[Note: The City of Menlo Park has identified the 2.5-acre former Flood School parcel as “Opportunity Site #38” in its Housing Element initiative for high-density development. Under a new State proposal, developers could potentially build 100 units per acre on this site, or 250 units.]
*Urgent action: Please attend the City of Menlo Park Planning Commission Meeting 7PM on Monday 2/28/22 via Zoom Read the agenda and written comments instructions here. The Housing Element report is item G on the agenda: G. Regular Business G1. Housing Element Annual Report/City of Menlo Park: Opportunity to consider and provide comments and/or a recommendation to the City Council on the 2021 annual report on the status and implementation of the City’s current 5th Cycle General Plan Housing Element (2015-2023). (Staff Report #22-014-PC)
Recent Suburban Park Task Force Activity:
The Task Force met with City Council member Drew Combs (2/9/22) and Mayor Betsy Nash (2/20/22) to discuss and better understand the City's role in the planning and rezoning processes.
We voiced our concerns about the scale of the proposed apartment project and the single Sheridan Drive access via our neighborhood.
We will be meeting with Vice Mayor Jen Wolosin at 4pm on Sunday 2/27/22 in our neighborhood.
Council Members Cecilia Taylor and Ray Mueller have also been invited to meet us.
The Task Force is reaching out to the City of Menlo Park Housing Element to arrange for another neighborhood meeting.
We are also contacting the City of Menlo Park Planning Department and the Ravenswood School District.
We will keep everyone updated on these meetings and will hope for our neighborhood’s full participation.
What you can do now:
- Opt-in to Menlo Park City Council emails to stay informed!
- Sign up for alerts on the City of Menlo Park website https://publicinput.com/hub/Subscriptions/2463#
- Email the City Council city.council@menlopark.org re: safety and traffic issues regarding the planned high-density project
- Reach out to the 5 individual City Council Members:
District 1 Cecilia Taylor cttaylor@menlopark.org 650-589-5073
District 2 (Suburban Park’s district) Drew Combs dcombs@menlopark.org 650-924-1890
District 3 Jan Wolosin, Vice Mayor jwolosin@menlopark.org 650-485-1964
District 4 Betsy Nash, Mayor Bnash@menlopark.org 650-380-3986
District 5 Ray Mueller rdmueller@menlopark.org 650-776-8995
- Email Deanna Chow, Assistant Community Development Director, Housing Element for Menlo Park regarding street traffic and safety concerns at: dmchow@menlopark or call 650-330-6733
- Sign up for Mayor Betsy Nash’s newsletter of City business that highlights important issues by writing her at city.council@menlopark.org or Bnash@menlopark.org
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Questions for Further Investigation by Suburban Park Task Force:
Can the City keep Opportunity Site #38 zoned as an R1 (single family dwelling) parcel and not rezoned as an R3 (multi-unit) site?
What State/County/City waiver has the Ravenswood City School district received to allow this school site to become housing instead of a school site or school administration building?
Is there any hope of the Flood School site being a school again? Or a community center? What legal actions can we take?
Could the site be traded for another more appropriate site in Menlo Park where the Ravenswood City School District could build high-density housing and then Site #38 could have another function?
What is the City’s rezoning approval process?
What is the City’s timeline?
What are the best levers to address with the City regarding this project?
What is the timing for the State to receive required “evidence” that opportunity sites will be built on?
Would duplexes or townhouses meet the State requirements on this site?
What are the City’s own policies in place to encourage housing?
Why is Opportunity Site #38 fast-tracked for development?
Why can a developer skip the environmental impact review phases?
What is State Bill 35 (SB35) for increased housing and how does it apply to the Flood Park School site?
This 2.5-acre former Flood School parcel does not satisfy many of the requirements for high density set forth by the City but the seller (Ravenswood) is motivated to build and make a lot of income. Can we propose good money-making alternatives?
Possible Areas of Focus for Suburban Park Task Force
Focus on safety! Sheridan Drive is narrow and short, and the curve at 276 Hedge is dangerous for increased traffic as it limits the line-of-sight and access for emergency vehicles.
How will residents get safely and quickly in and out of the neighborhood during emergencies such as fires, earthquakes, storms?
Advocate for the County to approve egress through Flood Park
Request a traffic road study or “circulation survey” by the City regarding flow into and out of Site 38.
Ask the Reimagining Flood Park group to open an access point on Iris Lane to Site #38 from the south side of Flood Park.
County supervisors are crucial to decisions about Flood Park. Invite County Supervisor Warren Slocum to see the Site #38 access issues.
Focus on Site #38 infrastructure-related issues, including water.
Focus on less density versus protesting low-income housing.
Density bonuses could bring the number of units up to 260. What is the density bonus process and how can we push back?
Meet with CalTrans regarding traffic/safety issues on Hedge, and Bay along with right-of-way issues on Van Buren.
A climate resilience group may be doing outreach to us. Is Site #38 a climate issue?
We need everyone’s help to address the City and State’s high-density development proposal.
Please email your additional thoughts and ideas to
highdensity-taskforce@suburbanpark.org
Thank you!