Public hearing/Potential EIR certification for Willow Village

A public hearing has been scheduled before the City of Menlo Park City Council to consider the proposed Willow Village Master Plan Project (“Project”) and associated Final Environmental Impact Report.

Project location: 1350-1390 Willow Road, 925-1098 Hamilton Ave. and 1005-1275 Hamilton Court; and 871-899 Hamilton Ave. and 1399-1401 Willow Road

This meeting will be conducted as a hybrid meeting, virtually via Zoom and in the City Council Chambers, 701 Laurel St., Menlo Park, CA 94025 as listed above. Interested persons may appear and be heard.

Project description

The Willow Village Master Plan project, proposed by Signature Development Group and Peninsula Innovation Partners, LLC on behalf of Meta Platforms, Inc., would demolish approximately 1 million square feet of existing office and industrial buildings and redevelop the project site with:

• Up to 1.6 million square feet of office and accessory uses, including meeting/collaboration space (a maximum of up to 1.25 million square feet of offices with the balance for accessory uses)
• Up to 200,000 square feet of retail/non-office commercial uses including a grocery store, pharmacy services, entertainment and restaurant uses
• Up to 1,730 multifamily housing units, including 312 below market rate units (260 inclusionary units or 15% of the total number of units, plus 52 units per the city’s commercial linkage fee/unit equivalency requirement) of which 119 below market rate units would be age-restricted for seniors
• Up to a 193 room hotel and associated retail/dining
• An approximately 3.5-acre publicly accessible park, a dog park and additional public open space
• An approximately 1.5-acre publicly accessible town square
• An approximately 2-acre publicly accessible elevated park extending over Willow Road providing access at the Hamilton Avenue Parcel North (Belle Haven Shopping Center)
• A potential publicly-accessible, below grade tunnel for Meta intercampus trams, bicyclists and pedestrians connecting the project with the West and East campuses

The requested City actions and entitlements for the proposed project include a conditional development permit, development agreement, rezoning, general plan and zoning map amendments, vesting tentative maps, below market rate (BMR) housing agreement, and environmental review. The main project site is located at 1350-1390 Willow Road, 925-1098 Hamilton Ave. and 1005-1275 Hamilton Court.

The proposal includes a request for an increase in height, floor area ratio (FAR), and density under the bonus level development allowance in exchange for community amenities through a conditional development permit and development agreement. The proposed project would be rezoned to combine the “X” (Conditional Development) overlay district with the O and R-MU zoning designations to allow for uses and development regulations as specified in the conditional development permit. The proposed project also includes the realignment of Hamilton Avenue enabled through the vesting tentative maps. The proposed project requires a general plan circulation element and zoning map amendment to modify the locations of public rights-of-ways and paseos and a new street connection at O’Brien Drive. Through the proposed conditional development permit, the proposed project includes modifications to the City’s design standards for specific buildings, BMR guidelines, signage requirements, outdoor seating, on-site and off-site sales of beer, wine and alcohol, application of its transportation demand management (TDM) requirements, and sets up future architectural reviews for building and site design. The proposed project also includes a request for the use and storage of hazardous materials (diesel fuel) for back up emergency generators. A development agreement would be entered into between the City and the applicant for the provision of community amenities, development controls and vested rights. The proposed project includes vesting tentative maps for new parcelization and infrastructure and a BMR housing agreement for the provision of 312 BMR units. The city arborist conditionally approved the removal of 276 heritage trees on the main project site and 3 heritage trees on the Hamilton Avenue Parcels for the proposed development and 16 trees along O’Brien Drive to accommodate site access and right of way modifications along O’Brien Drive. The proposed project also includes a potential project variant that would increase the total number of housing units by up to 200 units for a total of 1,930 units, for consideration by decision makers as part of the requested land use entitlements. 

To accommodate the realignment of Hamilton Avenue west of Willow Road, the existing Chevron station at 1399 Willow Road would be demolished. As a separate future project, the environmental analysis considered reconstruction of the existing service station and an approximately 6,700 square foot expansion at the Belle Haven neighborhood shopping center (871-899 Hamilton Ave. and 1401 Willow Road) as a future separate phase that would require separate use permits and architectural control permits. These parcels across Willow Road are referred to as the Hamilton Avenue Parcels. The Hamilton Avenue Parcels are zoned C-2-S (Neighborhood Shopping, Restrictive). 

