March 2025 Newsletter

Downtown Added As City Priority

• New City Priority: At the annual City Council Priority-Setting Workshop, which was held on March 22, there was unanimous city council support for adding Downtown to the city’s priority list. This addition represents renewed support among the city council for implementing measures aimed at improving the overall downtown experience and providing support for current and potential downtown businesses. Direction to city staff on specific projects, ordinance changes and other city actions will come at a future meeting. As I’ve previously shared, I’m supportive of the council considering actions such as 1) expanding the business types allowed on Santa Cruz Avenue, 2) establishing a downtown commission, 3) prioritizing the resurfacing of downtown parking plazas and 4) improving the downtown physical environment (kiosks, hardscape, and landscaping). As we begin this process, it’s important that we not get bogged down in years of “visioning.”

• Santa Cruz Avenue Reopening: The workshop’s agenda also included a discussion on my proposal to reopen the travel lane on Santa Cruz Avenue (between Doyle and Curtis streets). The on-street parking area would be retained for outdoor dining and community gathering. While this proposal will have to return to the city council for final action, there appeared to be majority council support for reopening the travel lane to vehicular traffic.

• Feedback from Residents: As part of the priority-setting process, the city received 524 online responses and 18 hand-written responses. According to a staff report, there appeared to be strong support for the 4 current priorities and revitalizing/activating downtown. Additionally, the city received 168 responses expressing a lack of support for redeveloping the downtown parking lots into housing.

• Current Priorities Retained: During the workshop, a city council majority also expressed support for retaining all the current items on the priority list: climate action, housing, safe routes and emergency preparedness. I proposed removing a couple of items from the list. I think priorities for any organization, should be items that are both important and lack a certain level of maturity and/or stability. Some of the current priorities (and the work plans that underpin them) have reached a business-as-usual state and are no longer in need of the additional focus from both the city council and city staff. My preference was for a more selective approach to the city’s priority list. As I said during the meeting, “If everything is a priority, nothing is a priority.”

Proposed Middlefield Developments

As we continue to discuss how proposed developments align with or challenge our own hopes for Menlo Park’s future, it’s important to be mindful of the central role Middlefield Avenue is likely to play.

• U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Campus: Earlier this month, the federal government put the 17-acre campus back on the market. Given the federal government’s current money-saving posture and the $35 million reduction in the bid minimum, it’s increasingly likely that this much delayed sale will actually happen. The city has identified this campus as a housing opportunity site and indicated support for re-zoning a portion of the campus (when it’s no longer owned by the federal government) for use by a school district. Any proposed development is likely to reuse the newer office building and demolish the older office buildings/facilities to make way for new construction and uses.

• 80 Willow Road: The Builder’s Remedy proposal that has been submitted for the former Sunset Magazine Campus at the corner of Willow Road and Middlefield Road remains in progress. Currently, city staff is reviewing 6 proposals from CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) consultants. Decisions related to CEQA scoping and consultants for the 6.68 acre site will be made by the city council. To recap, this proposal represents roughly 1.5 million square feet of offices, residences, hotel, retail, and other uses. This square footage is spread across 4 towers (the tallest being 461 feet). Additionally, there may be renewed efforts to change the Builder’s Remedy provision in state law. You can learn more about the project on the city’s website.

• SRI Campus: The proposed development on the SRI campus, dubbed Parkline, includes more than 550 residences, as well as the replacement of 1.1 million square feet in office/lab space. City staff and a City Council subcommittee (Councilmembers Jeff Schmidt and Cecilia Taylor) are finalizing a development agreement with Lane Partners, the developers of the project. This agreement will need to be approved by the full city council. A key aspect of the development agreement will likely be the prioritization of the housing portion as part of the construction phasing. The balance between housing and office in this project will be key given that additional office can be seen as heightening the demand for housing. You can learn more about the project on the city’s website.

Affordable Housing Updates

• Oak Gardens Housing: On February 26, I joined other elected officials as well as community and private sector stakeholders in a groundbreaking event for Oak Gardens, a 62-unit affordable housing development on the Menlo Park campus of the VA Palo Alto Healthcare system. The ceremonial kick off of construction represents a monumental step for the project, which will be targeted to veterans and their families. Fifty-five of the homes will have a preference for households experiencing homelessness, according to the developer. When complete, this project will join the 60-unit Willow Housing, also aimed at veterans and their families, which opened on the campus in 2018.

• 320 Sheridan: At a special meeting held on March 11, the city council 4-0 (with Councilmember Cecilia Taylor absent) rejected an appeal of the planning commission’s approval of the 88-unit affordable housing project on the former Flood school site. The appeal seemed mainly driven by an effort to add a second full access (via Van Buren Road) to the site. As I’ve said in the past, I remain supportive of exploring a second access but it has to include engagement of Flood Triangle neighborhood residents, bifurcation of the development’s parking lot and an understanding of how the renovation of Flood Park will impact the Flood neighborhood. My perspective is that it was ultimately counterproductive for county and state officials to weigh in on this issue.

• Affordable Housing Across the City: Affordable housing has been central to a number of discussions the city is currently having about future development. As this discussion continues, it remains important to frame it in the context of the city’s current affordable housing stock and where it is located. Of the city’s 477 affordable housing units, 252 are located between San Francisco Bay and Highway 101 (which essentially follows the boundaries of Council District 1), 60 units are located between Highway 101 and Middlefield (this will increase to 210 with the additions of the Flood school site and the new VA campus project), 20 units are located between Middlefield and the train tracks, and 135 units are located between the train tracks and Alameda de la Pulgas. It is important to point out that 0 affordable housing units are located between Alameda de la Pulgas and Highway 280 (this roughly mirrors the borders of Council District 5).

City Pools Update

At a meeting on March 11, 2025, the city council received a report from city staff and Menlo Swim & Sport, the operator of the city’s 2 pools. The report requested changes to the agreement between Menlo Swim & Sport and the city to reflect the challenging financial environment that the operator is experiencing due, in part, to lower than expected usage of the new pool at the Belle Haven Community Campus. Specifically, the operator has requested increasing fees that residents pay, increasing lane rental rates, suspending the revenue sharing agreement with the city and reducing the number of hours the Belle Haven pool is open. The city council will vote on these proposed changes at a meeting in April. I recognize that Menlo Swim & Sport is facing challenges and, in general, I’m supportive of the changes that are being proposed. My perspective is that if the city needed to assume direct operation of the pools, it would be challenging to maintain the current level of programming. But before coming to a final position on this issue, I’m interested in hearing from the community.

March and April Community Office Hours

Community office hours are held every Saturday from 9am - 10am.

• Office Hours on March 29 will be held at the Starbucks in Sharon Heights Shopping Center. Virginia Chang Kiraly, Menlo Park Fire Protection District Board Member, will join me for the March 29 office hours. Virginia serves as the board’s liaison to both the City of Menlo Park and the San Francisquito Creek Joint Powers Authority.

• Office Hours on April 5 will be cancelled due to family travel plans.

• Office Hours on April 12 and 19 will be held at Cafe Zoe in the Willows.

• Office hours on April 26 will be held at Peet’s in downtown.