Obscure 'builder's remedy' zoning law blindsides Menlo Park residents
MENLO PARK - A proposal to redevelop the sprawling, ranch-style office complex that once housed Sunset Magazine may become the latest battleground between developers and local communities over the use of the so-called "builder's remedy."
It's a long-standing but rarely used law in California that was passed in 1990 and gives developers the ability to bypass local zoning measures if a city or county does not have a state-approved housing plan.
"Nobody seems to want it," says Menlo Park resident Francesca Freedman of the proposed development of the 80 Willow Street site.
The developer wants to build between 800 and 1,150 apartment units, a 150-room hotel and office space on the site.
"Traffic here is already so bad at certain times of the day that to add something that big will make this plan even worse -- much, much worse, intolerable," Freedman said.
Urban planners say while "builder's remedy" has been on the books for more than three decades, it's rarely been used until recently as the state struggles with a housing shortage.
"You can't build something that doesn't meet health and safety and building codes. But as far as zoning compliance or height or subjective design standards, it's all out the door. They literally can build whatever they want," says SJSU Urban and Regional Planning Professor Kelly Snider.
Snider says developers are now using the provision as a way to potentially break the logjam of housing projects that often struggle to gain local approval.
"I do understand that there is a housing shortage. And so on one hand, I do like the idea of being able to bypass a lot of regulatory steps," says Mark Schultz who lives a few blocks from the project in Palo Alto.
Others however are concerned by the lack of local control and oversight of projects pushed through under builder's remedy.
"We were stunned to find out that it didn't need city approval so that we have no way of protesting it," Freedman said.