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Downtown plan heads for final council hearings

Love it or hate it, residents of Menlo Park are ready to tell the city what they think about the proposed downtown/El Camino Real specific plan when the council convenes to decide the plan's future on Tuesday, June 5, judging by the emails piling up on the city's server.

The first of two final council meetings on the plan, Tuesday's session represents the culmination of five years' effort to create a framework for development in downtown Menlo Park and along El Camino Real for the next 30 years. The version the council will consider carries the Planning Commission's unanimous recommendation as well as a few refinements. Their suggestions included giving priority to public benefits that would be open to the general public and to a Middle Avenue bicycle-pedestrian crossing, reducing side setbacks along El Camino Real, and reviewing the plan every two years.

Go to tinyurl.com/csvb88c to review the changes. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. in the council chambers at the Civic Center at 701 Laurel St.