Atherton planning commission accepts Sacred Heart annual report, approves campus putting green

The Atherton Planning Commission on Wednesday accepted the 2025 annual update to Sacred Heart Schools’ master plan and approved a conditional use permit to build an approximately 3,700-square-foot putting green on the school’s campus.

The report and permit matter drew a brief staff presentation and no substantive public opposition. Town planner Britney Bendix told the commission the annual report is required by planning code section 17.36605 and that the campus’s most recent vehicle monitoring showed 4,447 trips per day, “and that is below the 6,000 trip maximum.”

The nut graf: The annual report is the periodic update the town requires for large private education campuses; the commission’s action accepts that status update and allows the school to add the practice putting green near other athletic facilities on the campus without a separate environmental review, staff said.

Bendix summarized the background and changes included in the annual filing. The master plan was first filed in 2001, substantially updated in 2010 and accompanied by an environmental impact report; in 2013 the school changed a mitigation measure that set a 6,000‑trip‑per‑day cap. For 2025, staff noted a small 560‑square‑foot addition to a nearby Oakwood Retirement Homes building would be handled as a building permit under recent housing‑flexibility rules, but the new putting green triggers the conditional use permit now before the commission.

Commissioners asked technical questions; there was no substantive public opposition during the hearing. Bendix recommended acceptance of the annual report and approval of the conditional use permit and said staff had determined the project is categorically exempt from further environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act. Chair Lane moved to accept the report and approve the permit; the motion passed on roll call (yes: Lane, Levison, Lugers, Polito, Pulido; one member absent).

The commission did not change existing trip‑count mitigation language tied to the campus master plan. The permit conditions require the applicant to follow the project plans and any applicable town conditions for construction and campus operations.

Looking ahead, staff noted the campus’s master plan and traffic monitoring will remain subject to the town’s annual reporting requirements and to the 6,000‑trip cap adopted in 2013.