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May 31, 2023, 07:00 PM
The City of Menlo Park, as the lead agency under the California Environmental Quality Act, has prepared a Notice of Preparation (NOP) for the following application:
General Plan Amendment, Zoning Ordinance Amendment, Rezoning, Conditional Development Permit, Development Agreement, Architectural Control, Heritage Tree Removal Permits, Vesting Tentative Map, Below Market Rate (BMR) Housing Agreement and Environmental Review/Nick Menchel/333 Ravenswood Ave. (Parkline):
The proposed project would redevelop SRI International’s research campus by creating a new office/research and development, transit-oriented campus with no net increase in commercial square footage, up to 550 new rental housing units (with a minimum of 15% of the units available for below market rate households), new bicycle and pedestrian connections, and approximately 25 acres of publicly accessible open space. The Proposed Project would demolish all existing buildings, excluding Buildings P, S, and T, which would remain on-site and operational by SRI and its tenants. The Proposed Project would organize land uses generally into two land use districts within the Project site, including 1) an approximately 10-acre Residential District in the southwestern portion of the Project site; and 2) an approximately 53-acre Office/R&D (research and development) District that would comprise the remainder of the Project site. In total, the Proposed Project would result in a total of approximately 1,898,931 square feet, including approximately 1,380,332 square feet of office/R&D and approximately 518,599 square feet of residential uses (including up to 450 rental residential units). In addition, the Proposed Project would establish a separate parcel of land that is proposed to be leased to an affordable housing developer for the future construction of a 100% affordable housing or special needs project which would be separately rezoned as part of the Proposed Project for up to 100 residential units (in addition to the residential units proposed within the Residential District), and which is not included in residential square footage calculations as the square footage has not been determined. The EIR will study two potential project variants, one that includes an approximately 2 million gallon buried concrete water reservoir and associated facilities, and one that includes an additional 50 residential units for a total of up to 600 dwelling units, inclusive of the standalone affordable housing building. The Project site is zoned “C-1(X)” (Administrative and Professional District, Restrictive) and governed by a Conditional Development Permit (CDP) approved in 1975, and subsequently amended in 1978, 1997, and 2004.
The Notice of Preparation (NOP) provides a description of the proposed project, the location of the proposed project and its probable environmental effects. The EIR will address potential physical environmental effects of the proposed project, as outlined in the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). An initial study was not completed as it is anticipated this will be a full EIR and no topic areas will be scoped out with the exception of agricultural and forestry resources, mineral resources, and wildfire that are topic areas that are not anticipated to require further analysis. The City is requesting comments on the scope and content of this EIR. The project location does not contain a toxic site pursuant to Cal. Gov. Code §6596.2.
The NOP is available on the city website at menlopark.gov/parkline. Printed copies of the NOP are available for review at the Menlo Park Library at 800 Alma St. and the Belle Haven Branch Library at 413 Ivy Drive, both in Menlo Park, CA 94025.
The 30-day comment period for the NOP is to run from Friday, Dec. 2, 2022, through Monday, Jan. 9, 2023. If you would like to submit written comments on the NOP, you are encouraged to do so before 5:30 p.m., Monday, Jan. 9, 2023.
The Planning Commission will hold the EIR scoping session and a study session on this item in a hybrid format via Zoom and in the City Council Chambers, 751 Laurel St., on Monday, Dec. 12, 2022, at 7 p.m., or as near as possible thereafter, at which time and place interested persons may appear and be heard.
Written comments may be submitted to Acting Principal Planer Corinna Sandmeier or mailed to
Corinna Sandmeier
Community Development
701 Laurel St.
Menlo Park, CA 94025
Email correspondence is preferred.