Menlo Watch: Haven Ave. area holds promise for auto mall Menlo Watch: Haven Ave. area holds promise for auto mall (August 25, 2004)

Menlo Park city staff say the Haven Avenue area in the northeastern part of town is in transition: it's zoned for industrial use, but lately representatives of hotels, auto dealerships and retail businesses have been eying it. Some have even suggested having an auto mall there, with several dealerships.

On Tuesday, August 24, the City Council will discuss whether to allow new types of businesses in the area, which is bounded by Bayfront Expressway, Marsh Road, and Haven Avenue. The council may decide to have staff work on changes to the general plan and zoning ordinance, wrote community development director Arlinda Heineck in a staff report.

Auto dealers have voiced interest in having an auto mall there because it boasts good freeway access and large land parcels, Ms. Heineck wrote. The parcels could provide more vehicle storage space than the El Camino Real sites of several dealerships, she wrote.

The August 24 meeting begins at 7 p.m. at the Menlo Park Senior Center at 110 Terminal Ave., following a 6 p.m. council tour of the city facilities at that site.

Council: High-speed rail report insufficient

Why should Menlo Park residents care about plans for a statewide high-speed train system? Because there could be critical impacts on the city, members of the City Council agreed August 17.

With the California High Speed Rail Authority circulating a draft environmental impact report on the project, the council decided to pass a resolution with comments on the report.

The council agreed unanimously, with Paul Collacchi absent, that the report is so general that it doesn't sufficiently look at many possible impacts to cities the high-speed trains could run through, including increased noise, local traffic circulation, aesthetic concerns and tree removal.

The council suggests that the authority look into not running the new trains up the Peninsula, instead having them stop at a connection with BART in the East Bay or Caltrain. This could cut costs and reduce impacts on cities, said Councilwoman Mickie Winkler after the meeting.

Public art vote gets postponed

The decision on how high the fee should be for allowing businesses to opt out of Menlo Park's public art law has been postponed, with members of the City Council saying August 17 that they didn't have enough information. The matter is expected to come back on August 31.

City Manager David Boesch said "mea culpa" for not providing a list of all the other city fees for businesses, as the council had requested. The law requires owners of newly built commercial, industrial and municipal buildings with construction costs of $250,000 or more to pay 1 percent of costs to install a work of art on their property.

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