January 2025 Newsletter

City Council Unanimously Approves RFQ for Downtown Parking Lots

At a meeting on January 14th, the City Council voted unanimously to issue an RFQ (Request for Qualifications) related to developing some of the downtown parking plazas into housing. This step essentially allows the city to receive preliminary information and proposals from developers about developing three of the parking plazas into housing. The vote came during a meeting the lasted more than 6 hours and included 103 public speakers.

Dating back to the Housing Element process, I’ve had concerns about developing the parking plazas into housing both because of likely negative impacts to downtown businesses and the logic of putting housing on all of the parking plazas between Santa Cruz Ave and Oak Grove Ave. At the meeting earlier this week, I was in favor of proceeding with the RFQ — but holding off on the surplus land exemption designation — because I think it’s important to hear from developers about the feasibility of developing the plazas. This information will be key to any future discussions we have as a community about potential tradeoffs in our efforts to comply with the Housing Element. As this process moves along, I remain open to engaging residents about the path forward for our community.

City Determines EIR required for 80 Willow Road Proposal

• CEQA Process - On January 13th, the city informed the applicant of the proposed development on the former Sunset Magazine campus (80 Willow Road) that the application was deemed inconsistent with multiple development standards by a wide array of city departments including Planning, Housing, Building, Sustainability, Engineering, Transportation and the City Arborist. The next steps for this project is the initiation of the CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) process. The city’s staff is completing the RFP (Request for Proposal) for CEQA consultant services. After a consultant has been identified, the city’s staff will bring the professional services agreement to the City Council for approval and the environmental review process will commence.

• Meeting on Historic Designation Delayed - In the newsletter last month, I shared that the 80 Willow site would be among the nominees reviewed by the State Historic Resource Commission for historic designation at its meeting on February 7, 2025. My understanding is that the site’s consideration has been delayed to a meeting later in the year. You can learn more about the project on the city’s website.

Planning Commission Approves 320 Sheridan Drive Development

• Planning Commission Approval - In a meeting on January 13th, the Planning Commission voted 5 - 1 to approve the development of an 88-unit affordable housing development on the former Flood School site. This site is owned by the Ravenswood City School District. The commission majority had some concerns about whether the project had the right balance of bike parking and car parking, but overall was very supportive.

• Appeal to City Council - It has come to my attention that some in the community may be interested in appealing the Planning Commission’s decision to the City Council. Appeals may be made in writing to the City Clerk’s office (second floor of City Hall) along with the applicable fee ($110). The appeal request should clearly state the reason for the appeal. For this project, the appeal period runs through January 28th, so any appeal would need to be submitted on or before that date.

• Recall Efforts - Earlier this week, I received notification from the the City Clerk that efforts have been initiated to recall me. My understanding is that these efforts are being led by Rob Silano, a Director on the Board of the Menlo Park Fire District, and others in the Suburban Park community. Mr. Silano’s email to me on the reasoning behind the recall was somewhat confusing, but it seems that he believes that the absence of a full second access makes the 320 Sheridan Drive project unsafe. The developer has committed to an emergency second access, and the project complies with applicable fire and building codes and has been reviewed by the Fire Marshal. I have been open to discussing a full second access, but have been skeptical of this option in part because it would require the creation of a new street. To be frank, a full second access seems to be a disingenuous effort to have the future residents of this project mostly access it through the Flood Triangle neighborhood instead of the Suburban Park neighborhood.

  This project, which seeks to provide housing for teachers and staff in the Ravenswood City School District, was the subject of a city-wide initiative (Measure V) in 2023 that sought to block it. This current recall attempt appears to be the latest effort by some who have a disappointingly myopic view of our community and who should be included in it. I look forward to the discussion of my record as a member of the City Council that will occur in the weeks and months ahead. I also look forward to demonstrating to my two children that leadership, at its best, has to be about being grounded in core values such as inclusion, empathy and fairness.

Engagement with Menlo Park City School District

During the course of this year, the city will consider a number of development projects that in total will add hundreds of housing units to the city in the years ahead. It is not lost on me that these projects are likely to have enormous impacts on the school district. While there has been a standing meeting between the City Manager and the school Superintendent, we’re in the process of scheduling a meeting that would also include me, as the mayor, and the school board president. The hope is that this meeting will kick off a process of more engagement and visibility about these projects between the city and the school district.

Community Office Hours Go Citywide

As I shared in last month’s newsletter, to reflect my role as mayor this year my community office hours will take place at various locations on the last Saturday of each month. For all other Saturdays, my office hours will continue to be hosted at 9 am at Cafe Zoe in the Willows. My next community office hours on January 25, 2025 will be hosted at Saint Frank Coffee (1018 Alma Street) at 9am. I look forward to seeing you there.