October 2025 Newsletter

Signatures Submitted for Parking Lots Ballot Measure

Proponents of the Downtown Parking Plazas Ordinance initiative have submitted a petition to the City Clerk to qualify it as a ballot measure. If the proposed ordinance becomes law, it would require voter-action to redevelop the downtown parking lots.

In an email to the City Council, the City Clerk confirmed receipt of the petition on October 10 with a total of 3,440 signatures. This signature count represents a comfortable margin over what’s required to qualify for a city ballot measure. The City Clerk delivered the signatures to the county for verification and official certification. You can learn more about this effort at the Save Downtown Menlo website.

Potential Next Steps

Assuming the petition receives verification and official certification, there are several possible next steps:

• Place the Ordinance on the Ballot: The city council could put the ordinance to a vote during the November 2026 election or a special election held before November 2026.

• Adopt the Ordinance Outright: The city council could directly adopt the ordinance without a public vote.

• Decline to Adopt or Place on the Ballot: The city council could choose not to adopt the ordinance or put it to a vote, likely leading to legal action from proponents of the measure.

• Council Initiates Legal Action: The council could seek a judicial ruling to keep the initiative off the ballot.

• Third-Party Intervention: A pro-housing organization or another third-party could sue the city seeking a judicial ruling to prohibit either the adoption of the ordinance or its placement on the ballot.

Background

This proposed ballot measure comes in response to efforts to redevelop three downtown parking lots into more than 300 affordable housing units. The city took the first formal steps towards redeveloping downtown parking plazas 1, 2 and 3 into housing when the city council adopted Menlo Park’s Sixth Cycle 2023-2031 Housing Element in January 2023. In September 2025, the city released a request for proposals (RFP) to six developers seeking submissions on redeveloping the parking lots in affordable housing. The developers have until December 15, 2025 to submit detailed proposals. You can learn more about the current process to redevelop the downtown parking lots on this city webpage.

Menlo Park Precedent

There is precedent in Menlo Park for significant development proposals making their way to voters in the form of ballot measures. Examples of past Menlo Park initiatives that were about developments include Measure V (2022), Measure M (2014) and Measure T (2010).

State of City Set for October 23 at Bar Loretta

This State of the City is set for Thursday, October 23 at Bar Loretta, which opened earlier this year. Bar Loretta is one of several exciting additions to Menlo Park’s dining and hospitality scene in 2025, which also included Clark’s, Haven Wine + Cheese, Eylan and Yebo, Darling.

I’m thrilled about the opportunity the State of City address provides to highlight exciting and important developments across the city in 2025 like new restaurants, additions to our local business community such as Snowflake’s relocation to Menlo Park and vital infrastructure projects such as the Coleman Avenue Pilot Project.

All are welcome. You can RSVP and learn more about this year’s State of the City address at this city webpage.

Operations at Burgess and Belle Haven Pools to Stabilize

At a meeting on September 30, a 3-2 city council majority voted to provide additional funding for the operations of both the Belle Haven and Burgess pools. This action provides a reprieve from the recent instability that has plagued the operation of the city’s pools. An immediate result of the council’s action: Menlo Swim and Sport announced that Belle Haven Pool would remain open for 63 hours a week and Burgess Pool would soon return to 93 hours a week of operations.

Divisive Issue

I appreciate that this remains an issue in which opinions across the community are varied and strongly held. This division has been reflected in public comments during city council meetings and during the council’s own discussion of this matter. There remain important decisions yet to be made about the pools including whether the city should directly operate the Belle Haven Pool. In the weeks ahead, I look forward to hearing community suggestions on paths forward.

Community Feedback Sought For Santa Cruz Avenue Public Plaza

The city has kicked off an expansive engagement effort to get community feedback about the public plaza that is being planned for the 600 block on Santa Cruz Avenue. The closure of the south side of the 600 block of Santa Cruz Avenue dates back to the pandemic when many blocks on the street were closed to vehicular traffic. Following the pandemic, much of the Santa Cruz Avenue was reopened. This block has remained closed, and earlier this year the council voted to make the closure permanent and transform it into a public plaza. While the boundaries of the public plaza have been set by past council action, there are still many design decisions yet to be made. You can learn more about the proposal and the city outreach efforts on this webpage.

Farmers Market

City staff will be on hand at the Menlo Park Farmers Market on October 19 to provide an overview of the project and seek public feedback.

October Events

• Halloween Hoopla - This year’s Halloween Hoopla Parade and Carnival will take place on October 25 from 11:00am to 2:00pm. This Menlo Park tradition represents a fun time for all ages. Attendees will enjoy Halloween-inspired carnival games, prizes, candy, a craft table provided by Cheeky Monkey and performances from Menlo Park school bands.

• Pancake Breakfast – The 25th Annual Pancake Breakfast hosted at Menlo Park Fire District Headquarters will take place on October 25 from 7:30am to 11:00am. This fundraiser event benefits the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation and is sponsored by the Junior League, Stanford Park Hotel and the Menlo Park Firefighters Association.

• Community Office Hours - After a month at Peet’s Coffee downtown, office hours have returned to Neighborhood Pizza Guy/Cafe Zoë for the remainder of my tenure as mayor. And for 2026, the plan is to continue to hold office hours at Neighborhood Pizza Guy/Cafe Zoë. Office hour sessions are held every Saturday from 9:00am to 10:00am.