Portola Valley Information

• Town website - https://www.portolavalley.net/

• Planning Commission

• Town General Plan

• Alpine Scenic Corridor Plan - part of the General Plan 2001

• Upcoming Council Meetings 

• Past Council Meetings - Minutes and Agendas

Town of Portola Valley

• https://www.portolavalley.net/building-planning/stanford - documents for planning application

• https://www.portolavalley.net/home/showdocument?id=13028 - Stanford Wedge Project Description

Stanford University

• https://portolavalleyhousing.stanford.edu/ - main link to information

• Stanford Housing Proposal for General Use Permit Fact Sheet for Affordable Housing 2018 - this was a proposal for Santa Clara County

• Stanford Land Use Map 2012 - map does not show Portola Valley in the plan for building

• Possible Location of Assumed Development 2012 - the Stanford Wedge is nowhere near

• Stanford University has withdrawn its application for a long-term land use permit from Santa Clara County, acknowledging obstacles on the path to a successful permit and committing to a new phase of engagement and dialogue with its neighbors and surrounding communities. https://news.stanford.edu/2019/11/01/stanford-withdraws-general-use-permit-application/

San Mateo County

• LAFCo - https://www.smc-connect.org/locations/san-mateo-county-local-agency-formation-commission-lafco - reviews proposals for the incorporation, annexation and dissolution of cities and districts

State Of California

• Environmental Impact Report (CEQA) - environmental impact report documents that include notice of the scoping meeting which was attended by PVNU representatives and Native American Heritage Commission doc. There are many agencies listed on the website but only a few will be contacted. The list of reviewing agencies – Caltrans District 4, Fish & Game Region 3 and Regional WQCB 2, San Mateo LAFCo, West Bay Sanitary District – to review by Feb 17.

Community Public Relations

These are places to share ideas, promote events and contribute knowledge.

• PVForum

• Nextdoor

• AlmanacNews

• San Jose Mercury News

Affordable Housing Mandate

Portola Valley's RHNA for the eight years from 2014-2022 is one of the lowest in San Mateo County, at a total of 64 housing units.  Of these, 13 are for above-moderate income households; 15 are for moderate-income households; 15 are for low-income households, and 21 are for very low-income households.  

For other cities see https://abag.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2015-23_rhna_plan.pdf 

Portola Valley has built many more ADUs than 64, but 2023 may not follow the RHNA process.

"The target for its state Regional Needs Housing Allocation is 64 units by 2022 and the town issued eight building permits for affordable units in 2018, bringing the total to 69 units, according to a progress report that was reviewed by the Planning Commission at its May 1 meeting." Almanac News May 8,2019. https://www.almanacnews.com/print/story/2019/05/08/portola-valley-keeping-pace-with-affordable-housing-target   

Organizations That Help Preserve Open Space

• Sierra Club - Local Loma Prieta Chapter

• Committee for Green Foothills

  • https://www.greenfoothills.org/projects/preserving-heritage-significant-trees-san-mateo-county/

  • https://www.greenfoothills.org/tell-county-supervisors-to-protect-stanford-foothills/ -

    initiative to stop Stanford from building on the green foothills near the Dish for 99 years

• Midpeninsula Open Space

• Peninsula Open Space Trust

State of California Information

LAWS AFFECTING HOUSING

• SB 592 - http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB592 

  • https://48hills.org/2019/06/wiener-quietly-turns-barber-bill-into-major-housing-legislation/  

  • http://www.beverlyhills.org/citymanager/newsroom/citycouncilcondemnssenwienersgutandamendofsb592/ 

  • https://www.sftu.org/2019/07/06/no-on-sb-50-sb-592/ 

  • https://padailypost.com/2019/06/17/sen-wiener-uses-gut-and-amend-maneuver-to-introduce-legislation-to-help-move-housing-projects-along-sb50-is-still-on-hold/ 

  • https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayareahousingcrisis/article/Wealthy-Bay-Area-suburbs-could-have-a-whole-new-13834033.php 

State Budget Impacts

• https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2019/01/gavin-newsom-housing-reform-transportation-budget-homeless/580192/ 

• In Gavin Newsom's Budget Plans for 2019-2020 - http://www.ebudget.ca.gov/2019-20/pdf/BudgetSummary/HousingandLocalGovernment.pdf 

  • The Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) will establish higher short-term statewide goals for new housing production across all income levels and will allocate these goals to local jurisdictions. Local governments will receive grants ($250 million of the $750 million) to support technical assistance and staffing to develop plans to reach these higher goals. This includes, but is not limited to: rezoning for greater density, completing environmental clearance, permitting units, and revamping local processes to speed up production. The state will review these efforts and certify that certain milestones have been reached. As jurisdictions reach these milestones, funding ($500 million of the $750 million) will be available to cities and counties for general purposes.