Divisive home-building rules pass, but will be monitored Divisive home-building rules pass, but will be monitored (December 24, 2003)

** Watchdog panel, tighter requirements among changes to plan.

By Rebecca Wallace

Almanac Staff Writer

As expected, a divisive new set of home-building rules in Menlo Park got a 3-2 nod from the City Council last week. Soon it will be up to a monitoring committee to ensure no problems with the rules arise.

Councilwoman Mickie Winkler, who championed the plan, proposed the committee after opposition persisted. Foes say the proposal could pave the way for monster houses sticking out like sore thumbs in more modest neighborhoods.

Monitoring applications for permits to build new homes or substantial remodels, the panel will keep an eye out to see that the rules are clear, Ms. Winkler said after the December 16 meeting. A council member, planning commissioner, architect and city staff member will make up the group and report back to the council six months after the ordinance takes effect.

The members have not yet been chosen.

At Ms. Winkler's suggestion, the council included other alterations to the ordinance, designed to rein in oversized homes.

One applies to smaller lots and requires second-story walls to be stepped-in farther from the first story. This change, Ms. Winkler said, would reduce losses of neighbors' sunlight and privacy.

Another change makes it easier for neighborhoods to create individual sets of development rules. Some residents had voiced concern that the process required too high a percentage of resident approval in too short a time.

"People have said the sky is falling, but this is a very sane, moderate ordinance," Ms. Winkler told the Almanac.

She and other supporters have praised the plan as equitable because its rules apply to all lots. At the moment, projects on standard-sized lots -- about half of Menlo Park parcels -- typically don't have to go through the Planning Commission.

The plan approved by the council last week has different tiers of measurements. "Tier 1" projects that meet the most stringent standards only need city staff approval to be built. Exceeding those limits mandates approval by contiguous neighbors or the Planning Commission.

Commission chair Patti Fry, who has spoken many times against the ordinance, said after the meeting that the changes made the plan "marginally" more palatable. Still, though, she added that she'd like neighborhoods to be allowed to enact design guidelines to ensure that new homes or major remodels blend in.

Another defender of the design-guideline concept, which has failed to win support from a majority of the council, is Councilman Chuck Kinney, who helped create the current ordinance but ultimately opted not to support it.

Leaving the dais and addressing the audience directly at last week's meeting, Mr. Kinney described his vision for home-building rules, which differed in significant ways. Besides calling for design guidelines, Mr. Kinney said that all second-story projects should be subject to discretionary review, rather than just projects exceeding the Tier 1 limits.

He also spoke in favor of the current requirement for notifying neighbors within 300 feet of a project that an application is in progress. The approved ordinance only calls for notifying contiguous neighbors of projects.

Mr. Kinney's motion won support from Councilman Paul Collacchi, who also said the ordinance provided insufficient protection for neighbors of projects. But, as anticipated, Mayor Lee Duboc and Councilman Nicholas Jellins voted with Ms. Winkler.

At the meeting, 21 speakers voiced concerns against the ordinance or outright opposed it, with a common concern being that the plan was difficult to understand because it included no diagrams to illustrate how the tiers would affect a project.

"It's not possible for a civilian to make an informed decision," David Schwartz said.

Sue Kayton, the lone supporting voice, said it was futile for opponents to work to prevent "progress" and development in the city, which has grown over the years.

"We've already been urbanized," she said, praising the ordinance for providing concrete measurements that would give certainty as to what is allowed to be built.

To be officially adopted, the ordinance still needs a second vote by the council, but that is essentially a formality. The second vote is tentatively scheduled for January 13, which means the ordinance would take effect February 12, said senior planner Tracy Cramer.

Some opponents have mentioned the possibility of a lawsuit, referendum or recall if the ordinance passed. After the meeting, Ms. Fry said she hadn't heard of any of the three taking place.

To read the December 16 staff report on the home-building ordinance, go to the city's home page at menlopark.org.

E-mail a friend a link to this story.