Stay Involved

Stanford wants to hear your thoughts about this housing opportunity. We invite you to share your questions and feedback via email at portolaterrace@stanford.edu. 

Timeline

• November or December 2024: Town Council Meeting
• October or November 2024:  Planning Commission Meeting
• October 2024:  Architectural Site Control Commission Meeting
• September or October 2024:  Joint Trails and Paths, Conservation, and Bicycle Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committees Meeting
• August 27, 2024:  Town releases Final Environmental Impact Report
• March 30, 2022:  Public Draft of the Environmental Impact Report released 
• August 2021:  Conducted site tours for Town Committee members and the general public 
• January 2020:  Town held a Scoping meeting to get community input on the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) 
• Fall 2019 - Spring 2022:  Town oversaw the preparation of a draft environmental impact report and review of the project, to culminate in public hearings 
• September/October 2019:  Town started formal review of the application and began environmental review under CEQA 
• September 2019:  Stanford submitted formal project application to the Town of Portola Valley, including revisions to the initial design concepts in response to community input 
• May & July 2019:  Stanford hosted four community open houses to receive initial public input on the proposed housing development 
• March 2016 - March 2019:  Stanford attended study sessions with Portola Valley Town Council and community workshops organized by the Council 

Frequently Asked Questions

General Project Questions
Affordable Housing
Vegetation Management and Wildfire Resilience
Environmental Impact 

General Project Questions

1. How is Portola Terrace consistent with the Portola Valley General Plan and Zoning Ordinance?
Yes. Both the General Plan, including the Housing Element, and the Zoning Ordinance designate the Stanford property for residential use. Portola Terrace consists of 39 housing units – including 12 affordable housing units for community workforce households – and is designed as a clustered development on the relatively flat portion of the property along Alpine Road. 

Portola Terrace meets the key goals of the town’s General Plan: 

• Preserve and enhance the quality of living for local residents. 
• Maintain natural features, open space and rural quality.
• Minimize disturbances to nature and scenic vistas.
• Reduce exposure to fire risk.
• Provide safe evacuation routes.
• Implement the town’s policies in support of providing affordable housing.

Portola Terrace is also consistent with the following:

• Land Use Element: The plan is designed with extreme care and respect for the environment, including continued maintenance of the large oak woodland as open space.
• Open Space Element: Portola Terrace maintains the 69-acre oak woodland on the property for “the benefit of the residents of the town” and upgrades the existing Alpine Road Trail by adding the Portola Terrace Loop Trail to the town’s trail network. In addition, the project’s undergrounding of power lines, deep setback of the housing units, and planting of additional trees along Alpine Road all serve to reinforce the goals of the Alpine Scenic Corridor Plan. 
• Housing Element: The Portola Terrace faculty and community housing project is also included in the Town’s 2023-2031 Housing Element as a Pending Project.  

2. Will Portola Terrace affect traffic in the Town? 
The Town of Portola Valley independently assessed potential traffic impacts of the project through the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) process and their Final EIR showed no traffic impacts. 

Because most of the units in the project will be occupied by Stanford faculty, future residents are eligible for a variety of transportation initiatives through Stanford’s Transportation Demand Management program, which are all designed to reduce the number of single-occupancy drivers to and from campus. The program has been highly successful in decreasing the drive-alone rate and reducing traffic congestion in the region through bicycle and rideshare incentives. We do not anticipate the need for a dedicated Marguerite shuttle to the site.

3. Are there other benefits Portola Terrace plans to provide the Town of Portola Valley? 
Yes. Portola Terrace will generate significant property tax revenues, fees, and other taxes for Portola Valley, the local public school districts, and the Woodside Fire Protection District. The project also includes several improvements to the area:

• Undergrounding of an existing PG&E power line along Alpine Road.
• Creation of a 200’ defensible space between the structures and the large oak woodland.
• Extension of an existing water line along Alpine Road, which will enable the installation of several new fire hydrants on the property.
• Provision of an additional source of water to the Westridge residential area in case of water line breaks or major fires in the area.
• Construction of a fire maintenance road into previously inaccessible areas of the property to provide greater access for firefighters.
• New and improved trails on the property, including the proposed new Portola Terrace Loop Trail and an improved Alpine Road Trail – for which Stanford is dedicating additional land. 

4. Is Stanford building housing on the main campus? 
Yes. Portola Terrace is one of many initiatives by Stanford to increase the local housing supply and to provide more housing for its faculty and staff, including housing developed on campus and in neighboring jurisdictions. 

Affordable Housing

1. Does Portola Terrace utilize the California State Density Bonus Law and how does the law work? 
Yes, Portola Terrace will utilize the California State Density Bonus Law, which is designed to increase the production of affordable housing throughout the state by making it economically and physically feasible to build. The law accomplishes this by allowing a developer to use various incentives and waivers to increase the total number of units in exchange for providing more affordable units than would normally be required. 

