City Council Weekly Digest

TO: MENLO PARK CITY COUNCIL

FROM: Alex D. McIntyre, City Manager

Friday

March 28, 2014

ITEMS INCLUDED:

Mid-Peninsula to Host Community Meeting on Menlo

Gateway Willow Road Apartment Renovation

Cogan Speaks to AIA Panel Regarding Architecture’s

Impact on Community

ATTACHMENTS:

The CNN 10: Visionary

Women – including Ari

Horie of Women's Startup

Lab

Silicon Valley Business

Journal Article: 'A lot of ugly

out there': Silicon Valley

planners, architects list top

challenges

Menlo Park Construction

News Update 03/28/2014

Council Digest – March 28, 2014

Page 2

Mid-Peninsula to Host Community Meeting on Menlo Gateway Willow Road Apartment Renovation

In July 2013, the City of Menlo Park announced the availability of funds for new affordable rental housing projects in

Menlo Park, as a final step in completing the requirements of the lawsuit brought against the City by area housing non-

profits.

Approximately $3.2 million in Below Market Rate (BMR) housing funds was made available under this Notice Of Funds

Availability to support the acquisition, rehabilitation or new construction of housing providing long term affordability.

The funding was intended to fill the financing gap between the projected total development costs and other available

funding sources. The City received only one proposal, which was from Mid-Peninsula Housing which was presented as

an information item to the City Council at the January 14, 2014 meeting. At the January 14, 2014 meeting the Council

urged Mid-Peninsula to reach out to the community, to engage all interested parties in the overall design, purpose and

community impact of the project.

Mid-Peninsula has been meeting with interested community members in small meetings thus far, but will be holding

their first broader community meeting Wednesday, April 3rd from 6:30-7:30 pm at the Menlo Park Senior Center. If you

have questions contact Lily Gray at lgray@midpen-housing.org. Staff will continue to work on the details of the project

design, timeline and financing.

Cogan Speaks to AIA Panel Regarding Architecture’s Impact on Community

Economic Development Manager Jim Cogan was invited to speak to over 100 attendees at the March 26th meeting of the

Santa Clara Valley Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. Jim joined a distinguished group of municipal and

design professionals for a panel discussion at the March 26th meeting of the Santa Clara Valley Chapter of the American

Institute of Architects. The title of the program was “Toward a Better Urban Community: How Architecture 101

engages planning officials & decision makers in a design dialogue.” One of the recurring themes involved how good

design should engage and even create public spaces that contribute to community building as the character of Bay Area

cities evolves to meet the challenges associated with growth. Everyone acknowledged that the priorities of Generation-Y

residents and employees are helping to drive development trends. As Bay Area cities look to address the challenges of

traffic and rising housing costs, the newest generation of talent is looking for multimodal transit opportunities,

experiential retail and even proximity to a skate park. They prefer urban villages to suburban neighborhoods and the

onus falls to applicants and city officials to communicate the value of these new types of development to existing

residents. The panel discussed the sometimes competing generational visions for their communities and how they are

wrestling with the challenges of finding common ground as market demand requires ever intensifying development.

The AIA panel consisted of:

Jim Cogan, Menlo Park Economic Development Manager

Steve Piasecki, City of San Jose, Interim Planning Official;

Michael Garvey, Manager, Grand Boulevard Initiative;

Howard Miller, City of Saratoga, Past Mayor & current Councilmember;

Thang Do, AIASCV Board Vice President/President Elect & President, Aedis Architects.

An article about the event that appeared in the Silicon Valley Business Journal on March 28, 2014, is attached.

