Planning Commission backs applicant-led Santa Cruz Avenue zoning changes, asks Council for wider study

The Menlo Park Planning Commission voted unanimously on May 18 to recommend that the City Council consider a package of amendments to the El Camino Real Downtown Specific Plan proposed by the owner of 870 Santa Cruz Avenue.

The package would: make personal improvement services and personal services general permitted on any floor; permit animal retail sales and allow animal clinics and banks as conditional uses; and create a narrowly tailored pathway for existing buildings to add limited office area in the rear half of a ground floor, up to two-thirds of the public-benefit bonus floor area, subject to a use permit and a quantified public-benefit (in-lieu) agreement.

Todd Speaker of Windy Hill Property Ventures, the applicant and owner of 870 Santa Cruz, told commissioners the change is aimed at reversing long-term vacancy and “allowing alternative uses [to] bring life to these spaces” by enabling smaller retail footprints and adding daytime workers who can support downtown businesses. “We need downtown to be a magnet for people,” Speaker said in his presentation.

Why it matters: Commissioners and many public commenters said Santa Cruz Avenue has high vacancy and that permitting fitness, wellness and family-oriented businesses at street level would increase foot traffic and benefit existing retailers. Several speakers highlighted comparable policy changes in neighboring Peninsula cities and urged Menlo Park to do the same.

What the Commission changed: After substantial public comment and a lengthy commissioner debate about trade-offs, the Commission amended the applicant’s package to keep banks and financial institutions listed as not allowed on Santa Cruz Avenue, and to add “small‑scale commercial recreation” (for uses under 20,000 square feet, such as arcades and family activity centers) as a conditional use in the Main Street overlay. The motion also included a recommendation that City Council direct staff and the Planning Commission to hold a broader study session on downtown vibrancy.

Office, oversight and public benefit: Staff described the office allowance as narrowly limited to existing buildings’ rear halves (no frontage on Santa Cruz Avenue) and subject to a one-time Planning Commission hearing on a required public-benefit agreement informed by an economic pro forma. Staff said the in-lieu funds would be dedicated to downtown improvements. Commissioners discussed alternatives including annual fees, vacancy protections, or tying approvals to demonstrated front‑door activity, but voted to advance the package with the modifications above.

Dissent and caution: Commissioners expressed mixed views on whether allowing limited rear-office uses might reduce incentives for full redevelopment or complicate future transit-oriented upzoning under new state law (SB79). Several said they supported the package as a pragmatic, applicant-driven modernization of an outdated code but favored additional Council‑directed study to consider broader policy tools such as vacancy taxes, parking management, or redevelopment incentives.

Next steps: The Planning Commission’s recommendation will be transmitted to the City Council, where the package is tentatively scheduled for a June 23 hearing. If Council adopts the amendments, the office pathway would require project‑level use permits and a public-benefit agreement before any change of use could be implemented.