Jan. 24, 2022 - Planning Commission public hearing

The Planning Commission will hold a public meeting on these items via Zoom, on January 24, 2022, beginning at 7 p.m. or as near as possible thereafter, at which time and place interested persons may appear and be heard thereon. The Zoom link will be available with publication of the Planning Commission agenda, on the city website at menlopark.org/agendas, not less than 72 hours in advance of the meeting. If you challenge this item in court, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised at the public hearing described in this notice, or in written correspondence delivered to the City of Menlo Park at, or before, the public hearing. Written correspondence is typically considered a public record and may be attached to staff reports, which are posted on the city website.

Visit the city website for Planning Commission agenda, public hearing and staff report information at menlopark.org/PlanningCommissionAgenda.

Public Hearing items

Use Permit/Charlene Cheng/269 Willow Road:

Request for a use permit to construct a new two-story residence with an attached garage on a substandard lot with regard to minimum lot depth in the R-1-U (Single Family Urban Residential) district. The parcel is a vacant panhandle lot, with the access located between 267 and 275 Willow Road, and 269 is proposed as the new address for the subject parcel.

Environmental Impact Report (EIR) Scoping Session/6th Cycle Housing Element and Safety Element Updates and Environmental Justice Element of the City of Menlo Park General Plan/City of Menlo Park:

Preparation of an EIR for the 6th Cycle Housing Element and Safety Element Updates and a new Environmental Justice Element for the City’s General Plan (collectively referred herein as “the Project”) in compliance with the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The EIR will be a Subsequent EIR to the City’s 2016 General Plan EIR (State Clearinghouse No. 2015062054). The Project analyzed in the EIR would include adoption of General Plan amendments that would add or modify goals, objectives, policies, and implementation programs related to housing, safety, and environmental justice that would apply citywide, and that would address the maintenance, preservation, improvement, and development of housing in the city. General Plan amendments would also include conforming amendments to other elements of the General Plan that are necessary to ensure internal consistency. In addition, as discussed above, the Housing Element would identify specific sites appropriate for the development of multifamily housing (in particular affordable units), and the City would rezone those sites as necessary to meet the requirements of State law. The preliminary list of existing and proposed sites that can accommodate development of multifamily housing includes sites that are located across the City, and is subject to refinement based on additional public input and review of the draft Housing Element by the Department of Housing and Community Development of the State of California. An Initial Study was not completed as it is anticipated the Project would complete a full EIR and no topic areas would be scoped out with the exception of Agricultural and Forestry Resources and Mineral Resources, which are topic areas that are not anticipated to require further analysis. A Notice of Preparation (NOP) was released December 23, 2021, and the 30-day public comment period has been extended to 5 p.m., Monday, Jan. 31, 2022, to account for the closure of City Hall during the winter holidays. Verbal comments may be submitted at the Jan. 24, 2022, Planning Commission meeting. Written or emailed comments are due no later than 5 p.m., Monday, Jan. 31, 2022. Details on how to submit comments can be found in the NOP which is available at the project website under the “Environmental review” heading at menlopark.org/housingelement.