Portola Valley planning commissioners review draft housing-element amendment that would drop Dorothy Ford Park as a housing site

The Portola Valley Planning Commission on an informational item on Jan. 2026 reviewed a staff-drafted amendment to the town's housing element that would remove Dorothy Ford Park from the sites inventory and relocate the 50 very-low-income units to three alternate locations.

Steve McCarris, the town's special planning and building projects manager, said the proposed amendment would rezone three sites to a new mixed-use high-density designation and move the 50 units to Village Square, Christ Church and a Skyline open-space parcel. "This item is for you to receive information on the proposed amendments to the existing housing element," McCarris said during his presentation.

Why it matters: The housing element is a state-required plan that identifies sites and policies to meet a community's share of regional housing needs. To meet state rules and HCD expectations, staff proposes a zoning change that would require residential uses to occupy at least 50% of total floor area on the mixed-use sites and set a minimum density consistent with state guidance for these sites.

How the sites change: Under the proposed amendment, the Village Square site would be shown as 20 very-low-income units and five area-median-income units; the Christ Church site's current listing (six area-median-income units) would be replaced with a proposed 14…