Menlo Park council revises downtown plan to allow limited rear‑office space and small‑scale recreation, with bank size limits

Menlo Park’s City Council on June 23 adopted changes to the El Camino Real downtown‑specific plan intended to make Santa Cruz Avenue easier to lease and more attractive to families and small businesses.

Associate Planner Matt Pruder told the council the amendments would allow qualifying existing buildings to add up to two‑thirds of a public‑benefit bonus floor area ratio for office uses in the rear half of the ground floor or on the second floor — but only if the change did not increase overall building square footage and was approved through a use permit and a public benefit agreement. Staff also proposed reclassifying or consolidating several personal‑service categories and adding small‑scale commercial recreation as a conditional use.

Todd Speaker, representing property owner Windy Hill Property Ventures, said the change is aimed at shrinking retail floor plates and bringing smaller office tenants who “go out to eat, run errands downtown” and help enliven the street. “Downtown used to be a magnet for people, and that's what we're trying to get back to,” he said.

Members of the public — including prospective business owners — urged the council to approve the amendments. Kylie Holmes, who said she had lined up financing and contractors for a family activity center, said: “The only thing standing between me and a signed lease is the current zoning.” Multiple speakers described a large nearby population of schoolchildren and families and said similar zoning changes in neighboring cities had reduced vacancy rates.

Councilmembers agreed the changes could help reduce long‑term vacancy, but debated possible tradeoffs. Concerns included displacement of legacy retail and the aesthetics or suitability of certain uses for Santa Cruz Avenue. The Planning Commission had recommended several modifications, and staff proposed additional guardrails.

Council votes and final edits included keeping therapeutic massage in a restricted category for now (rather than moving it to a general personal‑services classification), leaving the existing animal retail/sales allowance unchanged (limited to 5,000 sq ft under current code), and accepting staff’s compromise on banks and financial institutions: banks may be conditionally permitted in the Main Street overlay but are subject to an individual 5,000‑sq‑ft cap and a 30,000‑sq‑ft total cap across the overlay. The council also asked staff to provide an annual information report on uses and vacancies along Santa Cruz Avenue.

The resolution adopting the amendments was approved unanimously on roll call. Staff noted a small table edit to Attachment A (Table E1 footnote) would be made as part of the adopted resolution. The amendments take effect on adoption per the resolution’s language.

What’s next: projects seeking the office allowance will require a use permit and a public benefit agreement before any change of use is approved.