Council Digest – March 28, 2014

Page 3

PARTIAL LIST OF UPCOMING EVENTS

April 1st, Tuesday Deadline for Form 700 Conflict of Interest filers

April 2nd, Wednesday Caltrain Electrification DEIR Public Comment Meeting –

Redwood City Library, 6 pm

April 3rd, Thursday Tree Planting Ceremony in honor of Arbor Day – Belle Haven

Child Development Center, 9:30 am

April 11th, 12th, 13th Menlo Park Sidewalk Fine Arts Festival – Santa Cruz Avenue,

Fri/Sat/Sun Fri./Sat. 10 am - 6 pm & Sun. 10 am - 5 pm

April 17th, Thursday Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) Spring General

Assembly and Annual Business Meeting – City Center Oakland

Marriott, 8:30 am - 3:30 pm

April 19th, Saturday Egg Hunt – Two locations: Burgess Park & Kelly Park, 10am- 12 pm

April 23rd, Wednesday League of CA Cities’ Legislative Action Day – Sacramento, 10 am-

6:30 pm

April 23rd, Wednesday Rotary Club of Menlo Park’s “Rotary Connects” Evening Out –

LB Steak House, 5:30-7 pm

April 26th, Saturday Rebuilding Together Peninsula’s 25th National Rebuilding Day

Bus Tour and Picnic – Oracle, 2:30-7 pm

May 3rd, Saturday Kite Day – Bedwell-Bayfront Park, 12-3 pm

May 15th, Thursday Menlo Park Library Volunteer Reception – Oak Room, Arrillaga

Family Recreation Center, 5:30-7 pm

May 20th, Tuesday City Commissions’ Annual Training and Appreciation Reception

May 22nd, Thursday Jobs for Youth 32nd Annual Fundraising Breakfast – Foster City

Crowne Plaza, 7:30 am

June 7th, Saturday 10th Annual Disaster Preparedness Day – San Mateo County

Events Center, San Mateo

June 11th, Wednesday Taste of Menlo – TBD

June 18th, Wednesday Downtown Summer Block Party – Santa Cruz Avenue, 5-9 pm

June 18th, Wednesday Kickoff of Summer Concerts in the Park – Fremont Park

July 4th, Friday 4th of July Parade and Celebration – Santa Cruz Ave to Burgess

Park, 11:45 am - 2:30 pm

July 19th-20th, Sat/Sun 28th Annual Connoisseurs’ Marketplace – Santa Cruz Ave, 10 am

Council Digest – March 28, 2014

Page 4

UPCOMING CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS

April

Tuesday, April 1, 2014 7:00 p.m. Council Mtg. (Closed Session, 6:00 p.m.)

Tuesday, April 29, 2014 7:00 p.m. Council Mtg. (Closed Session, 6:00 p.m.)

May

Tuesday, May 6, 2014 7:00 p.m. Council Mtg. (Closed Session, 6:00 p.m.)

Tuesday, May 13, 2014 7:00 p.m. Council Mtg. (Closed Session, 6:00 p.m.)

June

Tuesday, June 3, 2014 7:00 p.m. Council Mtg. (Closed Session, 6:00 p.m.)

Tuesday, June 17, 2014 7:00 p.m. Council Mtg. (Closed Session, 6:00 p.m.)

July

Tuesday, July 15, 2014 7:00 p.m. Council Mtg. (Closed Session, 6:00 p.m.)

August

Tuesday, August 19, 2014 7:00 p.m. Council Mtg. (Closed Session, 6:00 p.m.)

Tuesday, August 26, 2014 7:00 p.m. Council Mtg. (Closed Session, 6:00 p.m.)

September

Tuesday, September 9, 2014 7:00 p.m. Council Mtg. (Closed Session, 6:00 p.m.)

Tuesday, September 23, 2014 7:00 p.m. Council Mtg. (Closed Session, 6:00 p.m.)

October

Tuesday, October 7, 2014 7:00 p.m. Council Mtg. (Closed Session, 6:00 p.m.)

Tuesday, October 21, 2014 7:00 p.m. Council Mtg. (Closed Session, 6:00 p.m.)

Tuesday, October 28, 2014 7:00 p.m. Council Mtg. (Closed Session, 6:00 p.m.)

November

Tuesday, November 18, 2014 7:00 p.m. Council Mtg. (Closed Session, 6:00 p.m.)

December

Tuesday, December 2, 2014 7:00 p.m. Council Mtg. (Closed Session, 6:00 p.m.)

