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Measure P, which would require voter approval for changes to eight city-owned parking lots in downtown Menlo Park, was narrowly trailing in preliminary election results released Tuesday night.
Measure P was narrowly trailing with 48% voting yes and 52% voting no as of 9 p.m. Tuesday. Preliminary results showed 2,886 votes against the measure and 2,668 in favor, a margin of only 232 votes.
The preliminary results include only mail-in ballots received by Sunday, Nov. 1. The San Mateo County Elections Office will release results from voter centers hourly starting at 9 p.m. until all those ballots are counted.
“It’s certainly closer than we would have liked,” said Karen Grove, who helped organize the effort against Measure P.
“While it is too soon to say whether Measure P passed, this process has shown that the people of Menlo Park care deeply about their downtown,” Measure P proponent Alex Beltramo said in a statement. “We appreciate all who participated in this debate on both sides. “Everyone is doing what they believe is right. Whatever the outcome of Measure P, we hope that everyone will treat each other as what we are: neighbors.”
Mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day must be received no later than Nov. 10 to be counted. Results from mail-in ballots received after Nov. 1 will be released daily starting Nov. 5.
Measure P was placed on the ballot by Save Downtown Menlo, a group of residents and businesses concerned about the city’s plan to build affordable housing on three of its downtown parking lots. The housing was proposed as part of the city’s state-mandated housing element.
Opponents of Measure P said its passage could put Menlo Park’s housing element at risk of decertification, exposing the city to penalties and the builder’s remedy.
Save Downtown Menlo contends that Menlo Park could amend its housing element and compensate for the loss of affordable housing elsewhere in the city. The group backed an amendment proposed by District 4 City Council candidate Laura Melahn that would have the city subsidize additional below-market-rate housing in proposed mixed-use developments at the former SRI International and U.S. Geological Survey campuses.
Since the California Secretary of State’s Office began tracking municipal ballot measures in 1995, two citizen initiatives related to development have qualified for the Menlo Park ballot. Both lost.
Measure V, which would have required voter approval to rezone single-family areas, lost in 2022 with 38.17% of the vote. Opponents of a below-market-rate teacher housing development near Flood Park put the measure forward.
In 2014, Measure M lost with 38.70% of the vote. It would have modified the El Camino Real and Downtown Specific Plan by restricting development in the area and required citywide votes on any changes to the plan.
Menlo Park’s last successful citizen initiative was Measure L in 2010, which changed the retirement age and pension formula for city employees. It received 71.33% of the vote.
Visit The Almanac’s website for initial election results of other local races and measures, which will be updated over the next several days.
