EDITORIAL: Change zoning, with notification EDITORIAL: Change zoning, with notification (June 29, 2005)

Menlo Park's never-ending battle over residential zoning is set to continue this week when the City Council takes up a measure that would ease the approval process for single-story homes on lots of at least 5,000 square feet.

The Planning Commission originally voted in April to recommend a measure that would require more staff and public input on the projects, but changed its mind the next month. The May vote came after Mayor Mickie Winkler wrote a controversial letter urging commissioners to change their minds. Opponents say the mayor was meddling.

The new ordinance brings back memories of last year's zoning battle, when the council majority approved a sweeping measure that was opposed by then-Planning Commissioner Kelly Fergusson, who led a successful campaign against it. The ordinance eventually was thrown out after a referendum and turned out to be a springboard for Ms. Fergusson's election to the council.

The new ordinance, which a divided council directed staff to prepare in February, would allow homeowners and developers to simply apply for and receive a building permit on lots of at least 5,000 square feet if their project met city guidelines. Under current rules, all projects on substandard lots (those not meeting lot area, width and depth requirements for their zoning districts) must be approved by the Planning Commission, which can be a costly and sometimes arduous process.

Perhaps the biggest difference of opinion between the two sides is the issue of neighborhood notification. Without Planning Commission involvement, the ordinance simply suggests "courtesy notification" to contiguous neighbors, which Ms. Fergusson has said would come too late for any changes to be made in a project.

While this issue is important, we believe it to be minor, given a staff analysis of five years of permit history that shows single-story projects account for less than 20 percent of the total, and that few hearings attracted neighbors or anyone else to testify. Nevertheless, we hope a strong neighbor notification requirement is part of the final ordinance, so nearby homeowners can at least discuss projects with the owners and developers before ground is broken.

Overall, the revisions proposed in this ordinance are not onerous and would greatly speed the building permit process for the limited number of applicants who are doing single-story projects. Only 35 building permits for such jobs were filed in the five-year period examined by staff, an average of only seven per year. This ordinance makes sense. The real work will come if the council decides once again to tackle the issue of two-story additions.

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