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Menlo Atherton High School Campus Master Plan – Notice of Preparation and Public Scoping Meeting

Sequoia Union High School District – February 4, 2015

MENLO-ATHERTON HIGH SCHOOL CAMPUS MASTER PLAN

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The Sequoia Union High School District (SUHSD, or the District) is a grade 9 – 12 school district comprised of four comprehensive high schools, a model continuation high school, other specialized programs and services, and four charter schools. The District currently serves approximately 10,000 students in total. Current enrollment at the District’s Menlo-Atherton High School in Atherton is approximately 2,000 students and the District estimates student enrollment at the school could increase by approximately 500 students by 2020. In light of this projected growth, the District is preparing a master plan that will outline the structural facilities needed to support the forecasted increase in school attendance and guide facility development at the campus.

Project Location and Site Description

Menlo-Atherton High School is located at 555 Middlefield Road, in the Town of Atherton, in San Mateo County. Entrances to the school are located on Ringwood Avenue and Oak Grove Avenue, which border the school to the east and west, respectively. The school campus occupies approximately 37 acres of land and is centered on 37°27’44” north latitude and 122°10’27” west longitude and (see Figure 1). Although located in Atherton, the campus is situated next to both the City of Menlo Park and the Menlo Oaks area of unincorporated San Mateo County. The school is bordered by residences to the north (on Toyon Road) and west (on Oak Grove Avenue), and adjacent to residential areas to the south (across Middlefield Road) and east (across Ringwood Avenue); commercial and institutional land uses are also located south of the campus, across Middlefield Road (see Figure 2). U.S. 101 is approximately one-mile to the northeast, State Route 84 is approximately two and one-half miles to the northwest, and El Camino Real (State Route 82) and the Menlo Park Caltrain Station are approximately one-half-mile southwest of the school.

Existing facilities at the campus include more than 100 regular and specialty classrooms (e.g., labs), a library, a performing arts center, athletic fields and courts, a pool, administrative offices, and other academic and athletic-related facilities (see Figure 2). Generally, classrooms and school administration buildings are located on the southern and western end of the campus and school athletic fields, including the football stadium and baseball fields, are located on the eastern and northern end of the campus.

Potential Master Plan Improvements

The Menlo-Atherton High School Campus Master Plan would be implemented in three phases:

Phase 1 would demolish and replace the school’s existing, one-story “G-Wing” buildings with new, two-story buildings (see Figure 3). The existing buildings house 11 classrooms and the new buildings would house 21 classrooms, yielding a net increase of 10 classrooms plus space for student support and food services. The new buildings would be built around a courtyard that could be used for outdoor dining.

Phase 2 and Phase 3 would potentially consist of up to 12 additional regular and specialty classrooms, as well as campus modernization and other facility improvements, including, but not limited to: classroom conversions (e.g., transform classroom spaces

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Menlo Atherton High School Campus Master Plan – Notice of Preparation and Public Scoping Meeting

Sequoia Union High School District – February 4, 2015

into science labs), ventilation and circulation enhancements, upgrades to student service facilities (e.g., locker rooms), practice field lighting, and other capital repairs.

The District is in the process of finalizing its draft Menlo-Atherton High School Campus Master Plan. The EIR will include a copy of the Draft Master Plan for review as an appendix.

Probable Environmental Effects

The Menlo-Atherton High School Campus Master Plan is intended to support the forecasted increase in student enrollment at Menlo-Atherton High School (approximately 500 students) and would result in the demolition and modification of existing school facilities, the construction of new school facilities, and potential changes to existing patterns of on-campus circulation and outdoor student gathering areas. The District is preparing an EIR for its proposed Menlo-Atherton High School Campus Master Plan because plan components may have the potential to result in one or more significant environmental effects, including traffic. Accordingly, the EIR will evaluate the following topics in detail:

1) Aesthetics

2) Air Quality

3) Biological Resources

4) Cultural and Tribal Cultural Resources

5) Greenhouse Gases

6) Geology and Soils

7) Hazards / Hazardous Materials

8) Hydrology and Water Quality

9) Land Use

10) Noise

11) Public Services

12) Transportation / Traffic

13) Utilities and Service Systems

Potential demolition and construction activities would occur at an existing high school campus that supports 2,000 students. There are no agricultural, forestry, or mineral resource lands at the school, and the forecast in enrollment growth throughout the District is based, in part, on existing enrollment at elementary schools that feed into the high school district, and is not a result of the master plan itself. Accordingly, the project would not result in significant environmental effects to: Agricultural and Forestry Resources, Mineral Resources, Population and Housing, or Recreation.

