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Despite going back and forth at a Nov. 28 meeting, the Menlo Park City Council passed seven resolutions to rezone the city, including allowing development of up to 100 housing units per acre in downtown.
The impetus to change zoning is part of the housing element update process that Menlo Park has undergone for the past year and a half. The original deadline to submit a housing element acceptable to California officials was Jan. 31, and its failure to get state approval has left the city open to penalties such as so-called builder’s remedy projects — like the high-rise proposal at the former Sunset Magazine headquarters on Willow Road — that can bypass the city’s development rules. Since Menlo Park still doesn’t have an approved housing element, the city will be exposed to further state penalties unless the council passes zoning changes to expand housing development opportunities by Jan. 31 of next year.
‘I do not believe that we have thought through the likely consequences of zoning for 100 units per acre for market rate housing.’
Betsy Nash, Menlo Park council member
At the meeting, Menlo Park resident Karen Grove approached the council with a sign saying local advocacy group Menlo Together and the Housing Leadership Council of San Mateo County had gathered online and in-person signatures. She then unfurled a list of names that reached the floor. The online petition advocates for the council to allow buildings up to eight stories high in downtown Menlo Park and as of Wednesday afternoon, had 60 signatures.
One speaker, Michael, said that he’s spoken before at a City Council meeting, but this time he was not speaking as a Menlo Park resident. He said that after a pipe burst in his Menlo Park apartment, he was forced to move. Faced with Menlo Park housing prices, he couldn’t stay in the city.
“It has been frustrating seeing Menlo Park continue to fail housing elements and have to continue revising while I am in the middle of trying to find an apartment,” Michael said. “I hope that other people in similar situations don’t have to move out of the city and are able to find more options.”
Two speakers asked the council to not adopt the proposed resolutions without adding protections for current residents to stabilize rents and to offer market-rate compensation for residents if they are relocated during construction.
Increasing density was a focal point in the meeting, and the council looked at upzoning — increasing the size and height of buildings allowed — across the city. The council considered a proposal that would allow developers to combine density bonuses allowed by state law and the so-called affordable housing overlay (AHO) to permit as much as 150 units per acre density. For developments that are within half a mile of a transit stop, unlimited density is permitted under state Assembly Bill 1763, except that developers can go no more than three stories higher than existing height restrictions.
The council unanimously voted to approve the AHO, which allows the 150-unit per acre maximum to apply to all opportunity sites or areas designated in the housing element as good for developing housing.
In another of several motions regarding zoning changes, Council member Betsy Nash argued against increasing downtown density as proposed, saying that the city should not “supercharge” market rate housing, and should instead keep the focus on affordable housing.
“I do not believe that we have thought through the likely consequences of zoning for 100 units per acre for market rate housing,” Nash said. “There will be no going back from this decision. Once these housing numbers are established, they cannot be reduced.”
Nash said her concerns revolved around the Housing Accountability Act’s mandate that cities cannot change laws in a way that creates a net loss of housing. Nash said she would be more comfortable with 70 units per acre, as the city can always increase it but cannot easily bring it back down.
Council member Drew Combs agreed that 100 units per acre could be too high for market-rate housing in Menlo Park, but Vice Mayor Cecilia Taylor argued that while she was on the fence, she believed if it worked for the Bayfront neighborhood, it should work for downtown.
“I think we should have the same policy in every area in Menlo Park,” Taylor said. “So 100 units an acre was good for Bayfront, so 100 units an acre was good for the rest of Menlo Park. I do believe that.”
The council passed the rezoning 3-2 with Nash and Combs dissenting.
The zoning changes passed at the meeting will return to the Menlo Park City Council for a second vote next week, Dec. 6, a step required before they can become law.
