Portola Valley open-space committee urges town to secure legal counsel, flags Midpen parking plans at Hawthorne

PORTOLA VALLEY, Calif. — Portola Valley’s Open Space Committee on Tuesday moved to ask the town council to obtain outside legal counsel and consider using open-space acquisition funds to engage with Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (Midpen) over its Hawthorne area plan.

Betsy Morgan, who introduced the agenda item, said the draft committee letter before members reflects “a three-year journey” and urged the committee to advise the council now so the town is positioned before Midpen advances environmental review. “Tonight's agenda is the result of and builds on the open space committee meeting of April the 2nd,” Morgan said.

The draft letter, read to the committee by a presenting member, lays out a timeline the committee says could move Midpen toward an environmental review process starting in July 2026 with public comment on the environmental document expected in spring 2027. The letter recommends that the town secure legal counsel quickly to represent town interests and also to explore the possibility of acquiring the Hawthorne property.

Why it matters: Committee members and residents said the two parking configurations under consideration (referred to during the meeting as options 9 and 10) place roughly half of a proposed 50-car lot in the property’s “unimproved” portion, would require substantial grading and removal of significant trees, and would alter the site’s scenic and natural character adjacent to Alpine Road and the Alpine Trail. Committee materials include Appendix A (the conservation easement) and Appendix B (a historic-resources assessment) that members said demonstrate legal and historic reasons to proceed cautiously.

Committee discussion focused on two parallel tracks: (1) immediate town communications and permit oversight — asking the town manager to write Midpen and the Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) expressing concern and requesting coordination and permit filings — and (2) funding and counsel — asking council to authorize or allow use of open-space discretionary funds to retain counsel to (a) coordinate informally with Midpen/POST, (b) comment on the environmental document when released, and (c) evaluate acquisition options.

“We urge you to provide sufficient funds from the open space fund for this purpose,” the committee’s draft letter reads, as presented to the group.

Public commenters and several committee members emphasized enforcement language in the conservation easement, citing provisions that limit tree removal, grading and improvements outside the property’s improved portion. Several speakers urged aggressive early action so the town does not lose legal standing by acquiescing to work already planned, invoking so-called private-attorney-general enforcement as one possible remedy if the easement’s terms are violated.

Residents described the parcel as a relatively small historic open-space site (variously described in the meeting as about 78–79 acres and a 1.5-mile trail) and said a 50-space parking lot would be inconsistent with the property’s size and character. One resident urged exploring alternatives such as off-site parking, scheduled shuttles or bus service to avoid concentrated parking at the Alpine Road entry.

Committee members also raised technical and safety concerns: geotechnical stability on steep slopes, runoff from impervious surfacing (the plan references a permeable concrete option), impacts to trail safety and nearby intersections, and whether a 75-foot setback provision (which the committee was told applies to buildings but not parking) is being respected in the current designs.

At the close of discussion a motion was made and seconded to send the committee’s amended letter to the town council, urging prompt town-manager communication with Midpen and POST and recommending that the council consider funding legal counsel from open-space acquisition funds. The transcript captures the motion and a second and the call for supporters to say “I,” but does not record a formal roll-call vote or a stated tally in the excerpt.

What’s next: Committee members said they expect the council to consider the communication and potential funding request quickly so the town can take a position before Midpen’s next procedural milestones. The committee also recommended that the letter be explicit about conservation-easement prohibitions (no improvements outside the improved portion, protection of trees and vegetation, limits on grading) and combine agenda items 4A and 4B into one communication to council.

Attribution: Quotes and paraphrases in this article are drawn from committee remarks and public comments recorded in the meeting transcript. Where speakers self-identified in the record they are named; many resident comments were given from the floor and are attributed generically as “a resident” or “public commenter” when the transcript did not include a clear self-identification in the spoken turn.

The Open Space Committee packet attached to the meeting included the conservation easement and a historic resources assessment (Appendices A and B), which committee members cited repeatedly as the legal and contextual basis for pursuing counsel and potential acquisition.