The Menlo Park City Council voted 4-1 to delay adopting the Downtown Parking Plazas Ordinance initiative, instead choosing to fund a $165,000 independent study on the predicted impacts of downtown housing. Currently, the city is seeking the development of nearly 345 new below-market-rate units in eight different downtown parking lots. The units are intended for individuals earning less than the area median income in an effort to support residents struggling with increased costs.
The ballot initiative, spearheaded by Save Downtown Menlo—a group opposed to affordable housing in downtown parking lots—proposes that the decision to pursue housing downtown be left to a citywide vote. This deviates from the current structure for approving housing, which is decided by the City Council. Following this proposal, the petition for the initiative garnered nearly 2,000 vetted signatures, enough for it to be brought to the attention of the Council.
When faced with this kind of ballot initiative, the City Council traditionally has three courses of action: to adopt the initiative immediately, place the initiative on the ballot, or fund a report on the initiative’s impacts before making a decision. The Council chose the third, aiming to educate residents before pursuing further action.
“I hope everyone is able to vote on the basis of full information so we can make the best decisions for our future Menlo Park,” Vice Mayor Betsy Nash, a supporter of the report, said.
Mayor Drew Combs was the lone dissenting voice in the decision. “It’s going to be a really costly report of limited value,” Combs said. “I think we saw this with Measure V. People will see it as biased and discredit those aspects of the report that they don’t like.” His concerns are especially notable given Menlo Park’s historically small $200,000 surplus for the 2025-26 fiscal year.
The report, written by M-Group, a city planning consultant, aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the implications of downtown housing. It is expected to cover the proposal’s impact on business, employment, transportation, and the city budget.
The study will be conducted on a compressed schedule, with only one month and $164,951 allocated for completion. Once finished, the Council will review the findings and decide whether to place the initiative on the ballot. The report also comes at a particularly polarized time in Menlo Park, with two groups—Menlo Together, which supports downtown housing, and Save Downtown Menlo, which opposes it—actively campaigning on both sides.
Both groups provided public comment at the meeting. “We strongly support your efforts to add much-needed affordable homes, parking, and access innovations to downtown Menlo Park’s parking plazas,” community member Karen Grove said in support of Menlo Together.
Supporters of Save Downtown Menlo also spoke out. “There’s absolutely no room in that lot,” community member Sherry Zozlowski said. “If we end up with housing there, it will be endangerment for anyone living there and for people in the surrounding stores.”
Tensions emerged as a series of verbal exchanges broke out between the two sides. During a public comment from community member Prudence Pingrey in support of downtown housing development, community members on the opposing side yelled “Time!” from the crowd, signaling for her to stop. Mayor Drew Combs promptly stepped in. “Last I heard, I was the mayor. I will call time,” he said.
At the next meeting on Dec. 4, the Council will discuss the report and make a decision on whether to put the initiative on the ballot or adopt the ordinance outright. While nothing is final, Combs’ comment that adopting the measure outright wouldn’t be “viable or democratic” suggests the Council is leaning toward sending the question to voters—either through a special election or the 2026 general election, just a few months away.
