After an 11-year battle, the currently unincorporated West Menlo Park Triangle neighborhood may soon be annexed into the City of Menlo Park.
The West Menlo Triangle is enclosed by Santa Cruz Ave, Sharon Road, and Alameda de las Pulgas. This area is 14 square acres and includes 60 family residences.
The Triangle is a part of West Menlo Park, which shares a ZIP code with Menlo Park but is legally an unincorporated part of San Mateo County. This means the San Mateo County sheriff polices it, the county maintains its roads, but its residents cannot vote in Menlo Park elections, even though city decisions shape their lives. These problems are at the heart of the longest-running annexation effort in San Mateo County history.
The annexation effort, which would formally add the Triangle residents to Menlo Park, has taken over a decade, and residents are hopeful that an end is in sight. “It has been a long process, but now that the road improvement project on Alameda has been completed, it feels like the timing is right for the city council to prioritize the annexation of the Triangle,” Gregg Holzrichter, a Triangle resident, said.
This comes months after the council officially signaled support for the first time since the effort began, indicating a potential resolution. The application has cost $10,000 so far and was expected to have additional fees of over $60,000; however, on Jan. 13, a sympathetic Menlo Park City Council waived those additional fees.
Annexation is the process by which a city includes unincorporated land to expand its boundaries. It is not uncommon, especially in Menlo Park’s history. “Menlo Park has grown and evolved based on a series of annexations. It is in the DNA of the city,” Councilmember Drew Combs said.
Some past annexations that have expanded Menlo Park include the Bell Haven and Suburban Park annexation in 1949 and the Willows annexation in the late 1940s, both of which were larger than the Triangle.
An annexation of the Triangle would bring needed changes to the neighborhood. One of the main reasons residents seek incorporation is to receive municipal funding for sidewalks, as the Triangle borders multiple busy roads. “Harrison Way already has sidewalks and feels indistinguishable from Menlo Park City. Annexation would provide better services for residents, and the city would benefit from an increased tax base. Win-win,” Holzrichter said.
West Menlo Park often faces delayed law enforcement response because it relies on the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office rather than the much closer Menlo Park Police Department. “I’d rather have the police provide law enforcement than the sheriff because the sheriff has to come from the closest [station, which is in] Redwood City, whereas the police are just right here,” Gregory Faris, a resident of the Triangle, said.
“I personally think it’d be nice if the whole area, all the unannexed areas, joined the city because it [the current situation] creates a lot of bureaucratic overhead that’s unnecessary,” Faris said.
In addition to city services, some residents of the Triangle want a say in Menlo Park politics. “My biggest issue with annexation is that our neighborhood, a part of the City of Menlo Park in every way, cannot vote in City elections and has no voice in issues that directly affect our daily lives,” Lynne McClure said.
In early September, the annexation application passed its 11-year mark. According to Combs, a series of new elections on the board and steadily growing sympathy have finally reached a critical mass. “I think we have a clear majority of the council who are willing to support it, who have expressed support for it […] My real hope is that [annexation] happens at some point in 2027,” Combs said.
