More housing is simply not appropriate for Portola Valley. As a town founded on rural values with expansive country living, this will certainly increase our density in town. I don’t see issues like traffic being addressed, there will certainly be an impact on our roads. While I think it’s appropriate on those lots with 2+ acres it is especially tacky on smaller lots to push this through. I think the town needs to listen to residents on this. There could be lawsuits. Not a very smart move considering Bay Area is getting more dense, we shouldn’t respond to the pressure by caving and building excessive housing. Just ridiculous

Ugh!! Thank you, "Concerned", for sticking up for our ~rural values~! I'm so tired of people saying selfish things like, "hey, maybe people should be able to live sorta close to where they work" or "where are my childrens' generation going to reside".

If people want to live in our perfect, village-like hamlets they should either:
1) Be absurdly wealthy
2) Get a time machine, already
Right?

Concerned has a point. Woodside/PV are much more rural than Menlo Park, which is much closer to qualifying as high density housing. And the zoning is different there as well. The Bay Area needs to solve its housing crisis, but it’s important we keep the diversity of every neighborhood and not cave to pressure. Woodside and Portol Valley are rural and have always been, and should continue to be.

Jeez. All this ordinance does is allow people to use their total square footage as they see fit. Not everyone wants a 10,000 sf house - instead, now they can have 8800 sf house plus a 1200 sf house *if* they haven't already used all their square footage. Do your homework....

Most of us moved to Portola Valley to get into a more peaceful environment. WE have raised our families here & seen alot of growth - not to mention an increase of traffic. When The Ranch was built we were sorrowful of the hills that had been taken away from us. We watched out kids play little league & soccer at Corte Madera loving every minute we would spend in out comfort zone. Not everyone was rich back then we all just wanted a more serene way of life. Please do not take that away from us !!

Don’t worry Amigo, Portola Valley is decades away from packing them in like sardines Redwood City style.

I'm pretty sure there are recently passed California senate bill(s) that force all towns in the state to be more flexible with allowing secondary housing (otherwise known as ADUs). Someone can correct me if I'm wrong but I believe any parcel zoned single or multi-family residential in the state technically must be zoned to allow ADUs. Towns can have additional zoning regulations that can limit their size, location, aesthetics, etc but I believe they can not outright outlaw them.

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