With San Mateo County’s housing element returned for round two, the Board of Supervisors at a June 13 meeting looked for more potential housing sites, and West Menlo Park is now in the mix.
The California Department of Housing & Community Development (HCD) returned the county’s housing element for reworking, and the county is hunting for additional ways to fulfill its goal of accommodating 2,833 new units over the next eight years. According to city staff, the plan had relied heavily on homeowners building backyard cottages and apartments, known as accessory dwelling units (ADUs), and on prospective housing sites in Belmont that are no longer viable for various reasons.
Five speakers at the meeting came out heavily in support of designating sites in West Menlo Park, the areas of unincorporated land along the Alameda de las Pulgas corridor, for housing development.
Kathleen Daly said that county staff should move forward with researching the possibility, even if some residents attempt to block it.
West Menlo Park is one of the areas that has tried to block housing, she said. “Wealthy neighbors have to do their part, and I struggle to understand why or how some of these areas dare to challenge the need to find new sites for housing.”
Jess Hudson, the public policy manager for United Way Bay Area, said that the county has to focus on building equitably, and that includes land in more affluent areas such as West Menlo Park.
County staffers said that they weren’t proposing rezoning in West Menlo Park, but rather looking to non-residential parcels in the area to see if there’s potential for development. County staff specifically named vacant parking lots and commercial land as sites that could be of interest.
Jordan Grimes, of Greenbelt Alliance, suggested that areas of West Menlo Park could be rezoned to allow up to 35 units an acre for denser family housing. Grimes called West Menlo a high-resource area, primed for accessibility to jobs, services, good schools and public transit stops.
“Failing to rezone West Menlo Park while making rezoning changes in less affluent areas like Colma and North Fair Oaks will likely trigger fair housing concerns by the state,” Grimes said. “Every area of our county must do its part to meet the overwhelming housing needs that we face.”
Supervisor David Canepa said he supported the further exploration of West Menlo Park as a housing opportunity, adding that the housing crisis was not a “North Fair Oaks problem” but a housing problem as a whole, so there needs to be a collective solution and it's incumbent on affluent cities to step up.
“When it comes to an affordable housing development, where we're supposed to show compassion, and to help others, we're not meeting the moment because we cave … to political pressures and political winds,” Canepa said.
Supervisor Ray Mueller, a former Menlo Park City Council member, said he supported looking into vacant lots in West Menlo Park, he emphasized that non-vacant lots were not up for discussion, since many of them housed small business owners.
“What I want to make clear to the community and also to those small business owners is that what's not on the table today is sort of driving them out of business, which I think the community certainly wouldn't be appreciative (of),” Mueller said.
Comments
Registered user
Menlo Park: other
on Jun 23, 2023 at 1:24 pm
Registered user
on Jun 23, 2023 at 1:24 pm
Please note that the "operative" word in Mueller's statement ("I want to make clear to the community and also to those small business owners is that what's not on the table today is sort of driving them out of business") is TODAY! It will be on the table TOMORROW!
Our Progressive leaders will not stop until all Zip Codes in CA are equal in all ways! California is hemorrhaging middle-class & affluent residents that are leaving for opportunity and freedom. Office & Retail space is empty all over the Peninsular. Have you looked at Middlefield Road or the downtown areas? They are near transportation & could be converted to multiple housing units! And we are building much more expensive housing units by "up zoning" residential areas? Our leaders have no vision or creativity. Change them or live in a commune-like community!
Registered user
Laurel School
on Jun 23, 2023 at 2:30 pm
Registered user
on Jun 23, 2023 at 2:30 pm
It’s good to see the county considering West Menlo for affordable housing. These are areas with greater access to amenities, with public schools that receive more money per student, with better access to public transportation, with far more open space and far more money spent on keeping the infrastructure updated and pristine than most neighborhoods in Menlo Park…not just Belle Haven.
However, it’s concerning that the county is only considering empty lots and that these potential development sites may be protected from the sort of heavy-handed rezoning currently in use, or being considered in less affluent middle and working class areas of the city.
Registered user
Menlo Park: Central Menlo Park
on Jun 23, 2023 at 4:08 pm
Registered user
on Jun 23, 2023 at 4:08 pm
Menlo Park's latest housing element already has an irresponsible target for new housing, a 50% increase in housing units over 8 years! The last thing we need is the County targeting MP, they already siphon away too much of our property tax revenue.
We need to end the madness and replace Gavin Newsom. Urbanizing Menlo Park is not going to reduce homelessness. It will just result in a wealth transfer from current residents to future transient residents.
