September 18, 2023 - Planning Commission public hearing

The Planning Commission will hold a public meeting on these items in a hybrid format via Zoom and at the City Council Chambers located at 751 Laurel St., on September 18, 2023, 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.gov/agendas, not less than 72 hours in advance of the meeting. If you challenge these items 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 the Planning Commission agenda, public hearing and staff report information.

Public Hearing item

Architectural Control and Use Permits/Peninsula Innovation Partners, LLC/1350-1390 Willow Road, 925-1098 Hamilton Avenue, and 1005-1275 Hamilton Court: 

Consider and adopt resolutions to approve architectural control review for buildings and site improvements for a mixed-use building (Parcel 3), the publicly accessible park, and publicly accessible dog park, associated with the approved Willow Village masterplan development project. The masterplan, including the general plan amendment, rezoning and zoning map amendment, vesting tentative maps, conditional development permit, development agreement, and BMR housing agreements were approved by the City Council on December 6 and 13, 2022 and authorize up to 1.6 million square feet of office and accessory uses (with a maximum of 1.25 million square feet for office uses and the balance for accessory uses), up to 1,730 dwelling units (including 312 BMR units), up to 200,000 square feet of retail and restaurant uses, and an up to 193 room hotel. The architectural control reviews by the Planning Commission check for conformance with the approved masterplan, conditional development permit, development agreement, mitigation monitoring and reporting program (MMRP) for the certified environmental impact report, the R-MU (residential mixed use) and O (Office) zoning districts, and other applicable requirements from the masterplan governing documents. The requested actions implement the Willow Village masterplan project and are consistent with the MMRP for the environmental impact report prepared for the proposed project and certified by the City Council on December 6, 2022. Therefore nothing further is required under the California Environmental Quality Act.

At this public hearing, the Planning Commission is scheduled to review three separate architectural control plans and use permit requests for the publicly accessible park, publicly accessible dog park, and a mixed-use building (Parcel 3). The mixed-use building on Parcel 3 would include 419 dwelling units with approximately 430,950 square feet of gross floor area and approximately 57,000 square feet of ground floor retail, restaurant, and/or entertainment space. The publicly accessible park would be approximately 3.5 acres of active and passive open space including an open lawn, meandering paths, children’s play areas and amphitheater seating. The dog park would be approximately 8,000 square feet and the remainder of the parcel would be developed with a West Bay Sanitary District pump station. The proposals include associated use permit requests for modifications to design standards anticipated by the masterplan but not included in the conditional development permit. The use permit requests are generally summarized below:

Parcel 3

• Modify modulation requirements along Main Street.
• Modify stepback requirements.

Dog Park

• Modify setback requirements for the pump station.
  
  

Public Meeting item

Architectural Control/Michael Eaton/51 Hallmark Circle:

Request for architectural control for exterior modifications to the rear (north) and left (west) elevations to extend an existing elevated deck of an existing townhouse into the common easement area in the R-E-S (X) (Residential Estate Suburban, Conditional Development) zoning district.