Tuesday, December 16, 2014 7:00 p.m. Council Mtg. (Closed Session, 6:00 p.m.)

3/27/2014 The CNN 10: Visionary Women - CNN.com

http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2014/03/living/cnn10-visionary-women/ 1/2

« Hom e page

NextPrevious

ROLE:

Founder and CEO,

Women's Startup

Lab

AGE:

41

LOCATION:

Menlo Park,

California

IDEA:

Explore and

capitalize on what

makes female tech

Startup sister

By Ann Hoevel, CNN

Amid a sea of young students sporting identical uniforms and red leather

backpacks, there was Ari Horie. She had a pink backpack, and it sparked a

realization: Being different didn’t have to be a bad thing.

“At that point I was just 7 years old, so I felt very isolated. ... I wanted to

belong,” Horie said.

She built up resilience during those years of standing out in her native Japan

and experienced a new sense of belonging years later as an exchange student in

the United States.

She thinks of those experiences now, after founding Women’s Startup Lab

in 2013. It’s a technology industry accelerator designed to help female startup

founders flourish in a field dominated by men.

INTRODUCTION

SKILL SHAPER

CODING COACH

SEXISM SLAYER

RESTAURANTREFORMER

DREAM DRIVER

STARTUP SISTER

WAGE GAP WARRIOR

STIGMA STOPPER

FASHION FUTURISTS

READINGREVOLUTIONARY

3/27/2014 The CNN 10: Visionary Women - CNN.com

http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2014/03/living/cnn10-visionary-women/ 2/2

company

founders unique

and successful

QUOTE:

“We can find

another option for

success instead of

... being a slave of

the startup world.

You can still be

driven and

successful while

being

collaborative and

successful.”

LEARN MORE

At Women’s Startup Lab, they’re considering how women work differently,

Horie says.

“Having more diversity and having a woman be part of it in a unique way

actually creates an opportunity,” Horie said.

The magic ingredient is a collaborative process based on hito, the Japanese

pictograph letter that means “human.” She says the character looks like a man

and a woman, leaning on each other; If one falls, they both fall.

With more questions asked and more opinions offered, female

entrepreneurs find more success, she says. The “hito rule” that Women’s Startup

Lab swears by is based on collaboration: “Women tend to do really well in that

environment,” Horie said. “Instead of saying ‘I know the answer,’ they say,

‘What do you think?’ ”

Women’s Startup Lab helps female tech company founders grow their

companies, expand their technological goals and focus on the traits that will best

serve them in business.

“Nobody really talks about it, but the amount of pressure and stress that

founders are under, it’s enormous,” Horie said.

The 18 women who joined Horie’s accelerator program in 2013 weren’t fresh startup hopefuls but

Silicon Valley serial entrepreneurs, she says -- not what Horie was expecting. “They say, ‘We want to

connect and be able to talk about some of the challenges.’ ... That’s very different than the male serial

entrepreneur.”

Horie’s goal for 2014 is to reach more female startup founders around the United States or

internationally. Creating a hub for them will mean “women can have access to our connections and be

able to succeed,” she said.

Horie doesn’t want women to feel limited by the culture they were born into or the place where

they live, she says. She believes that their opportunities should be endless.

3/29/2014 Can Silicon Valley get less ugly? City planners, architects on top challenges - Silicon Valley Business Journal

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2014/03/28/can-silicon-valley-streets-get-less-ugly-city.html?s=print 1/2

From the Silicon Valley Business Journal

Mar 28, 2014, 5:50am PDT Updated: Mar 28, 2014, 6:36am PDT

'A lot of ugly out there': Silicon Valley

planners, architects list top challengesLauren Hepler

Economic Development Reporter- Silicon Valley Business Journal

Email | Twitter | LinkedIn | Google+

In the midst of Silicon Valley's current real estate boom, it's easy to focus on the gleaming

luxury residential towers springing up in downtown areas or the massive new office

compounds taking shape in longtime job centers.

