August 14, 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 August 14, 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.

Study Session item

General Plan, Zoning Ordinance, and El Camino Real/Downtown Specific Plan amendments associated with the Housing Element Update project:

Study session to provide an overview and receive feedback on proposed amendments to the General Plan Land Use Element, Zoning Ordinance (Title 16 of the Menlo Park Municipal Code), and El Camino Real/Downtown Specific Plan in association with the implementation of the 2023-2031 Housing Element. The proposed zoning amendments are intended to provide capacity to meet the City's Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) of 2,946 dwelling units and are generally summarized below.

General Plan Land Use Element and map

Amendments for consistency with the proposed Zoning Ordinance amendments, including changes in land use designation for applicable housing opportunity sites, addition of new land use designations and modifications to existing designations to reflect increased densities and floor area ratios (FAR).

Zoning Ordinance and map

• Modify the development regulations such as residential density, height and FAR for R-3 zoned properties around downtown and for sites meeting certain criteria;
• Modify and consolidate multiple retail and commercial zoning districts to allow new and mixed-use opportunities along Willow Road, Middlefield Road, Sharon Park Drive and Sand Hill Road; 
• Modify the regulations of the Office zoning district (Chapter 16.43 of the Menlo Park Municipal Code) and create a new corresponding O-R (Office-Residential) zoning map designation in the Bayfront Area; and
• Modify the regulations of the Affordable Housing Overlay (AHO) (Chapter 16.98 of the Menlo Park Municipal Code) to work in concert with State density bonus law to allow up to approximately 100 dwelling units per acre for 100 percent affordable housing developments.

El Camino Real/Downtown Specific Plan

• Removal of references to a maximum of 680 residential units at full build-out;
• Increases in density, FAR, and height and modifications to other development standards for the Area subdistricts, as applicable;
• Modifications to parking ratios, including removal of minimum parking rates for residential uses on sites meeting certain criteria and addition of maximum parking rates; and
• Modifications to the use of the public parking plazas to allow the development of multifamily residential housing.