The incentives and waivers that are permitted under the State Density Bonus Law and employed in Portola Terrace include a reduction in minimum parcel size, spacing between buildings, house and yard size, setbacks, parking, and right of way to allow for cluster development. The law only requires Portola Terrace to provide six affordable rental units; however, Stanford is volunteering to build six additional affordable rental units for a total of 12. As a result, 31 percent of the total housing units at Portola Terrace will be affordable. 

By utilizing the State Density Bonus Law, Stanford will fund, construct, and operate the affordable rental units as part of the Portola Terrace project under criteria developed by the Town. 

2. Does the use of the State Density Bonus Law benefit the Town of Portola Valley? 
Yes. The State Density Bonus Law benefits the Town by providing more market-rate and affordable housing units for the community than would have been built without the use of the State Density Bonus Law. This helps the Town better achieve its portion of the Bay Area regional housing needs during a historic housing crisis.

• Stanford will fund, design, and construct 12 “turn-key” affordable apartments. The town will not have to contribute any funds toward the affordable rental units.
• While the criteria used to determine the future occupants of the affordable units will be established by the Town of Portola Valley, the operation of the 12 affordable units will be managed by Stanford at no cost to the Town. 

3. Will the affordable housing in Portola Terrace serve the needs of lower-income households? 
Yes. The residences will consist of 27 single-family faculty homes and 12 income-qualified apartments, providing housing to the town’s workforce and enabling local teachers, first responders, and others to live in the community where they work. The 12 apartment homes will offer a range of studio, 1-bedroom and 2-bedroom units to fit different household sizes and income levels. The Town of Portola Valley will determine the specific household income levels for the affordable housing units to best serve the needs of the community and the area.

Vegetation Maintenance and Wildfire Resilience 

1. Does Portola Terrace have a Vegetation Management Plan (VMP)? 
Yes, a team of consultants has prepared a VMP to mitigate potential wildfire ignitions and spread by reducing flammable vegetation. This team worked in consultation with Woodside Fire Protection District (WFPD) to develop a comprehensive mitigation plan based on fire behavior modeling. 

2. Is Stanford currently maintaining vegetation on the property? 
Yes. Stanford has completed annual vegetation management as part of its ongoing stewardship of its lands. More information about Stanford’s Wildfire Management Plan can be found here. 

3. Will Portola Terrace reduce wildfire risk and increase wildfire resilience for the surrounding homes and the community? 
Yes. Reducing wildfire risk and increasing wildfire resilience is an important focus for Portola Terrace. Stanford has proposed three levels of wildfire protection:

• Reduce Ignition Sources and Fuel Load
  • Deploy a Vegetation Management Plan (VMP) across the entire 75-acre property that provides long-term strategies for minimizing fire hazards and protecting ecological resources in the future.
  • Establish a new, permanent maintenance road for emergency responder access.
  • Underground existing overhead power lines which run along Alpine Road, eliminating a significant potential ignition source across the property.
• Create Defensible Space Around the Residences
  • Construct a wildfire defensible space, consisting of maintained low-fuel vegetation separating the housing development from the natural undeveloped area.
• Responsible Wildfire Resilient Design 
  • Build with fire-resistant materials that meet or exceed the Town of Portola Valley’s Wildfire Preparedness Building Code for homes.
  • Work with Woodside Fire Protection District to ensure access to the project’s open space is provided for public safety personnel.

Environmental Impact

1. Is Portola Terrace a sustainable project? 
Yes. Portola Terrace will provide homes near the residents’ workplaces, whether at Stanford or in Portola Valley and the surrounding area. This will greatly reduce the commute distances for those residents, compared to a typical suburban development.  

Other sustainable aspects of the project include:

• The homes will be a cluster development, which is the most environmentally sustainable of all development choices.
• Homes will be Net Zero energy, all electric, have solar panels, and are designed with fire-resistant materials for longevity.
• The landscape will only use drought-tolerant, native plantings.
• The homes follow Portola Valley’s Municipal Code regarding outdoor lighting, providing dark sky compliant light fixtures and their equivalent to direct light only where it is needed for safety and security and to prevent the nuisance of glare.
• Environmental protections will be in place for wildlife habitats as part of the Vegetation Management Plan for the oak woodland. Historic and cultural resources will be protected and preserved as with any of Stanford’s lands.
• A diversity of households and incomes provides for economic equity, which is an integral part of sustainability and helps make the Town of Portola Valley more inclusive as a special place to live and work. 

2. Is Stanford taking steps to protect potential archaeological materials on the site? 
Yes. Stanford engaged a cultural resources consultant to ensure that no potential archaeological materials might be disturbed by construction of our project. Based on their detailed review, the consultant determined that the proposed project can proceed and that no subsurface testing for buried archaeological resources or archaeological monitoring is needed due to the low perceived potential for exposing significant buried resources during ground-disturbing construction. In the unlikely event that artifacts are discovered during the construction process, Stanford will have in place a series of procedures to respond promptly in a manner consistent with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). 

3. Does Portola Terrace have an Environment Impact Report (EIR)?
Yes, an EIR is required under the California Environmental Quality Act to identify impacts and potential mitigations on the environment for development projects. Learn more about Portola Terrace’s Final EIR here.