But large swaths of the region are still dominated by dilapidated strip malls and faded office

parks lining streets that are often supremely uninviting for pedestrians.

"We've got a lot of ugly out there," said Steve Piasecki, San Jose's interim planning official,

during a Wednesday panel discussion moderated by the Business Journal and hosted by the

Santa Clara Valley chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

Piasecki was joined by other area planners and Aedis Architects President Thang Do to discuss

the potential for better public-private collaboration on the design of local cities. The verdict:

While project-by-project battles over entitlements remain a constant threat, both sides are

seeking middle ground to take advantage of the real estate investment funds currently up for

grabs.

Exorbitant housing prices and traffic gridlock have forced some area cities and developers to

consider denser, more transit-oriented projects. Still, residents in wealthy cities like Palo Alto,

Menlo Park and Los Gatos, among others, have persistently challenged new development, often

citing traffic congestion as a primary concern.

Panelists at a Santa Clara Valley chapter meeting of the American Institute of Architects. From left to right: San Jose Interim Planning Official Steve Piasecki; Menlo Park Economic Development Manager Jim Cogan; Saratoga Councilmember and former Mayor Howard Miller; Grand Boulevard Initiative Manager Michael Garvey; Aedis Architects President Thang Do.

Photo by Andrew Fair.

3/29/2014 Can Silicon Valley get less ugly? City planners, architects on top challenges - Silicon Valley Business Journal

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2014/03/28/can-silicon-valley-streets-get-less-ugly-city.html?s=print 2/2

planning efforts are often strained by a "well-educated — but not fully informed — active

citizenry."

In Silicon Valley and elsewhere, NIMBYs, or residents taking the "Not In My Backyard" approach

to development, are nothing new. However, favorable financing rates currently available with

the strong recent run up in the regional economy have once again pushed developers to invest

in new projects, sometimes incurring backlash.

"We really have tried to kind of paralyze ourselves in time," said Saratoga Councilmember and

former Mayor Howard Miller, who also called efforts in the city to block better linkages to

Highway 85 "amazingly stupid."

Jim Cogan, Menlo Park's economic development manager, joked about his city's notorious anti-

development streak, saying: "If Silicon Valley is a family, Menlo Park is kind of like the rich,

crazy uncle."

San Jose, meanwhile, is at the opposite end of the spectrum. The city is aggressively pushing

for 70 new urban villages as part of its 2040 general planning process. Piasecki said one

primary challenge with that initiative is cooperation among adjacent property owners.

Pushing beyond politics

At the AIA event on Wednesday, architect Thang Do — who is currently working on his own

mixed-use downtown San Jose development— said that narrow focus on individual projects or

aesthetic styles often detracts from broader goals for more inviting public spaces.

He urged more architects to get involved in local planning commissions or architectural review

boards that aim to improve design in area cities. In the meantime, he said better education

about design principles is another possibility.

For more than a decade, AIA has attempted to spur better communication between architects

and city planners with an "Architecture 101" program that aims to reinforce positive broad

urban design principles instead of getting bogged down in the politics that often come with

new development proposals. In recent months, Do and other area architects have redoubled

their efforts to offer presentations on the topic to area cities like Saratoga and Mountain View.

"We wanted other people to understand architects and their terminology better," said Hari

Sripadanna, principal of Srusti Architects and current chair of the Architecture 101 program.

"Purely evaluating buildings on a stylistic level benefits no one."

Instead, Sripadanna emphasized the threads of livability and mobility, urging more

consideration of design variables like distance from the street or access to adjacent open spaces

to make buildings more inviting to the public.

Michael Garvey, a Bay Area political consultant currently focused on efforts to redevelop El

Camino Real as part of a multi-city Grand Boulevard Initiative, said forward-thinking urban

Menlo Park Construction News Update March 28, 2014

The construction news update provides summarized weekly news on ongoing construction activities. It is intended to provide advance information for decision makers, including City Management, Police Department, Fire District, Post Office, SamTrans, etc. so they can anticipate potential impacts and respond accordingly. Please direct any construction inquiries to the assigned inspectors for immediate attention or contact the project engineer. To receive email notices of updates of this newsletter (or other available City publications) use this subscription link: https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/CAMENLO/subscriber/new?topic_id=CAMENLO_93

New this report:

Construction activities with significant impact on traffic this coming week:

Item No.