Traffic Impact Analysis

The EIR will present the findings of a Traffic Impact Analysis (TIA) report prepared for the project by a qualified transportation engineering firm. This report will meet Town of Atherton, City of Menlo Park, and San Mateo County Congestion Management Program (CMP) requirements; the scope and content of this report was sent the Town of Atherton and the City of Menlo Park for review prior to finalizing. The TIA will evaluate traffic impacts at 37 intersections and 17 roadway segments, as shown in Table 1 at the end of this section. In accordance with the San Mateo County Congestion Management Program, the TIA would also evaluate certain routes of regional significance, as shown in Table 1 at the end of this document. Due to the relatively low number of trips generated during the PM peak hour (4 PM

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Menlo Atherton High School Campus Master Plan – Notice of Preparation and Public Scoping Meeting

Sequoia Union High School District – February 4, 2015

to 6 PM), the TIA will evaluate impacts during the AM peak-hour (7 AM to 9 AM) and midday (1:30 PM to 3:30 PM) time periods only.

The TIA would rely upon recent turning movement counts provided by the appropriate jurisdictional agency and/or collect new turning movement counts as needed. In addition, as part of the TIA, the District will conduct a weekday AM and mid-afternoon vehicle trip generation survey of the school to develop site-specific trip generation rates for the school. The survey would be conducted on a day that represents the typical daily operations (absent of special events, minimum days, etc.) and also determine common off-campus drop-off/pick-up locations so that they can be considered in the TIA. The trip generation survey will involve the use of a paper survey distributed to students, faculty and staff in combination with traffic counts at the school driveway. The distribution and assignment of the project trips will be based on school attendance data (existing and projected) as well as the assumptions used in the City of Menlo Park’s TIA Guidelines, the prevailing travel patterns on the adjacent roadway network, abutting land uses, travel time characteristics and our knowledge of the study area.

The TIA will analyze the following scenarios:

1 Existing Conditions 2 Existing + Project Conditions 3 Near Term Conditions 4 Near Term + Project Conditions 5 Cumulative Conditions 6 Cumulative + Project Conditions

Field reconnaissance will include traffic patterns and circulation in the site vicinity, study intersection lane geometrics, traffic control, pedestrian circulation and facilities/amenities, bicycle circulation and facilities/amenities, proximity of public transit service, sight distance issues at study intersections, and potential access issues. Observations at nearby Encinal School and Laurel Elementary School will be included to determine possible interactions with traffic generated by the Menlo Atherton High School.

The TIA will also present and/or discuss trip generation and distribution, study intersection traffic analysis, study analysis periods and methodology, arterial and collector streets assessment, site plan and parking evaluation, pedestrian conditions, bike access and transit impact analysis, planned transportation improvements, and mitigation measures, as necessary. The TIA would be provided as an appendix to the Draft EIR.

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Menlo Atherton High School Campus Master Plan – Notice of Preparation and Public Scoping Meeting

Sequoia Union High School District – February 4, 2015

Table 1 Traffic Impact Analysis Study Areas

Intersections 1. Fair Oaks Lane at Middlefield Road 2. Marsh Road at Middlefield Road 3. Watkins Avenue at Middlefield Road 4. Middlefield Road at Encinal Avenue 5. Middlefield Road at Glenwood Avenue 6. Middlefield Road at Oak Grove Avenue 7. Middlefield Road at Ravenswood Avenue 8. Middlefield Road at Ringwood Avenue 9. Middlefield Road at Seminary Drive 10. Middlefield Road at Linfield Drive 11. Bay Road at Ringwood Avenue-Sonoma

