Wow, a lot is happening in Menlo Park, both at City Council on Tuesday (May 9th) and in the community at large. It can be overwhelming for residents to try to stay abreast of everything. I hope this email gives you an easy-to-digest overview of what's going on and helps you identify issues and events that resonate with you personally.
Please know that if there's anything you'd like to discuss with me, reach out (various ways to contact me are at the bottom of this email, or you can just hit "reply" to this email). You can also find me at my weekly Zoom office hours at noon on Fridays, and at my next quarterly in-person office hours, to be held at Cafe Borrone on Saturday, May 20th from 10am-12pm. Information about my office hours is here.
Have a wonderful week!
Warmly,
City Council Meeting on Tuesday, May 9th at 5pm Closed Session will begin at 5pm, Open Session will start at 6pm
The meeting agenda includes:
Staff reports for each item
Login/call-in information
How to weigh in on the issues being discussed
Agenda items include (Please note that only a few of the many agenda items are featured below. For all items, please refer to the agenda.):
H1. Presentation: UC Berkeley students regarding affordable housing opportunities on the City-owned parking plazas in downtown.
Last Thursday I had the absolute honor and pleasure of spending much of the day at the UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design (Go Bears!). Interdisciplinary groups of graduate students in architecture, planning, design and development presented their semester-long capstone project which was to pitch affordable housing projects on public land. Three of the talented teams used the Menlo Park downtown parking lots as sites for their exercise in land development (see images of their projects below).
As you may recall, per State law, the Menlo Park Housing Element for the 2023-2031 planning period had to identify 1,662 sites, or 2,161 sites using a 30% buffer, of affordable housing units. To meet this requirement, the Menlo Park adopted Housing Element includes Program H4.G which has the following objective: Achieve the development of 345 affordable units on a combination of City-owned parking lot sites in the downtown, supporting the integration of affordable housing options in high resource areas of the community.
The three graduate student groups came up with innovative and inspiring ways to develop the needed affordable housing, retain parking and help with revitalizing downtown. I am greatly looking forward to welcoming these students at Tuesday's council meeting (Item H1), where they will present their concepts for our community. Come and see what's possible downtown!
And check out the model of downtown Menlo Park that the students built (see below)! The white boxes are what one of the teams proposed to be built (they were swapped out for each team).
H2-H6. Various Proclamations.
This week's agenda includes five proclamations recognizing various issues and topics:
The Ravenswood Avenue Resurfacing Project involves resurfacing the roadway with new asphalt and striping. The project also proposes intersection upgrades including bulb-outs, curb ramps and concrete medians to improve public safety and ADA accessibility. In addition, a bike lane pilot has been conducted over the past few months to determine the extent of bike lanes to stripe as part of the resurfacing project.
In Agenda Item I2, city staff recommends that the City Council confirm the recommendation of the Complete Streets Commission, which is to make the piloted bike lane modifications permanent.
The staff report for this item outlines data collected during the pilot period, as well as staff observations, which include:
The removal of the travel lane did not create constant, continuous queuing. Each of the peak periods studied from March 3 to March 8 show one or two incidents where queuing spilled past Laurel Street, but these events were occasional and generally limited in duration.
Queuing issues were most common when the Caltrain gates are down for an extended period and when there are relatively high vehicle volumes. These generally occur between 8:30 a.m. and 8:45 a.m. and between 5:30 p.m. and 5:45 p.m. At these times, vehicles trying to turn from northbound Laurel Street onto westbound Ravenswood Avenue sometimes have to wait for a signal cycle to make the turn, generally impacting five to 10 vehicles.
Staff have observed a decline in overall traffic speed during this period.
A public survey was also administered and included 204 responses that found:
Over half of people who drive on Ravenswood Avenue indicated that the pilot has had no impact on congestion, but 38% indicated that there was somewhat or much more congestion. Respondents who drive daily or who use Ravenswood Avenue to commute were somewhat more likely to say Ravenswood has become more congested. Respondents who drive but do not use other modes were much more likely to indicate there was increased congestion.
About three quarters of respondents who bicycle indicated that the pilot increased bicycle safety.
Respondents who drive and live within walking distance of Ravenswood Avenue were more likely to say that congestion was somewhat or much worse (44% compared to 36%) and less likely to say that the pilot had no impact on congestion (46% compared to 55%).
Respondents who live near Ravenswood Avenue and walk or bicycle expressed similar opinions about bicycle and pedestrian safety as respondents living elsewhere in the City.
The resurfacing project began at the end of April 2023 with completion expected by June 2023. The first phase of the resurfacing project includes reconstruction of curb ramps and the median. After the concrete work is complete, the contractor will repave the street, which is anticipated to take place in late May. This work will require short-term closure of Ravenswood Avenue and is planned to be conducted on a weekend to limit the impact on traffic. After the resurfacing is complete, the final phase will be the replacement of the lane markings (design dependent on this agenda item).
Form more information about construction impacts at Ravenswood and Alma, that begin tomorrow (May 8th), click here.
As stated in the staff report for this item (I4), "In just a one-month time period from February to March 2023, Menlo Park residents experienced three widespread and extended PG&E power outages that lasted three days or more and left a majority of residents in the dark. The financial and personal hardship residents and businesses experienced across Menlo Park was immense."
Agenda Item I4 includes a letter to PG&E, outlining impacts felt by Menlo Park residents during the recent power outages, and requesting that a PG&E representative attend an upcoming City Council meeting or community forum to discuss emergency preparedness. The Council must authorize the mayor (me) to send a letter such as this on behalf of the City.
For those interested in emergency and disaster preparedness, please note that there is an upcoming Community Collaboration Session (not with PG&E or sponsored by the City of Menlo Park) on May 11th titled "Lessons Learned from the Storms: Preparing for Future Ones" (more information under "Other Items of Interest" below).
The City's five-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) outlines the vision for the short- and long-range development, maintenance, improvement and building of new infrastructure assets to benefit Menlo Park's residents, businesses, property owners and visitors. It provides a linkage between the General Plan, various master planning documents and budget, and provides a means for planning, scheduling and implementing capital projects over the next five years.
The CIP document is updated annually, and Agenda Item J1, includes the proposed five-year (2023-2028) update. The table above shows the funding requests by topic area. The CIP includes 80 projects, of which 26 would receive additional funding as proposed and eight are new for the fiscal year 2023-2024. In total $13.2 million in new funding is requested for the upcoming year from all funding sources, of which approximately $5 million is from the general capital fund (the balance is from other sources). Approximately $85 million is proposed to be carried over from projects previously funded and in progress.
The CIP will feed directly into the budget, which must be approved by the end of the fiscal year (June 30, 2023). As a reminder of the budget schedule, below is a timeline provided on a recent Council agenda.
In the City's ongoing effort to improve safety for pedestrians, a pilot project will be implemented this summer to help those crossing Menlo Avenue at the corner with University Avenue (at Draeger's). The illustration above and included in the staff report shows temporary bulb outs, also known as curb extensions, on both sides of Menlo Avenue to shorten the crossing distance and improve safety. The bulb outs will be implemented with bollards and paint, and if the pilot becomes permanent, these low cost materials may ultimately be replaced with concrete. Note that in order to add the bulb outs, the two existing travel lanes will be replaced with one shared lane for right turning, left turning and thru traffic. The staff report includes information about the projected vehicle impacts (delays and queuing) at this location.
Anyone who has traveled through this location understands that this offset intersection is complex. The intersection has the single largest number of pedestrian collisions in all of Menlo Park. In 2022, police records show 4 pedestrian collisions in the crosswalk across Menlo Avenue. In 2022, there were 17 total pedestrian collisions in the City, so nearly one quarter of all pedestrian collisions occurred at this intersection.
Please note that this is an informational item and no Council action will be taken.
As part of the Willow-U.S. 101 Interchange Project, all of the trees and landscaping were removed in 2019. Many of us have been eager to see some beauty restored at this location, and this informational item provides an update on the landscaping phase to improve the aesthetics and reestablish a tree cover. The image above shows the conceptual landscape plan and the staff report includes the plant and tree list proposed to be used in the new design.
While work is coming along, and a handful of trees were recently planted along Bay Road, we are still at least two years away from substantial planning, followed by a three-year plant establishment period. For more information, please read the staff report here.
Other Items of Interest
Below are some additional items of interest.
Middlefield Road Safe Streets Pilot
CalWater has been replacing a water main on Middlefield Road since late 2022. As part of this work, CalWater is repaving a significant portion of Middlefield Road between Ravenswood Avenue and Willow Road.
The City is using this opportunity of more extensive repaving than anticipated to address concerns about traffic safety, speeds and pedestrian safety. The current road is two lanes in each direction (four lanes total), with driveways intermittently on both sides of the street and no median/divider in most locations.
The City will be piloting changes to the lane markings to convert this section to three lanes (one in each direction plus a center turn lane). This will separate left turns (including for driveways), and can maintain roadway capacity and increase safety by separating vehicles traveling at different speeds. Traveling south on Middlefield from Ravenswood Avenue to Willow Road, the pilot will start soon after Ringwood Avenue and will end at approximately Santa Margarita Avenue (see image above).
Pavement markings will be installed in early May 2023 and will be done using paint to preserve the opportunity to modify the pilot without having to grind the pavement. The CalWater repaving project does not include several areas of Middlefield Road where there are medians. The City anticipates repaving these segments within the next two years, including permanent striping along the entire road.
The pilot evaluation will take place over the next six months, with data collection anticipated in the Fall. Data collection will include traffic collisions, traffic volumes, bicycle and pedestrian use, and vehicle queues. Staff will also conduct observations of the road and conduct public outreach, including public meetings and a survey.
Menlo Park experienced multiple power outages because of this winter’s storms, and our community wants to use this opportunity to learn from that experience and prepare for the future. Attendees will have a chance to:
Share with and hear from our neighbors about the challenges we faced, and the creative hacks employed in the face of outages.
Hear from MPC Ready to learn about household resilience and the positive impact of neighbors knowing and helping neighbors during emergencies.
Explore emerging tech that can help during an outage.
Gather feedback about what worked and what else is needed from our city and county officials during emergencies.
For more information and to register for this event, click here.
Community Collaboration Sessions are a series of community-led discussions about Menlo Park's responses to a changing climate. The intention is to explore a variety of environmental issues affecting the city and its residents, and host discussions where we can engage in deep dialogue, gather new ideas, and ensure multiple voices are represented in proposed solutions. Members of local environmental nonprofits and Menlo Park’s Environmental Quality Commission (representing themselves as private citizens) are working together to create these sessions and will be at each one to help guide discussions and collect feedback.
MPC (Menlo Park Community) Ready is a volunteer-based organization that helps build disaster prepared, and climate change ready, households and neighborhoods through advocacy, education and training, resources, organization and support.
Willow Oaks Park Improvements Pop-Up Information Event
Saturday, May 13, 2023 from 11am to 1pm
There will be a pop-up information booth showcasing the planned improvements at Willow Oaks Park (490 Willow Road) on Saturday, May 13th from 11am to 1pm. Feel free to stop by and learn more about the upcoming improvements in Willow Oaks Park that include playground renovations, dog park enhancements, a new picnic area, a new restroom building and pedestrian/bike path updates to improve connectivity for the surrounding neighborhood.
Construction for the improvements is anticipated to begin this summer. Come get information on the project and ask questions. For more information, click here.
Tenants Belong: An Event for Affordable Housing Month 2023
Saturday, May 13, 3:00-4:30pm
As Bay Area tenants grapple with an ongoing housing shortage and soaring housing costs, residents can learn about actions to take to keep communities stable and strong. Join to hear real tenant stories and discuss tangible solutions. Tenants Belong is being held on Saturday, May 13th from 3:00 to 4:30pm at Trinity Hall (330 Ravenswood Avenue, Menlo Park). This is a bilingual English/Spanish event and refreshments and childcare will be provided. For more information and to register, click here.
Climate Smart's Webinars on Home Electrification
Various Dates in May and June
Are you interested in learning more about home electrification? Learn how to electrify your home and find rebates and incentives to get started by attending Climate Smart's Home Electrification Webinar series. In partnership with Redwood Energy, Climate Smart is hosting a series of webinars to educate residents, contractors, developers, property owners, and managers on a variety of electrification topics. Please see the schedule of webinars below:
May 15, 2023, 6:00 p.m.: Residential Electrification Incentives, Rebates & Related Programs
Description: Learn about rebates available for house and apartment electrification, solar, back-up batteries and electric vehicle chargers. The workshop will feature building-type case studies to show how to get money from local, state and federal rebates and incentives to decarbonize on a budget.
Recommended audiences: Multifamily and single-family residents, property owners, property managers, developers (including affordable housing) and contractors
May 29, 2023, 6:00 p.m.: Multifamily Home Electrification
Description: Discuss case studies and actual costs of multifamily heat pump boiler replacements, HVAC, appliances and rooftop solar. The workshop will focus on breaking through technical challenges while preventing tenant displacement and unnecessary rent increases.
Recommended audiences: Multi-family building owners, renters and condo owners
June 5, 2023, 6:00 p.m.: Single-Family Home Electrification
Description: The workshop covers electrification at every scale, from mobile homes to mansions and cozy cottages and discusses replacement of every type of heating system, water heater, stove, laundry dryer, swimming pool, sauna, fireplace or fire pit with an electric equivalent.
June 19, 2023, 6:00 p.m.: Home Electrification Service Upgrades
Description: The workshop covers electric utility service upgrades triggered by home electrification and how to avoid them with energy efficiency and load balancing techniques and discusses types of properties that may need an upgrade and what is involved in an upgrade.
Recommended audiences: Single and multi-family homeowners, property managers, developers and contractors
For more information, visit the San Jose Climate Smart webpage. Note that incentives and rebates available to Menlo Park residents may differ from those covered in these San Jose resident-targeted workshops. For more information about our local rebates, visit Peninsula Clean Energy here.
Eateries Opening at Springline
(On El Camino Real at Oak Grove Avenue)
I recently had the opportunity to tour Springline (the new large development on El Camino Real at the corner of Oak Grove) and it got my mouth watering. I met the the friendly staff at the just-opened Proper Food (see picture above) which features grab and go sandwiches and salads, among other items. I also got a sneak peak at more restaurants on the cusp of opening. To read about what more delicious food is on its way, check out a recent Peninsula Foodist posting in The Almanac here. Hint: It includes coffee, sushi, Burmese food, Italian delicacies (gelato!) and more!
Menlo Park City Email Addresses Transition from .ORG to .GOV
Beginning April 17, 2023, emails sent to the menlopark.org email domain no longer accept incoming email. This is one of the final steps in the city's transition to the .gov domain which began last fall. The city website domain changed to menlopark.gov on Oct. 31, 2022, and in early December 2022, emails from city staff and elected officials began sending from the menlopark.gov domain.
Over the past few months, both addresses were maintained to allow for the smooth transition, but now we've reached the final cutoff date and all emails sent to the City of Menlo Park must be sent to the proper menlopark.gov email addresses after April 17, 2023.
The switch to the .gov domain provides further assurance to the public that the information found at menlopark.gov or coming from a menlopark.gov email address is official, trusted information.
Bike to Wherever Days - May 18th, 19th and 20th
Pledge to Ride
May is Bike Month and the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition is keeping a leaderboard to track which city has the most pledged riders (it's free to pledge!) for Bike to Wherever Days taking place May 18th, 19th and 20th. Menlo Park has been in the lead and just fell to 2nd place, passed by Gilroy. Come on, Menlo Park, let's get those pledges in (all you have to do is pinky promise to ride a bike WHEREVER over a three-day period in May)! You even get a free cool and collectible Bike to Wherever tote bag for your participation. For more information and to pledge to ride click here.
