Editorial: Fences not the way to fight traffic impact Editorial: Fences not the way to fight traffic impact (January 10, 2001)

As traffic woes increase in Menlo Park, the City Council is faced with deciding whether to permit homeowners on busy streets to fence out the noise and other impacts that have substantially changed the character of many neighborhoods.

For what once were bucolic, tree-lined streets that carried mostly local traffic are now often choked with commuters or nearby residents trying to reach the city's busy downtown shopping areas. Santa Cruz Avenue, a main thoroughfare that connects the city center with Stanford University and Sand Hill Road, is one of the few city arterials that can handle cross-town traffic.

One solution, at least for some Santa Cruz Avenue residents, is to build high fences, which they say will insulate their homes from the busy street and diffuse the noise of an ever-growing stream of automobiles.

Current regulations permit only 4-foot-high fences unless homeowners are granted an exception by the Planning Commission, whose decision can be appealed to the City Council. So far, a handful of Santa Cruz Avenue homes have been permitted to exceed the 4-foot limit.

And, although a city-financed study shows that high fences do not provide a significant reduction of traffic noise, the fence solution continues to be viewed by many residents as a way to lessen the impact of a busy street.

In recent months, both the City Council and Planning Commission have weighed in on the subject. A few weeks ago, the Planning Commission reluctantly endorsed a compromise plan to permit 5-foot fences, with a 5-foot setback, along Santa Cruz Avenue, after administrative review. It was not an easy decision and did not sit well with some commissioners, who viewed it as a poor compromise.

While we sympathize with homeowners who want a quick solution, we must agree with the commissioners that fences are not the way to lessen traffic noise impact on this busy street. Taken to the extreme, such a decision could turn many Menlo Park neighborhood streets into barren tunnels fenced off from even a glimpse of the homes that lie behind.

The real danger in this discussion is setting a precedent that is already being used to argue for high fences along busy roads in other neighborhoods, such as Willow Road and Valparaiso Avenue. A decision to permit higher fences could impact the city for years to come.

Rather than fences, we suggest several alternatives:

** To deal with traffic noise, the city could reduce speed on Santa Cruz Avenue from 30 mph to 25 mph and enforce it. Stop signs could be installed at several intersections to slow traffic, which would also aid pedestrians and cyclists who need to cross the street.

** The city should move quickly to plan sidewalks for Santa Cruz Avenue, an amenity that should be considered for other pedestrian-heavy streets.

** Homeowners should be encouraged to double or triple-glaze their windows, particularly in front, which would do more than anything to reduce traffic noise heard inside the home.

** The city should retain the 4-foot fence height limit while permitting residents to install city-approved landscaping of up to 5 feet with a 5-foot setback. This approach could provide privacy and security without the sterile barrier of a high fence.

Santa Cruz Avenue homeowners are just the first who live on busy Menlo Park streets who will demand relief from the City Council to ameliorate the impact of more and more traffic. We urge the council to look beyond fences to find a solution.