Avenue 12. Willow Road at Hamilton Avenue 13. Willow Road at Ivy Drive 14. Willow Road at O’Brien Drive 15. Willow Road at Newbridge Avenue) 16. Willow Road at US 101 Northbound Ramps 17. Willow Road at US 101 Southbound Ramps 18. Willow Road at Bay Road 19. Willow Road at Durham Street 20. Willow Road at Coleman Avenue 21. Willow Road at Gilbert Avenue 22. Willow Road at Middlefield Road 23. Ravenswood Avenue at Laurel Street 24. Ravenswood Avenue at Alma Street 25. Oak Grove Avenue at Laurel Street 26. El Camino Real at Fair Oaks Lane 27. El Camino Real at Watkins Avenue 28. El Camino Real at Encinal Avenue 29. El Camino Real at Valparaiso

Avenue/Glenwood Avenue 30. El Camino Real at Oak Grove Avenue 31. El Camino Real at Santa Cruz Avenue 32. El Camino Real at Ravenswood Avenue 33. El Camino Real at Roble Avenue) 34. El Camino Real at Middle Avenue 35. El Camino Real at Cambridge Avenue 36. El Camino Real at Sand Hill Road 37. Santa Cruz Avenue at University Drive

Roadway Segments 1. Willow Road between Bayfront Expressway and

Middlefield Road 2. Willow Road between Middlefield Road and

Laurel Street 3. Middlefield Road between Willow Road and

Ravenswood Avenue 4. Ringwood Avenue between Middlefield Road

and Bay Road 5. Bay Road between Marsh Road and Willow Road 6. Ravenswood Avenue between Middlefield Road

and El Camino Real 7. Linfield Drive between Middlefield Road and

Waverly Street 8. Waverly Street between Linfield Drive and Laurel

Street* 9. Laurel Street between Waverly Street ad

Ravenswood Avenue 10. Laurel Street between Ravenswood Avenue and

Encinal Avenue 11. Oak Grove Avenue between El Camino Real And

Laurel Street 12. Oak Grove Avenue between University Drive and

El Camino Real 13. El Camino Real between Laurel Street and

Middlefield Road 14. Coleman Avenue between Willow Road and

Ringwood Avenue 15. Encinal Avenue between Laurel Street and City

Limit (East) 16. Menlo Avenue between El Camino Real and

University Drive 17. University Drive between Menlo Avenue and

Santa Cruz Avenue

CMP Regional Routes of Significance

1) SR 82 north and south of Ravenswood Avenue 2) US 101 north of Marsh Road 3) US 101 Marsh Road to Willow Road 4) US 101 Willow Road to University Avenue 5) SR 114 (Willow Road) east of US 101

Project Location

County BoundaryCity Boundary

San Jose

Fremont

Oakland

Hayward

San Francisco

Richmond

Palo Alto

San Rafael

San Mateo

\\CAMP-Pintails\TRA_SERVER\Data\CASE\Env\ESQH\01_MA_Campus_Master_Plan\GIS\mxd\Fig1_MAHS_RegionalLocation.mxd1/15/2015

Source: ESRI 2015; MIG | TRA 2015

Menlo-Atherton High School Campus Master Plan NOP

0 2.5 51.25Miles

Figure 1 Project Location

101

237

PROJECT LOCATION

S a n t a C l a r a C o u n t yS a n t a C l a r a C o u n t yS a n M a t e o C o u n t yS a n M a t e o C o u n t y

Atherton

280 85

280

101

San Francisco Bay

92

84A l a m e d a C o u n t yA l a m e d a C o u n t y

Menlo Park

Menlo-Atherton High School Campus Boundary

T:\CASE\Env\ESQH\01_MA_Campus_Master_Plan\GIS\mxd\Figure2_aerial.mxd1/15/2015

Source: ESRI 2015; MIG|TRA 2015

Menlo-Atherton High School Campus Master Plan NOP

0 250 500125Feet K

Figure 2 Project Site Aerial

Baseball/Softball Field

Football Field

Performing ArtsCenter

G-Wing

Classrooms

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Menlo Atherton High School Campus Master Plan – Notice of Preparation and Public Scoping Meeting

Sequoia Union High School District – February 4, 2015

Figure 3 – Proposed Master Plan Phase 1 Improvements to G-Wing

Source: LPA Associates