After nearly two years of legal conflict over one of Menlo Park’s largest proposed developments on the former Sunset Magazine headquarters site, California Attorney General Rob Bonta has sided with the developer, saying the city violated state housing law in its effort to stop the project.
In a sharply worded letter sent last week, Bonta’s office said Menlo Park improperly changed its reasons for rejecting the streamlined approval of the proposed 665-unit 80 Willow Road development, denied the project protections available under California’s builder’s remedy law and wrongfully required the developer to pay the city’s legal costs.
The letter does not order Menlo Park to approve the project, known as Willow Park. But it clearly shows the state rejecting the city’s approach and could significantly weaken its legal arguments as the dispute moves forward…