Atherton's year in review: Buried car, housing woes and a missing Batmobile

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Atherton residents and public officials look at a map of the town of Atherton at a community meeting to discuss the state's housing requirements in Jennings Pavilion at Holbrook-Palmer Park in Atherton on April 26, 2022. Photo by Magali Gauthier. — Atherton residents and public officials look at a map of the town of Atherton at a community meeting to discuss the state’s housing requirements in Jennings Pavilion at Holbrook-Palmer Park in Atherton on April 26, 2022. Photo by Magali Gauthier.

Planning to build more housing possibly multifamily housing dominated the conversation in Atherton in 2022, with many residents asking town officials to stick to its history of single-family home neighborhoods. Under pressure from the state to accommodate new homes, some residents asked the town to fight California’s housing mandates. Meanwhile, the town began receiving applications to build duplexes under a new state law that allows single-family home owners to split their lots.

The Dirt also recently broke the news that Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry and Atherton resident had sold his house and moved to a new Atherton neighborhood.

The Mercedes Benz convertible that landscapers found buried in an Atherton yard on Oct. 20 was fully excavated and taken away, accompanied by police, on Oct. 22, 2022. Courtesy Reid Conti.

In October, the community was shocked by a strange discovery by landscapers: a car, loaded with bags of cement, buried in a backyard of a home in Atherton. Dogs picked up on the scent of human remains in the Mercedes Benz convertible, which had been reported stolen in the 1990s by a previous owner of the home, but no remains were found. The San Mateo Crime Lab has been analyzing parts of the vehicle for DNA to see if there is a connection to any other crimes. The previous homeowner had a criminal past that included murder convictions.

In local politics, Stacy Miles Holland was elected to the City Council in November, and council members Bill Widmer and Rick DeGolia both won reelection. Widmer took the reins as mayor in December and Diana Hawkins-Manulian stepped into the vice mayor role.

With the new Town Center complete this year, council meetings returned to in-person, though still in a hybrid format.

Mark Racop sits inside one of his custom built Batmobile replicas. Courtesy Mark Racop.

Atherton made national news when the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office raided the shop of an Indiana Batmobile-maker, who was accused of theft by an Atherton resident after the $210,000 1960s-era replica Batmobile that he ordered was delayed.

Amid a string of residential burglaries in town, an Atherton couple that was victimized opened up to The Almanac about the emotional damage, along with $1 million in physical damage to their home, caused by burglars.