The Portola Valley Town Council will take the final steps to approve the town's housing element on Wednesday, March 29. At the same meeting, the council will vote on whether to appoint its public works director to step into the vacant town manager role temporarily. It also appears the town clerk position may be vacant as well.

Over the last two months, town committees and the council have worked to revise the state-mandated housing plan, which the council decided to delay submitting by the Department of Housing and Community Development's Jan. 31 deadline.

Portola Valley is required to plan for 253 new units that could reasonably be built between 2023 and 2031 as part of the 2023-31 Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA). The state asked the town to revise its plan in November 2022.

"Implementation of the housing element is a significant undertaking," according to a March 29 town staff report. "Combined with routine operations and previously planned initiatives, staff will not have capacity for additional tasks/projects. Implementation of the Post Housing Element Plan will require additional staff and/or consultant resources. Staff will include additional resource request as part of the annual budget process."

Housing element

Among the changes in the third draft of the housing element, released March 2, town staff responded to requests by residents to not refer to Dorothy Ford Field and Open Space as Dorothy Ford Field. The wording in the document is now Dorothy Ford Field and Open Space.

The plan revises the density of 4394 Alpine Road site (owned by Portola Valley residents who own the Willow Commons project at 4388 Alpine Road), reducing the minimum units per acre from five to three, while leaving the maximum density the same at 20 units per acre.

The plan revamps development standards for the Ladera Church housing site. The front setback is proposed to be 75 feet; the right side setback adjacent to Ladera Church would be zero feet; and the left side and rear setbacks would be 15 feet. In a previous iteration of the draft, the front setback was set at 20 feet, while side and rear setbacks were set at 10 feet.

Staff and town officials propose strengthening setback language for ephemeral creek/drainage for the 4370 Alpine Road housing site. The property is an abandoned tennis court and unused parking lot, along with an office, that the owner wants to develop into multifamily housing.

Council members Judith Hasko and Craig Taylor have created a post-adoption plan for implementing the housing element (beginning of page 128 of the staff report). It outlines estimated costs of the plan, including $10,000 per year for consultant costs to provide technical assistance to nonprofits and religious institutions to develop their sites with affordable housing. The plan also estimates $25,000 will be needed to kick off planning for sites in the new "Gateway" land use classification, and another $30,000 per year for staff to develop a program to manage new affordable housing units in the town. The Gateway land allows for affordable housing, recreation and open space on a property.

Town manager role

Public Works Director Howard Young has told the town he is willing to serve as the interim town manager until a permanent town manager can be recruited, according to a town staff report. The proposed six-month contract would have Young serve in both roles at the same time, and he would be paid a 10% premium above his current salary (which equates to about $10,951 over the six months) to account for his expanded duties.

Town Manager Jeremy Dennis left the role on March 17. An email sent to Town Clerk Melissa Thurman bounced back on Monday, March 27, with a response email stated that Thurman no longer works for the town.

Thurman's last day with the town was on March 20, said Mayor Jeff Aalfs in a Tuesday, March 28 email. The town will be naming an interim clerk in the next few days, and the town has started a recruitment process to fill the position permanently, he said.

The contract estimates that 60% of his time will be spent on interim town manager duties and 40% on public works duties. The council is also considering hiring a retired city manager to assist the town with some of the administrative functions that Young is not able to perform.

Additionally, Young is allowed under the agreement to retain additional consultant support to backfill some of the administrative functions of his public works duties in the amount of $50,000, and to hire a consultant to fulfill other interim town manager duties in the amount of $75,000.

Young has worked for the town for about 20 years and is familiar with its internal operations, according to staff.

At the end of the term of the agreement, Young is entitled to return to his role as public works director.

The contract could be extended by the council if needed.

Meeting info

The meeting takes place in person at 7 p.m. in the Historic Schoolhouse, 765 Portola Road, and on Zoom.

For more information, go here.