My objections:
HOUSING ELEMENT SITE 45 OBJECTIONS
This is a case of “déjà vu all over again” This site at Rural Lane was suggested at the last Housing Element sessions. It was dismissed as completely impractical by, I believe, Peter Ohtaki. John Donohoe of Stanford also stated that Stanford, the owner, had no intention at that time of developing the land. The site is half within city jurisdiction and half within the county jurisdiction so would require annexation. Last time this site was suggested without any notice whatsoever to the abutting residents of Stowe Lane. Any further discussion should be noticed to all the residents of Stanford Weekend Acres.
Objections raised last time are even more compelling this time given the growth of traffic. The site is located just south of a blind corner, right before the gridlocked Junipero Serra/Alpine intersection. At this point the road is 3 lane heading north: one heading towards Campus Drive West; one towards Santa Cruz Ave and lower Sand Hill; and one towards Alameda and upper Sand Hill Road; and one lane heading south towards I-280. There is no turn lane into the property and it is virtually impossible, and highly dangerous, to enter or exit that location.
It is also adjacent to the Stanford golf course where flying ▒▒▒▒▒ would present a danger. In addition it floods severely during winter and there is no drainage. Several weeks ago an eminent Stanford professor died on the golf course, and the emergency vehicles could not get to him because they were stuck in the mud at Rural Lane. At present there is no practical way for fire or emergency access, nor could one be devised given the Alpine Road traffic situation.
The site is adjacent to the 109 gas line that crosses Alpine and which appears to have frequent problems since the right hand lane has been blocked for weeks at a time and large numbers of trucks and workers have been engaged in safety work. We were recently noticed of yet more closures for “safety” reasons.
Crossing the site is the main fiber optic line that serves SLAC.
The site is well below road level and there is no drainage system along Alpine Road. The sewer line runs perilously close to the creek , south of the site until it reaches the pumping station at the bottom of Stowe Lane. There is another sewer line on the far side of Alpine that services Portola Valley but it is at a higher elevation.
Menlo Park’s basic problem has been that it has proliferated commercial structures to gain revenue, which has caused the housing/jobs imbalance. The houses that have been built are large luxury homes. Years ago City Council member Andy Cohen pushed for “granny units” to ease the problem. His advice was scorned at the time. Even if Stanford were to develop that land some time in the future it would be for faculty, it would not mitigate Menlo Park’s problem of finding sites for affordable housing.
Site 45 is NOT a viable option because of its dangerous location that would also impact evacuation routes and normal traffic flow, especially since it is located along the main access to Stanford Hospital.
