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Atherton council directs staff to develop frontage standards, study fees and refine ATP prioritization
Summary
Council gave staff direction to draft frontage-improvement policy options, develop context‑sensitive street-design standards, consider a development fee for select multifamily projects (subject to law), and explore daylighting and prioritization refinements for the active transportation plan.
Atherton — Councilmembers provided staff with policy direction on several high-level elements of the town’s active transportation plan (ATP), including frontage improvements, development-fee options, street-design standards and daylighting to support pedestrian safety.
Staff said the ATP’s draft includes three policy areas: (1) assess when frontage improvements should be required for developments in locations identified by the ATP and whether an in-lieu fee is appropriate; (2) develop a menu of context-sensitive design standards for walkways, green infrastructure and multimodal facilities; and (3) consider policies to facilitate compliance with the state daylighting rule that prohibits parking within roughly 20 feet of crosswalk approaches.
On fees, the city attorney noted legal constraints under the Mitigation Fee Act and related case law: fees must be proportionate to development impacts and justified by study. The attorney summarized that any development-fee option would need to be tailored, likely focused on larger multifamily developments with greater infrastructure impact, and would have to comply with Government Code section 66000.
Councilmembers supported directing staff to return with alternatives rather than adopting a fee tonight. Several members favored limiting fee study focus to projects with larger impacts (for example, multifamily or SP‑designated parcels) and asked staff to bring cost estimates and an equitable implementation approach. Members also asked staff to ensure design standards preserve Atherton’s semi-rural character and to include images and options for council feedback.
On daylighting, staff summarized state requirements and enforcement options; council agreed daylighting is a safety matter but prioritized staff time and enforcement coordination with law enforcement rather than immediate townwide code changes.
What’s next: Staff will draft alternative policy options and standard drawings, analyze legal constraints for potential development fees, estimate costs, and return to the council with refined materials and prioritization metrics for public review.
