February 2025 Newsletter

Upcoming City Council Agenda Items

• Oversized Vehicle Ordinance: At the meeting on February 25, 2025, the city council will reconsider implementing an oversized vehicle ordinance. The city council first considered an oversized vehicle ordinance last year but there wasn’t enough support on the council to implement the ordinance. This is a sensitive issue where it is important to lead with empathy, but at the same time we cannot allow for a situation in which order and the rule of law is seemingly suspended. For the hundreds of workers, business operators, property owners and nearby residents, the situation of dozens of RVs permanently parked along Bohannon Drive and surrounding streets has become untenable. The situation presents a myriad of safety issues, and an oversized vehicle ordinance provides a needed tool for the city to begin to address the issue. Sadly, there is anecdotal evidence that the city council’s decision last year to not act has led to a growth in the numbers of RVs. This now makes any effort to address this issue even more challenging.

• San Francisquito Creek Presentation: At the meeting on February 25, 2025, the city council will receive a presentation providing updates on projects being led by the San Francisquito Creek Joint Powers Authority(SFCJPA). The presentation will include updates to the Reach 2 project which is focused on reducing flooding risks along the creek between Middlefield Avenue and University Avenue by increasing the creek’s capacity. The SFCJPA has had to lower estimates about the creek’s current capacity following data from flooding that occurred on New Year’s Eve 2023.

• 320 Sheridan Avenue Appeal: At the meeting on March 11, the city council will consider an appeal of the planning commission’s approval of an 88-unit affordable housing development on the former Flood School site. This appeal request is based in part on possible deficiencies in the analysis done about the project’s traffic impacts. (Side note: While I’ve received no formal notification, I’m assuming that the effort to recall me that was related to this project has foundered.)

Special Council Meeting: Re-visiting Housing Element Site Decisions

The city council will hold a special meeting on March 4, 2025 to review Housing Element Site Selection Criteria. This special meeting stems in part from concern among some in the community about the selection of the downtown parking lots as sites for future affordable housing. Some community members who oppose the development of the downtown parking argue that the Burgess campus would be a more appropriate site for future housing. When the city was preparing its housing element, there was considerable community opposition to the designation of any parks in the city as sites for future housing. This opposition even resulted in a council member proposing a ‘park protection ordinance’ that attempted to prevent the city from repurposing city’s parks into housing. I have no objection to revisiting these decisions, I actually welcome the dialogue. But this discussion should not be framed as a binary choice between downtown parking lots and Burgess. My thinking is that we need to take a more holistic approach that again looks at all city-owned property (including all parks), considers impacts across the city’s four elementary school districts and takes into account the possibility that one neighborhood (Linfield Oaks) could see much of the city’s future housing development. I value the renewed interest in these critical decisions and look forward to the discussion we’ll have as a community in the months ahead.

City Council Priority Planning Workshop

The city will host a City Council Priority Setting Workshop on March 22, 2025. These stand-alone Saturday workshops were an annual staple on the city council’s calendar prior to the pandemic. As mayor this year, it has been a priority that we return to that tradition. This meeting will provide an opportunity for both the city council, residents and staff to calibrate on current priorities and identify new priorities. Current city priorities (as selected by a majority of city council last year) are climate action, housing, safe routes to school and emergency preparedness. At the workshop I hope to explore the possibility of establishing a downtown commission. If there’s something that you think should be considered a city priority, please submit your suggestion at this website by March 7. On a related note, I’m also looking forward to bringing back the annual state of the city address later this year.

Santa Cruz Avenue Closure

At a meeting on February 11, 2025, the city council discussed my proposal to consider opening Santa Cruz Avenue, between Curtis Street and Doyle Street, where it has been closed to vehicular traffic since the pandemic. The closure of this block to vehicular traffic is what remains of a more extensive closure of Santa Cruz Avenue that the council implemented during the pandemic. Most of the business operators along Santa Cruz Avenue have asserted for some time now that the street should be fully re-opened. I acknowledge that this area has developed into a special community gathering spot, especially for students, and I’m open to arguments that it should be preserved. There are scenarios that could allow for the preservation of much of the space while re-allowing cars in the travel lane. Whatever position you take on this issue, I think we can all agree that there needs to be a conclusive decision about the future of this space. If that decision is to keep it closed, the city should fully assume responsibility for it, implement hardscape improvements and introduce signage/traffic pattern updates that reflect the closure. At the end of the discussion on February 11, the city gave direction that this should be included as a discussion item for the City Council Priority Planning Workshop.

City-run Preschool Study Session

At the city council meeting on February 11, 2025, the city council held a study session about the under enrollment of the city’s preschool programs. A key aspect of this session was a study/survey commissioned by the city that, in many respects, came to conclusions that have been apparent for years. Local demand for early childhood programs has seen dramatic changes as a result of several developments including the introduction and expansion of the Menlo Park City School District’s preschool offerings, flexibility offered by work-from-home policies and the departure of families with young children. The city offers two preschool programs: the Belle Haven Child Development Center and Menlo Children’s Center (MCC). While both programs have experienced significant drops in their enrollment, the Belle Haven program is targeted to families within specific income ranges and as a result receives state funding that covers its costs. But the under enrollment at MCC results in a needed subsidy of more than $1.2 million from the city’s general funds. This works out to an annual subsidy of roughly $20,000/per enrolled child. As I shared during the meeting, I’m not sure the city has the agility and expertise to operate in a space that at the moment is incredibly dynamic and competitive. It’s especially hard for me to rationalize the subsidy given that in November, to further assure the city’s financial future, we went to voters and got an increase in the transient occupancy tax. The city could better ensure the longterm viability of MCC by looking to possible operators such as the school district or preschool organizations. The city council will revisit this issue in a future meeting and during the budgeting process.

City’s Five-Year Street Maintenance Plan Released

Earlier this month, the city released an update to its Five Year Street Maintenance Plan. In District 2, streets identified as candidates for future treatment include sections of Grayson Court, Lexington Drive, Chester Street, O’Keefe Street, Woodland Avenue, Menalto Avenue, Berkeley Avenue, Ringwood Avenue and Hedge Road. Additionally, more extensive work on portions of both Bay Road and Middlefield Road were identified as Capital Improvement Projects.

March Community Office Hours

I’ll be attending M-A Little League’s opening day on March 1, 2025 and as a result won’t be holding office hours next Saturday. Offices hours on March, 8, 15 and 22 will be hosted at Cafe Zoe. Office hours on March 29 will be hosted at the Starbucks in Sharon Heights Shopping Center.