Menlo Park: Petition drive gathers volunteers, hits streets Menlo Park: Petition drive gathers volunteers, hits streets (January 28, 2004)

Menlo Park residents hoping to get new city home-building rules repealed were out in recent days in front of local grocery stores and at the Sunday farmers' market, gathering signatures for a petition.

Planning Commissioner Kelly Fergusson, who's leading the effort, said January 26 that she didn't yet know how many signatures had been gathered but that the campaign had so far attracted "at least 20" volunteers from all over the city.

The group of volunteers, who call themselves Citizens for Sensible Neighborhood Development, have raised $2,300 of the $6,000 needed to cover expenses such as photocopying costs, Ms. Fergusson said.

So far, she said, one of the biggest hurdles is the fact that many people don't understand the complex zoning ordinance. "We've handed out a lot of information sheets," she said.

Recently approved by the City Council, the new home-building rules are set to take effect February 12, which means the volunteers have until then to gather roughly 1,700 signatures -- 10 percent of the city's registered voters. If enough signatures are submitted, the council must either repeal the changes or have the voters decide whether they should be overturned, according to City Attorney Bill McClure.

The issue has ignited much heated debate, with referendum supporters saying the new rules remove much-needed human discretion from the approval process for new homes and major remodels, thus allowing more oversized housing.

Supporters of the proposal say it makes the approval process more equitable and easy to navigate, with fewer required appearances in front of the Planning Commission. The plan sets up a tiered review system; builders who adhere to one set of standards need only permits from staff, while exceeding it requires neighborhood approval.

Those who are interested in learning more about the effort to rescind the rules can email Neighbors4avoice@aol.com or contact resident Elizabeth Houck at 323-0313, Ms. Fergusson said.

City staff reports on the new rules are available at menlopark.org.

Meanwhile, west Menlo Park resident Frank Tucker said he had spoken with petition supporters over the weekend and that he hoped the effort would not be successful.

Of the new rules, he said: "This ordinance will give people who can least afford it the opportunity to upgrade their homes. ... They can now spend more of their money improving their homes rather than funding excessive and expensive bureaucracy."

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