Menlo Park: Council eases some home rules Menlo Park: Council eases some home rules (February 02, 2005)

By Rebecca Wallace

Almanac Staff Writer

After winning the favor of a majority of the City Council, plans to streamline the approval process for many homes in Menlo Park are moving ahead.

City staff members will prepare a change to the zoning ordinance that would eliminate the use-permit requirement for new single-story homes on lots of at least 5,000 square feet, assuming that the homes meet development rules such as height limits. The council will need to give final approval later.

Councilwoman Mickie Winkler, who originally raised the idea, saying that it would save time and money for applicants with projects that are typically not controversial, was joined in the "yes" vote on January 25 by Nicholas Jellins and Lee Duboc.

Andy Cohen and Kelly Fergusson dissented, saying that residents should not have to give up the right to the public Planning Commission hearing that is part of the use-permit process.

A staff report by community development director Arlinda Heineck had stated that the plan "would not necessarily act as a significant incentive for single-story development" because projects still have to limit building coverage to between 30 and 35 percent of a lot.

In some cases, that limitation means that people who want to build the maximum allowed amount of square footage cannot do that in a single story because they would cover too much of the lot. So they go up into a second story, Ms. Heineck wrote.

In response, the council majority asked staff to look into two options to encourage single-story houses: either expanding allowable lot coverage to 40 percent, or eliminating the lot-coverage requirement but further limiting the size of the home's second story.

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