Historic Environmentally Friendly Land Use Policies

1834

·       Valley becomes part of the 13,000-acre Rancho el Corte de Madera granted to Maximo Martinez by the Mexican government

1850s

·       Origins of the modern town of Portola Valley are in the little logging town of Searsville that stood along Sand Hill Road from the 1850s until 1891

1964

·       Town incorporates to have control over local development

·       Town adopts interim ordinance covering building, zoning and subdivisions

·       Town adopts special setback lines along Skyline Blvd to protect the scenic corridor

·       Town adopts requirements for soils reports for subdivisions prior to the State’s adoption of this requirement

1965

·       Town adopts General Plan emphasizing preservation of the steep and unstable hillside lands in the town

o      General Plan included the new concept of slope-density controls

o      General Plan also recognized the “San Andreas Rift Zone” and the consideration of “…geologic conditions so that development on unstable land can be avoided, or minimized.”

·       Town establishes Architectural and Site Control Commission (ASCC)

·       Town adopts interim ordinance to control the grading of land

1966

·       Town adopts underground ordinance

·       Town adopts interim sign ordinance

·       Town adopts setback requirements for lots

1967

·       Town adopts zoning ordinance, including slope-density provisions for planned unit developments (PUDs)

o      First adoption of slope-density regulations in California, and likely the U.S.

·       PUD provisions provided flexibility that allowed cluster development in Portola Valley Ranch and Blue Oaks

·       Town adopts entirely new subdivision ordinance

·       Town adopts entirely new site development ordinance that controls all grading in the town