The proposal calls for rezoning a 457-acre area in the east sideof Menlo Park bordered by Marsh Road, University Avenue, U.S.Highway 101 and the Bayfront Expressway. The district is currentlyzoned for "light industrial,'' allowing for different types ofbusinesses. The city's Planning Commission has recommended adoptionof the zoning ordinance that would designate the area forindustrial and manufacturing use, and in turn limit the types ofbusinesses able to move and expand there.

At a council meeting earlier this week, the lame duck CityCouncil canceled a special session on the zoning proposal scheduledfor Friday night and decided not to hear the issue until the threenew members are sworn in, according to the Belle Haven Alliance, acitizen's group that opposes the plan. In the Nov. 5 election MenloPark's three contested City Council seats were won by a trio ofcandidates, Nicholas Jellins, Lee Duboc and Mickie Winkler, who rantogether on an anti-rezoning platform.

Community members and business owners had banded together toprotest what they considered high-handed behavior by the CityCouncil, alleging that the Council was trying to railroad the planinto passage without taking public input. Voter turnout in theBelle Haven and Lorelei Manor neighborhoods, which abuts the M-2District, was especially high this election, ensuring that theCouncil would not have the votes to pass the rezoning proposal,according to the Belle Haven Alliance.