We start with your design. Modular is how we build it, not what you settle for.
Shape Homes · Where we build · Menlo Park
Menlo Park runs two parallel ADU tracks in one chapter of code. Most published guidance to this town quotes one of them and calls it the rule. Which track you are on is the first question worth answering.
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| Rule | What it says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Parking | None required, for any ADU type | Menlo Park Ch. 16.79 |
| Minimum tenancy | 30 days, for ADUs permitted after 1 Jan 2020 | Menlo Park Ch. 16.79 |
| Road impact fees | None for an ADU under 750 sq ft | Menlo Park Ch. 16.79 |
| Maximum size | Two tracks apply. Confirm which governs your parcel | Menlo Park Ch. 16.79 |
| Heritage trees | The Town has a heritage tree ordinance. Ch. 16.79 does not address it | City heritage tree ordinance |
| Lot coverage and FAR | Not stated in the ADU chapter | Menlo Park Ch. 16.79 |
| Fire requirements | Not stated in the ADU chapter | Menlo Park Ch. 16.79 |
Rows marked unverified were read from a secondary source, not from the Town's own published document. We do not build to an unverified number. Every figure here is confirmed against the Town before your drawings start.
Size is rarely the constraint. These are.
Menlo Park's ADU code splits into two paths and they carry different size ceilings. A widely published competitor guide states a detached cap that does not match the current code. We read the chapter, decide which track your parcel is on, and put the governing figure in the agreement rather than in a blog post.
Menlo Park protects heritage trees under a separate ordinance that the ADU chapter never references. That is exactly the kind of gap that turns into a stop-work order. Tree survey happens at lot check here, not at plan check.
No road impact fees below 750 sq ft. On a project where the brief is flexible, the difference between 740 and 800 square feet is not seventy square feet. It is seventy square feet plus a fee schedule.
Three from the library, chosen against this town's rules rather than its postcode.
Planning ranges, all in: factory package, delivery, foundation, utilities, permits and site work.
What moves a project inside its range is the lot, not the house. On Menlo Park parcels the items above are what usually decide it. A range is not a bid; a fixed price applies only as written in an executed construction agreement. See the plans or how the build works.
It depends which of the town's two code tracks governs your parcel, and they carry different ceilings. We will not print a single number here because the widely quoted one does not match the current chapter. We confirm it with Planning at lot check.
No. None is required for any ADU type.
No road impact fees for an ADU under 750 sq ft. Above that they apply, which is why the brief and the fee schedule are worth reading together before the plan is fixed.
Menlo Park has a heritage tree ordinance that lives outside the ADU chapter. It is not mentioned in Ch. 16.79 and it still applies. We survey before design.
We pull your parcel, the Menlo Park ordinance and a street view of the driveway before the call.
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