood teachers and staff are considering leaving the district because of high housing costs or the length of their commute.
So the apartment project provides “an extraordinary opportunity for our district,” Sudaria said. “Over 85% of our staff have expressed interest in living in this development (because it would enable) our teachers and staff to live within the community they serve. This project would foster deeper relationships, enhance staff retention and build a stronger sense of belonging for both students and staff.”
Practically all the other public commenters expressed similar strong support for the project.
“The statistics about the teachers and staff … speak to the desperate need for these affordable homes,” Linfield Oaks resident Katherine Dumont said, addressing the commission. “I think this project is a real step forward toward a brighter future for everyone.”
However, residents and commissioners have also raised issues about the development, particularly regarding expanding bike-parking space and finding another access point in and out of the property.
Tenants are not going to bike if there’s insufficient parking for that, The Willows resident Kevin Rennie said. “I understand the costs, but I fully encourage a secondary review to add more protected bike parking to encourage people to ride.”
An official with the project’s architect believes that the design of the development has been responsive to residents’ thoughts on bike parking.
“The bike facilities, this is something that we had taken to heart,” Lance Crannell, principal for Brentwood-based SDG Architects Inc., said before the commission. “We’ve heard from the community in terms of their preference for bike parking, and so we responded to that in providing a portfolio of ways of bike parking both short term (and) long term and in a variety of places throughout the site.”
Crannell noted, for instance, that the design took out a dog park in favor of additional bike parking following conversations with the community.
Causing some rift among residents has been the issue involving a second access point in addition to the primary one on Sheridan Drive.
A petition signed by about 350 residents proposes this other access via Van Buren Road on the project’s east side to provide an alternative route to escape a fire and help shorten travel times by automobile, bike and walking, among other reasons.
But another petition signed by 120 residents of the Flood Park Triangle neighborhood opposes such an entrance/exit point, citing disruption to the Haven Family House shelter there, traffic safety and congestion, and other matters.
“I fully intended to come here tonight and get to yes, but I can’t get to yes tonight,” Ferrick said as the project came to the commission’s vote. “I don’t feel the commission has been able to sufficiently do its job so that we can ensure the project is planned well and future (elements) can be accommodated.”
Ferrick was also frustrated with “the inability to require a pursuit of some of the things that we’ve mentioned, including a second ingress-egress,” she said.
Commissioner Ross Silverstein expressed similar disappointments about the project, but he said those “don’t rise to the point of actually trying to block the housing.”
While the project is not perfect, Commissioner Misha Silin said, “the most important thing by far is that we have people (who) work in our community, especially with our children, commuting from very far away, and they want to be able to live here.”
‘The most important thing by far is that we have people (who) work in our community, especially with our children, commuting from very far away, and they want to be able to live here.’
Commissioner Misha Silin
The project is still subject to an appeal period, which runs through Jan. 28. If appealed, the project would go before the City Council.
“If no appeal is received, the entitlements would become active on 1/29,” city Senior Planner Chris Turner told The Almanac in an email.
The total project cost is estimated at $66 million, according to Steven Spielberg, senior vice president of affordable housing for Alliant.
In November, the council narrowly voted to commit $1 million of Menlo Park’s BMR Housing Fund to help in the project’s construction. Work could start in December with completion and unit leasing expected to happen in 2027.
The project would aid the city’s efforts to meet a state housing mandate to plan for nearly 3,000 new residences in the 2023-31 cycle.
The project — a brainchild of Ravenswood — found itself in the center of controversy over affordable-housing efforts in the city. It became the catalyst for the citizen-sponsored Measure V in 2022, which would have limited the council’s ability to upzone city lots if the initiative had passed.
Watch a video of the Planning Commission meeting here:
