Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Housing Element topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Portola Valley council authorizes submission of revised housing element after selecting three alternative sites
Summary
The Portola Valley Town Council voted unanimously to authorize staff to submit a narrow housing element amendment to California’s HCD that removes Dorothy Ford Park from the site inventory and adds Village Square, Christ Church and Skyline Open Space as potential sites, while zoning details will be refined later.
The Portola Valley Town Council voted unanimously to authorize staff to submit a draft amendment to the town’s housing element to the California Department of Housing and Community Development. The amendment removes Dorothy Ford Park from the sites inventory and adds three alternative locations — Village Square, Christ Church and Skyline Open Space — that staff say can meet the state’s site-capacity requirements.
Steve McCarris, the town’s special projects manager, told the council the amendment’s immediate purpose is “to receive council input on the housing element amendment and authorization to submit to HCD.” He said staff is targeting submittal by the end of the month and that HCD will then have 60 days to review the draft.
Why it matters: Portola Valley must show HCD a practicable plan to meet its Regional Housing Needs Allocation. Staff said Dorothy Ford is constrained and unlikely to yield the required number of units; the three replacement sites were identified after an ad-hoc search and preliminary feasibility screening.
What the amendment does: Under the draft, the three sites would be rezoned or pre-zoned to a new mixed-use/high-density designation for the purpose of HCD review. Steve McCarris explained that the proposed zone would allow residential uses by right, allow commercial uses with a conditional use permit, and require mixed-use projects to allocate at least 50% of floor area to residential uses.
Public reaction: Several members of the public urged the council to move forward while seeking careful protections. “The state HCD asks that our housing element reflect what is possible, not perfect,” said Betsy (public commenter), urging the council to submit a realistic plan. Nona Cherello, who assisted with site mapping, described the technical screening that yielded the Skyline developable estimate and said the 0.8-acre figure is a conservative HCD-focused area that would be refined with further surveys.
Concerns: Neighbors adjacent to Village Square raised objections about scale and proximity. Michael Ford, who lives across from Village Square, said the proposed standards risk “a three-story 38-foot tall building that is just 15 feet away from your backyard,” and urged stricter site-specific development standards and setbacks for properties that abut single-family homes.
Council response and next steps: Council members acknowledged the public concerns and emphasized that the submittal to HCD is narrowly focused on the housing element; zoning, site-specific development standards, architectural and design controls and detailed environmental and SQA reviews will return to Architectural & Site Control (ASC), the Planning Commission and the council during the HCD review period. Council member Rebecca Flynn noted the Village Square property owner had stated he would not disrupt the existing commercial district.
The council approved a motion to authorize staff to submit the draft housing element amendment to HCD. The motion passed unanimously; the council indicated it expects to refine zoning and development standards in subsequent review steps and to return to HCD if the agency requests changes.
The next procedural step: Staff will submit the housing element amendment to HCD for a 60-day review, continue work on the zoning and SEQA analyses during that period, and return to the council after receiving HCD comments.