During the meeting, the City Council will consider the Planning Commission’s recommendation to approve the proposed project with modifications to the community amenities (e.g., timing, operational requirements, and overall uses and funding), additional financial analysis on the senior BMR units, additional trip reduction from the project site, and clarification on minimum development requirements (e.g., dwelling units, retail square footage) and determine whether to adopt resolutions and introduce ordinances for the following actions:

• Adopt a resolution certifying the Final Environmental Impact Report, adopting the CEQA findings and statement of overriding considerations for significant environmental effects, and approving the mitigation monitoring and reporting program
• Adopt a resolution amending the General Plan Circulation Map for project site access and circulation changes
• Adopt resolutions approving the vesting tentative maps
• Introduce, read the title, and waive further reading of an ordinance amending the City zoning map, rezoning the project site from R-MU-B and O-B to R-MU-B-X and O-B-X to include the “X” Conditional Development combining district overlay, and approving the conditional development permit to establish allowed uses, development regulations, and otherwise govern the development of the proposed project
• Introduce, read the title, and waive further reading of an ordinance adopting the development agreement between the City and the project applicant for vested rights in exchange for community amenities and assurances on the timing and phasing of the proposed project
• Adopt a resolution approving the below market rate housing agreements for the provision of 312 BMR units with a mix of affordable income limits, including 119 age restricted senior units

Environmental Impact Report

The City of Menlo Park (City), as the lead agency under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), has prepared a Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the proposed project. The Final EIR was released Friday, Oct. 14, 2022. The Final EIR identifies significant and unavoidable impacts in the following topic areas: Air Quality and Noise. The Final EIR identifies potentially significant environmental impacts that can be mitigated to a less than significant level (LTS/M) in the following categories: Air Quality, Energy, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Noise (Operational), Cultural Resources, Tribal Cultural Resources, Biological Resources, Geology and Soils, Hydrology and Water Quality, Hazards and Hazardous Materials, and Transportation. The Final EIR identifies less than significant (LTS) environmental impacts in the following categories: Land Use, Aesthetics, Population and Housing, Public Services and Recreation, and Utilities and Service Systems.

Previously a Notice of Preparation (NOP) was released Sept. 18, 2019, and included a public review period from Sept. 18, 2019, through Oct. 18, 2019, to solicit comments on the scope and content of the Draft EIR. In accordance with CEQA, the certified program-level ConnectMenlo EIR served as the first-tier environmental analysis. Further, this EIR was prepared in compliance with the terms of the Settlement Agreement between the City of East Palo Alto and the City of Menlo Park. The Draft EIR circulated for a 45-day comment period from Friday, April 8, 2022, to May 23, 2022, and the Planning Commission held a public hearing on the Draft EIR at its meeting April 25, 2022. The Final EIR includes responses to all substantive comments received on the Draft EIR. The project location does not contain a toxic site pursuant to Cal. Gov. Code §65962.5.

Copies of the Final EIR are available on the city website at menlopark.gov/willowvillage. Hard copies are available for review at the Menlo Park Library, 800 Alma St., and the Belle Haven Branch Library, 413 Ivy Drive. Interested parties should inquire at the library information desk.

Additional information

If you would like to submit written comments to the City Council on the project or the Final EIR, you are encouraged to do so before 5 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022. Written comments should be submitted by email to Planning Manager Kyle Perata at ktperata@menlopark.org, or by letter to Kyle Perata, Community Development, 701 Laurel St., Menlo Park, CA 94025.

If you challenge the items contained in this notice in court, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised at the public hearing(s) described in this notice, or in written correspondence delivered to the City of Menlo Park during the public review period for the Draft EIR or at, or before, the public hearing or hearings held before the City takes action on the Final EIR and the Project application itself. 

Please contact Planning Manager Kyle Perata at ktperata@menlopark.org or 650-330-6721, if there are any questions or comments. Written correspondence is typically considered a public record and may be attached to staff reports, which are posted on the city website.

Si usted necesita más información sobre este proyecto, por favor llame al 650-330-6702, y pregunte por un asistente que hable español.

Visit the city website at menlopark.gov/agendas for the City Council meeting agenda and links to the staff report.