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Menlo Park grows while neighbors shrink ■ Census data for 2010 tracks demographic shifts in local towns. By Sandy Brundage Almanac Staff Writer
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hile Menlo Park’s population grew by 4 percent during the past 10 years, neighboring towns Atherton, Portola Valley, and Woodside lost residents, according to data released March 8. Saying he wasn’t sure if 4 percent was a large increase, Menlo Park Mayor Rich Cline suggested
Atherton Total Population Asian Black or African American Latino White
2010
2000
Change
6,914 911
7,194 -3.9% 704 +29.4%
75 268 5,565
50 +50.0% 200 +34.0% 6,141 -9.4%
Menlo Park 2010 2000 Change Total Population 32,026 30,785 +4.0% Asian 3,157 2,201 +43.4% Black or African American 1,551 2,163 -28.3% Latino 5,902 4,803 +22.9% White 22,494 22,274 +0.9%
Portola Valley Total Population Asian Black or African American Latino White
2010
2000
Change
4,353 242
4,462 -2.4% 178 +36.0%
12 175 3,960
18 -33.3% 149 +17.4% 4,146 -4.5%
Woodside Total Population Asian Black or African American Latino White
2010
2000
Change
5,287 332
5,352 -1.2% 267 +24.3%
23 243 4,717
20 +15.0% 232 +4.7% 4,828 -2.3%
Note: Racial and ethnic populations may overlap. Source: U.S. Census Bureau
the population may be growing slower than expected. “First, this is an infill community, so there’s less physical room to expand. Second, the past decade has witnessed two different economic recessions, which slows growth,” he told the
Almanac. “Third, there has been little to no real new development in areas of obvious opportunity and that is a direct result of the city’s political culture.” He pointed to the Derry project. “We have a project, near transit, that has been approved by the
Planning Commission and the City Council, but it is ‘referended’ in an ugly confrontation between developer interests and community preservation concerns,” Mayor Cline said. “Some of the reasons to challenge the project may have been valid. But the end
result is nothing. I am sure there are a few folks who are pleased with nothing, but I think most see this as a major disappointment.” The racial makeup of all four cities shifted as well, and while See CENSUS, page 8
Woodside may step up punishment for violating heritage tree ordinance By Dave Boyce Almanac Staff Writer
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he trees of Woodside and those who love them would be justified in feeling cautiously optimistic about a coming revision to tree protection laws. The Town Council is considering a change that could financially persuade even some deep-pocketed residents into getting a permit before cutting down a heritage tree. If the council acts on the inclination it showed on March 8, the revised law — staff is working on revisions — could require violators to pay for the purchase, planting and maintenance of a full-grown heritage tree equivalent in size and presence to the illegally removed tree. Replacing such a tree is complicated, Henry Ardalan, president of City Arborist, a Menlo Park tree care and landscaping company, said in an interview. To be successful, the arborist must account for the time of year, the species, site conditions and the location, which may need to accommodate a flatbed truck and a crane. The cost could be anywhere from $10,000 to $100,000 to replace one tree, Mr. Ardalan said. Under the current system of fines, set in 2007, violators are supposed to pay $5,000 for the first illegally cut heritage tree, $7,500 for the second and $10,000 for each one after that. But in September 2009, when it came time to mete out the pun-
ishment, the council backed off. Residents Dr. Eric and Jacquie Weiss were facing fines of at least $92,000 after a “misstep,” Dr. Weiss said at the time, in not obtaining a $60 permit before thinning a grove of about 35 trees on their Sand Hill Road property by removing 10 significant Coast Live Oaks. A tree is significant in Woodside if it measures 9.5 inches in diameter at 48 inches above ground. The Weisses said they planned to restore a corral area that had become overgrown. They appealed to the council, which reduced the fine to $10,000 after reaching a consensus on the couple’s good intentions. Another test case could be ahead. During the council’s meeting, a resident of West Maple Way spoke of an incident in which her neighbor, without giving notice or getting a permit, reportedly had workers fell a strip of significant trees that bordered the resident’s driveway. “They were fined,” the resident said. “The fine has not been paid. The owner is waiting to see if you change the ordinance to see if (the fine) goes down,” the resident said. “How do you value a tree? How do you value my property now that my privacy is gone,” she asked the council, noting that young replacement trees would delay the return of her privacy by 30 to 40 years. “I’m furious. I’m See TREES, page 8
Photo by Michelle Le/The Almanac
Sherry Cagan of Portola Valley sculpted these two children in bronze for placement near the playground at Town Center. The work, called “Joyous Blessings,” is meant to honor the bountiful open space that is available in town for kids of all ages. “There’s more open space here than any place I’ve ever been,” she says.
Kids perennially at play in Town Center By Dave Boyce Almanac Staff Writer
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or the foreseeable future, there will be two girls playing in the redwood grove near the playground at Portola Valley Town Center. Day and night, these kids will be there. They will not grow old, though they may acquire shiny places where real kids touch them. The two life-size bronze statues, known as “Joyous Blessings,” are meant to “warm the (Town) Center up a little bit and add a little culture for the kids,” said sculptor and Portola Valley resident Sherry Wolfenbarger Cagan in a phone interview.
“It’s been really sweet because the little kids go up to them and they’re so enamored,” Ms. Cagan said. Sherry Cagan The work honors the plentiful open space in town. “I just love the fact that our children here in Portola Valley can go and play just about anywhere,” Ms. Cagan said. “There’s more open space here than any place I’ve ever been.” Ms. Cagan, who is retired, said she has worked mostly on commission. The bronze “Horse in Motion” at the Stanford Red
Barn is her work and based on a series of photos taken in 1877 by Eadweard Muybridge at the behest of then Gov. Leland Stanford to settle the question of whether horses had moments of being airborne while running. Ms. Cagan has a studio and sculpture garden at her Alamos Road home, which she shares with her husband Laird and their children. The couple were major donors to the campaign to build the new Town Center, having given $1.4 million in stock in 2008, campaign spokeswoman SallyAnn Reiss said at the time. A
March 16, 2011 N The Almanac N 5