SB 79 — 75-Foot Buildings in a Town of Single-Story Estates

active• atherton

Atherton is confronting one of the most jarring applications of SB 79 of any community in California. The Menlo Park Caltrain station sits at the town's northern boundary — and its half-mile transit-oriented development radius sweeps into Atherton's residential neighborhoods. Under SB 79, Menlo Park — and parts of Atherton within the station's radius — must permit housing projects up to 75 feet tall within a quarter-mile of any pedestrian access point to the Caltrain station, and up to 95 feet tall within 200 feet of any access point, overriding local height and density caps entirely. City Manager George Rodericks acknowledged the town is still working to map exactly which parcels are affected, and noted that Atherton and Menlo Park do not have much time to develop a local TOD alternative plan — which must be approved by the state before July 1, 2026, with the state taking up to 90 days to review. For a town where building heights are measured in single stories and lot coverage is strictly limited, the prospect of 75-foot apartment towers along the Caltrain corridor represents a complete inversion of Atherton's planning philosophy.

Related cause: Development & Neighborhoods

Issue Timeline

No timeline events linked yet.

Linked meetings

No linked meetings yet.