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After meeting for over six hours, the Portola Valley Town Council opted on March 29, not to approve its latest iteration of its state-mandated housing element in a split vote. The major concern? Development of the Stanford University-owned Glen Oaks Equestrian Center where Isola Stables is currently housed.
The council voted 2-3, to approve the draft, which was due to the state on Jan. 31. Council members Judith Hasko, Mary Hufty and Craig Taylor voted against the plan, while Mayor Jeff Aalfs and Vice Mayor Sarah Wernikoff were in favor of submission to the state Department of Housing and Community Development.
Portola Valley is required to plan for 253 new units that could reasonably be built between 2023 and 2031 as part of the 2023-31 Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA). The state asked the town to revise its plan in November 2022.
Wernikoff told The Almanac on Thursday, March 30, that she is “cautiously optimistic” that the council will adopt the housing element at its May 10 meeting. She said the housing element process has been expansive, with over 140 hours of public meetings over 18 months. Taylor suggested reconvening in two weeks after talking to Stanford, but Wernikoff noted Planning Director Laura Russell will be on vacation, and Russell said she won’t be able to put together a staff packet until late April.
“Portola Valley’s process has been the most robust housing element process on the Peninsula, if not the entire nine-county Bay Area,” said Wernikoff in a March 30 email. “I voted in favor of adoption of the housing element to limit the known risk of builder’s remedy and lawsuits, risks which increase after March 31, as the post-approval process begins. … I trust my fellow council members, the Planning Commissioners, our staff, our volunteer committees, WFPD (Woodside Fire Protection Department) and the many community members who have been working under difficult circumstances with complicated mandates.”
Hasko said she is concerned developing 16 units of housing (at four units per acre) at the 4-acre Glen Oaks site at 3639 Alpine Road will hamper a vibrant business. It’s also inconsistent with the town’s value of supporting horse facilities, she said. She noted it is near another equestrian facility that will be shut down when the Stanford Wedge project is developed.
“If you go to Roberts (market) on a Saturday or Sunday morning, you see everyone dressed in equestrian clothing,” she said. “It’s not lost on me that this is going to have an impact on a lot of businesses and a lot of workers who need affordable housing.”
Taylor agreed that the plan at Glen Oaks conflicts with the general ethos of horse culture in the town.
Wernikoff said the town tried to minimize the number of units at the location, but with few development plots of land in town, Glen Oaks made the list.
Hasko and Taylor said they will explore alternative plans with Stanford and lessee Isola at the Alpine Road and Arastradero Road site.
Town staff acknowledged that it is unlikely the stables will stay, based on where land can be developed on the site. Russell said the town would have trouble justifying including more backyard accessory dwelling units (ADUs) in the plan when asked if the town could swap the Glen Oaks site for more ADUs.
Aalfs said Glen Oaks has been thoroughly examined as a site already, so he didn’t understand the sudden need to remove it from the plan.
Taylor told The Almanac that with a new council, it was one last try to protect a local business and find an alternative. Because it is private land, the town can’t include Glen Oaks under a sunrise provision. The town-owned Dorothy Ford Field and Open Space is included in a sunrise provision that it can only be developed only after a 2-year period, if no alternative sites are identified that enable the town to meet its RHNA requirements through other means.
Residents have written the town expressing concerned about the units of housing designated at the Glen Oaks site. The town previously proposed 29 units at the site.
Specific site plans at Glen Oaks
A portion of the land is occupied by the Isola Stables at the Glen Oaks Equestrian Center with grassy open fields surrounding the stables, according to a staff report.
Stanford has expressed interest in working with the town to develop an appropriate project at the Glen Oaks project site.
The housing units are anticipated to be for Stanford faculty/staff with an affordable housing component. The plan includes 14 above moderate-income units and two moderate-income units. Isola Stables has expressed interest to the town in designating low-income housing for its staff members.
The feasibility analysis evaluated the most restrictive scenario by keeping development outside of a 75-foot scenic corridor setback and 55-foot setback from Los Trancos Creek. The width of each area (235 feet and 338 feet, respectively) was also considered wide enough to accommodate future development.
Fire district letter and other approvals
One of the reasons the meeting lasted so long was a letter from Woodside Fire Protection District sent to the town on the day of the meeting. The letter requests that the town commit to ensuring that the revisions to another part of the town’s general plan, the safety element, is revised to be at least as protective as the 2010 version. The agency advised using the “Mortiz Map,” which gauges fire safety for the area, or any successor map for evaluating fire risk.
Though the council did not approve the housing element at the meeting, it did vote unanimously to accept the town’s post-approval planning process and its environmental impact study, an initial study/mitigated negative declaration, during the meeting.
Staffing changes
At the same meeting, the council approved a six-month contract to appoint Public Works Director Howard Young to step into the vacant town manager role temporarily.
Young is serving in both roles at the same time, and he would be paid a 10% premium above his current salary (which equates to about $10,951 over the six months) to account for his expanded duties. Young is allowed under the agreement to retain additional consultant support to backfill some of the administrative functions of his public works duties in the amount of $50,000, and to hire a consultant to fulfill other interim town manager duties for $75,000.
Town Manager Jeremy Dennis left the role on March 17. Assistant Town Manager Melvin Gaines left the town in January to take on the city manager role in East Palo Alto.
The town is also in the midst of hiring a replacement for Town Clerk Melissa Thurman, who left on March 20, according to Aalfs.
Watch Part 1 of the meeting here. Part 2 of the meeting is here.
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