Menlo Park Council Punts on Housing Decision

The Menlo Park City Council engaged in a lengthy discussion which included about an hour and a half of public comment regarding the fate of several downtown parking lots. Essentially, as part of the requirements to plan for future housing growth, one option for Menlo Park is to declare several parking lots in downtown as surplus property. This would free up the city to then release an RFP to develop affordable and market rate housing on those sites. While specific development plans are a long way off, this would ostensibly be a mixed-use development that also benefits from proximity to transit and existing commercial amenities.

Public comment at the meeting heavily favored keeping the parking lots, or at least maintaining ample parking, as residents already complain about how difficult it is to find parking during prime commercial hours. Other comments also suggested a desire to maintain a quaint downtown aesthetic and to not be overrun with units just to meet state mandates. However, Menlo Park is one of the few cities that continues to make progress on its housing requirements but did struggle for a brief period of time to get its new Housing Element approved.

Ultimately, the City Council decided to continue the discussion into the new year to include newly elected council members. Councilmembers Drew Combs, Betsy Nash, and Cecilia Taylor will still be on the City Council, but they will be joined by Jennifer Wise, who was elected to represent West Menlo Park, and Jeff Schmidt, who will represent the Civic Center and Menlo Oaks area. With the new council and additional public outreach, a decision is expected to be made in January.

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