We should build housing that is reserved exclusively for employees of Menlo Park's schools, police department, fire department, and city (and not just first right of refusal as with the Suburban Park debacle).
Registered user
Menlo Park: Suburban Park/Lorelei Manor/Flood Park Triangle
on Jun 23, 2023 at 5:28 pm
Registered user
on Jun 23, 2023 at 5:28 pm
@CyberVoter Au contrere, they do have a vision. It's dense, affordable housing in every corner. Did you miss their stands in the last election? Siding with the YIMBY coalition?
Registered user
Menlo Park: Sharon Heights
on Jun 24, 2023 at 1:37 pm
Registered user
on Jun 24, 2023 at 1:37 pm
I'm all for more housing in Menlo Park, but calling "West Menlo a high-resource area, primed for accessibility to [...] public transit stops" is misleading.
In actuality, SamTrans has two buses in the area: 87 and 86. Both are school school oriented services that come like once or twice a day in each direction.
If we're to build high density housing (regardless of income eligiblity), we need reliable and frequent public transit first.
Registered user
Atherton: Lindenwood
on Jun 27, 2023 at 10:05 am
Registered user
on Jun 27, 2023 at 10:05 am
Menlo Park has acres of parking lots. Allow housing on the parking lots with underground parking or first-floor parking and housing above up to 3-4 stories. With this alone, the city will achieve some of its housing goals, be close to public transportation, be pedestrian-friendly, and finally have a thriving, lively downtown to support local businesses. Has this been presented on any agenda?
Before anyone says, "We need public parking downtown" No parking will be lost if the proposal includes underground (expensive) and first-floor parking (more cost-effective)
There will be a few years of construction that will disrupt the downtown area but for the long term, it's better than trying to squeeze housing into areas that don't want it or are not accessible to transportation.
I would expect that many developers will jump at the opportunity to build multi-family housing in downtown Menlo Park with a city requirement to have 10% or 20% (what is the % that pencils out) with affordable housing?
here is an interesting article:
Web Link
a summary:
For 60 years, researchers have found that the economic segregation of students. which is driven by housing policy, shapes educational opportunity even more powerfully than spending per pupil. In Montgomery County, Md., for example, county officials pursued two strategies for raising the achievement of low-income students. In a program that started in 2000, the school board spent an extra $2,000 per pupil in high-poverty schools. In another program begun decades earlier, the county council enacted an “inclusionary zoning” law that requires builders to set aside a portion of new developments for low-income families. Over time, as Heather Schwartz of RAND found in a 2010 study, the housing authority’s plan cut the math achievement gap between low-income and middle-class students in half, while the school board’s program had much less impact.
Registered user
Atherton: Lindenwood
on Jun 27, 2023 at 10:11 am
Registered user
on Jun 27, 2023 at 10:11 am
MP Father
If there are more affordable housing options it's possible to reserve housing for teachers, firefighters, police, etc.
First, the housing needs to be built.
Mountain View is doing this! 123 units for teachers.
Why can't MP do this? and it qualifies as affordable housing which satisfies the state's housing requirements.
Web Link
Registered user
another community
on Jun 27, 2023 at 10:59 pm
Registered user
on Jun 27, 2023 at 10:59 pm
Why is this reporter devoting two paragraphs to someone from Greenbelt Alliance?
I thought their focus was climate change.
Registered user
Menlo Park: other
on Jul 4, 2023 at 3:41 pm
Registered user
on Jul 4, 2023 at 3:41 pm
I think West Menlo Park should be commended on the high density housing it already has established: Menlo Commons, Condos in Sharon Heights, Apartments on Sharon Rd and Harkins. It might make sense use open land near the Sharon Heights golf course, Stanford Hills, and around SLAC, and near the Rosewood hotel.
What should not be lost are two important components of living:
1) transportation -- SamTrans has canceled bus routes in the area, they should add frequent service and more routes so that one doesn't have to wait for hours to catch a ride.
2) with Housing should also be a requirement for adding of green space, places for kids to play, including field sports. We need to not only preserve what park and green space we currently have (totally inadequate!), we need to greatly expand these types of areas to keep up with all of the new population that need them for health, sanity, and connection with nature.
I think most agree that it is not just affordable housing -- we need to expand parks and natural green areas and not just push for buildings and yet more cars. A growing population requires the infrastructure too. I don't hear a voice for green space, play grounds, or open areas for field sports/games/play, yet we already have a serous deficit of such greenery and space for locals.