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Portola Valley council lowers asking price for parcels

Portola Valley's Town Council has lowered its asking price for four parcels the town is selling in the Blue Oaks subdivision. The council plans to use the proceeds to buy a 1.68-acre property for eight to 12 small homes for people of moderate incomes who live or work in town.

The new asking price for the Blue Oaks parcels is $2.8 million, down from the original $3 million, Town Attorney Sandy Sloan at the Sept. 26 Town Council meeting. The council, acting on the advice of real estate listing agents, approved the lower price by a unanimous vote in closed session.

The town needs up to $3 million to buy the former plant nursery site at 900 Portola Road — $2.6 million for the property and up to $400,000 to clean up herbicide residues in the ground.

Should the Blue Oaks properties not sell for a sum sufficient to pay for the Portola Road property, the town does not plan to use tax revenues to make up the difference, but would undertake "a concerted fundraising effort," Town Manager Nick Pegueros told the Almanac in an email.

— Dave Boyce