Project Description Status Significant Impacts

1

Willow Road/VA Hospital Entrance/Durham Street Signal Modification Project Work entails the complete reconstruction of the Willow Road//VA Hospital Entrance/Durham Street intersection. It includes: shifting the VA Entrance to align with Durham Street, new traffic signals, new ADA compliant curb ramps, and new stamped asphalt crosswalks.

Contractor would like to begin construction on the northeast corner of the intersection of Willow Road and VA Hospital entrance as soon possible. They are currently working to provide additional information to the City prior to beginning work. The work entails new curb, gutter, and sidewalk to realign the VA Hospital entrance with Durham Street, as well as installation of new storm drain pipes and drain inlets.

Once work begins, it will require closure of the sidewalk along the north side of Willow Road at the VA Hospital entrance. Some sidewalk closures possible next week. No significant vehicular traffic impacts expected next week. Once work begins in the right-of-way, expect potential extreme delays due to traffic control lane closures. Veterans Affairs Project

Manager: Min Pham (650) 444-5805 City Project Engineer: Rene Punsalan (650) 330-6758 City Engineering Inspector: Eric Hinkley (650) 330-6749 Contractor: Halbert Construction Company Kenny Steidl (619) 971-0199

2

Sharon Heights Pump Station Project: The work entails replacement of an existing pump station which is a critical component of the water distribution system. The pump station takes water from San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and increases its pressure to serve the Sharon Heights neighborhood, SLAC, Sharon Heights Golf and Country Club and to two reservoirs.

Construction began on October 31, 2013 and is expected to be completed in April, 2015. Activities for the upcoming week: For the upcoming week of April 3, 2014, Anderson Pacific will install the rebar and form the temporary pump station slab. Anderson will continue the new temporary controls for the pumps, and continue with the fabrication of the underground piping.

Majority of work to occur in the City’s pump station lot at Sharon Park Drive and Lassen Drive. Except for the occasional equipment and supply deliveries, no significant traffic impact is anticipated throughout construction.

City Project Engineer: Rene Punsalan (650) 330-6758 Construction Management: Swinerton Management & Consulting Project Manager: Jorge Bermudez (408) 204-6205 Contractor: Anderson Pacific, Inc. Matt Mirenda (408) 482-5951

3

Hamilton Avenue Sanitary Sewer Upgrade for the Facebook Development Project: The work entails upsizing an existing sanitary sewer from 12-inch to 16-inch diameter along Hamilton Ave. immediately west of Willow Road. This sewer upgrade will accommodate the Facebook private development project.

Construction of this project was temporarily suspended. Utility conflicts owned by Comcast and PG&E need to be cleared prior to resumption of work. Coordination with utility companies’ on-going.

Most of the work is being constructed at night to minimize traffic impacts; however, the pavement work will occur during the day. Expect minimal traffic interruption during construction. Parking restrictions may be enforced as necessary.

City Project Engineer: Rene Punsalan (650) 330-6758 Construction Management: Facebook Project Manager: Fergus O’Shea (415) 680-7998 Contractor: Preston Pipelines

4

El Camino Real Trees Project – Phase III: This project consists of planting approximately 70 London Plane trees in the sidewalk and median islands along El Camino Real from Oak Grove Avenue to Middle Avenue. Additional work items include installation of an irrigation system and some miscellaneous concrete work.

Contract was awarded to Del Conte’s Landscaping on January 28, 2014. City has conducted a pre-construction meeting with the Contractor and is currently gathering required documentation prior to start of construction.

Potential delays due to traffic control along El Camino Real during construction hours.

City Project Engineer: Rene Punsalan (650) 330-6758 City Engineering Inspector: Eric Hinkley (650) 330-6749 Contractor: Del Conte’s Landscaping (510) 353-6030