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A proposal by the development company Greystar to build 441 apartments and 42 townhomes near the Bay in Menlo Park hit a milestone when the final environmental studies evaluating the project were released June 11.
The proposed project, located at 141 Jefferson Drive and 180-186 Constitution Drive, would be an average height of 62.5 feet tall and include 553 parking spaces and 21,700 square feet of public open space, according to city staff.
In addition, the developer would set aside 67 rental apartments and six townhomes to be designated as affordable to people earning less than the median income, in accordance with city policies.
The exact breakdown of whether the below-market-rate apartments would be designated for very low- and low-income households only, or whether some moderate-income households could be eligible for the program has not been decided yet, according to city staff.
However, all six of the below-market-rate townhomes would be affordable to moderate-income households.
The developer has also proposed two ideas for community amenities to provide for the public in exchange for greater development allowances than would otherwise be permitted.
Those proposed amenities are to either dedicate the planned commercial space at the development – less than 3,000 square feet – to be used by a nonprofit, or to be used specifically by a health care nonprofit to operate an urgent or express care center.
In either case, the developer would contribute additional funds to a community land trust or health care network.
One of the most vocal groups raising questions about the environmental impacts of the proposal is the Sequoia Union High School District, because the proposed development is across the street – or as the environmental impact review (EIR) notes, 85 feet away – from the district’s recently launched TIDE Academy.
TIDE Academy is a Menlo Park high school focused on STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) education set to serve around 400 students across four grades.
A 23-page letter from the district’s law firm Lozano Smith in response to the draft EIR raises concerns that the proposal could add around 1,240 new residents to the neighborhood, including an estimated 100 new high school students that the district would have to serve.
The rapid increase in student population could require the district to add portable classrooms, the letter noted. It also raised concerns that the proposed development would worsen traffic and vehicle-related safety for students at the school.
A separate letter directly from the district raised similar points, including concerns about the noise and air quality impacts of the proposed development.
The authors of the final environmental analysis pushed back on the school’s requests, saying that the impact fees the developer would be expected to pay, along with existing regulations aimed at minimizing impacts to schools, would reduce the impacts to a “less than significant” level.
In addition, the analysis notes that while the total number of students in all grades at the development would be around 270, based on certain assumptions used in earlier environmental analyses to determine zoning for the area, that is likely a high estimate.
That’s because 224 of the proposed units at the development would be one-bedroom housing units where not many families with high school students would likely choose to live, the document’s authors reasoned. TIDE Academy was included in the analysis of other traffic, safety, air quality and noise impacts, the analysis authors, consultants from LSA Associates, noted.
Access the final EIR here. People wishing to comment on it in writing are encouraged to do so before 5:30 p.m. on Monday, June 21, by contacting Senior Planner Tom Smith at tasmith@menlopark.org, or by letter to Tom Smith, Senior Planner, Community Development, 701 Laurel St., Menlo Park, CA 94025. Email is preferred.
On June 21, the Menlo Park Planning Commission is scheduled to review the proposal and decide whether to certify the final EIR. At that meeting, people may also weigh in on the document in public comments.
After clearing the Planning Commission, the proposal will have to go before the City Council for final approval, since the project is considered a “major subdivision,” according to city staff.
Email Staff Writer Kate Bradshaw at kbradshaw@almanacnews.com.
Enough of these tall and also massive buildings being developed on the east side of town. The bay is what helps cool us off in most of MP. No more bldgs over 2 stories and no more monster complexes which block and change the breezes from the bay. Quality of life before lining the pockets of those developers who don’t even live here.
Brilliant design, much needed housing, hard to imagine better. Let us get on with it!
@Happy Resident, I suggest we need more truly affordable housing, not more market-rate housing. It is not MP’s responsibility to build housing for Facebook, Google, Apple,… so that they can recruit yet more very well paid people into increasingly dense Silicon Valley.
The 67 so-called affordable units are essentially a bribe under SB35 so that developers can exceed all MP zoning.
Alternatively, we can continue to stuff people in Silicon Valley and become like San Francisco…if that’s what residents want.
The Environmental Impact Report for this proposed development is avoiding perhaps the biggest issue with regards to a major subdivision in Menlo Park, or anywhere on the Peninsula – that being water consumption. Isn’t water one of the most important environmental factor for supporting life?
The USGS estimates a single person uses 80 – 100 gallons of water per day indoors. With the addition of 1,240 new residents (using 90 gallons), that translates to 111,600 gal. per day or 40,730,000 gal. per year. How is this additional water consumption going to be quenched, when we are facing the greatest drought in recorded California history and facing long term drought conditions with climate change? The planning commission needs to get real and “plan”, not just get starry-eyed every time another developer waves a new housing solution in front of them. Maybe it’s time we realize Menlo Park doesn’t need to house everyone who would like to live here.