Hello City Council members,
The Triangle annexation has been a long term effort. The process started in 2014 with discussions with the Menlo Park staff and canvassing the neighborhood. This was followed by formal applications to Menlo Park and LAFCo the next year. Advocates have put in hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars in fees into this so far. Our canvasing showed annexation has 80% neighbor support. Both LAFCo and San Mateo County support this annexation. Menlo Park has been slow to act, though.
Over the years we have worked with four different City Managers, at least 11 different City Council members, two different San Mateo County LAFCo lead representatives, and two different District 3 members on the Board of Supervisors. Although the path has been long, annexation is not an insurmountable task. In 2017, Menlo Park rapidly approved annexation of an office building property on Sand Hill Road for Stanford.
The annexation delay is creating extra burdens on city staff. For example, Santa Cruz Avenue has a 25 mph speed limit for its full length of approximately 2.5 miles except for two blocks including the Triangle, where the speed limit increases to 30 mph before dropping to 25 mph two blocks later. Oddly, there are four 30 mph speed limit signs in these two blocks, two for Menlo Park and two for San Mateo County. Fixing this speed limit anomaly is held up by the mixed jurisdiction from delayed annexation. Another example is in on Sharon Road, the main feeder to La Entrada School. Sidewalks were already present on the west side of La Entrada but not the east side. Recently sidewalks were installed for school children on the eastern portion of Sharon, but only on a single block. The other block of Sharon could not be completed by Menlo Park because it is in the County. Thus, this entire process will have to be revisited at some future date.
Some recent developments are positive for annexation. The County is moving forward with improvements on Santa Cruz and the Alameda from Sand Hill to Avy. The physical condition of the Alameda had been a concern of Menlo Park for annexation. San Mateo has offered to pay for improvements to Sharon Road for a long time now. Ray Mueller, a former LAFCo representative and supporter of annexation while on the Menlo Park City Council, is now on the San Mateo Board of Supervisors.
2023 is the year to properly prioritize the Triangle annexation so it can be completed prior to the 10-year anniversary of starting the process, which occurs next year.
Once Menlo Park demonstrates to the community that it supports residential annexation, other efforts can follow in the remainder of the West Menlo Park County region and even Menlo Oaks. Ten years is long enough. The Triangle annexation is the first and necessary step to achieve a strong and unified “One Menlo Park.”
Thank you for your support!
Greg Faris
2042 Santa Cruz Avenue
