Town Center Services Closed for Thanksgiving

Town Center services including Post Office, Community Development Counter, and Library will be closed on Thursday, November 23 and Friday, November 24 in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. We are grateful to all our community members and we wish everyone a warm celebration! 

Normal business hours will resume on Monday, November 27, 2023. For any urgent matters, please contact the Atherton Police Department at (650) 688-6500 or dial 911 for emergencies. Police and Fire services will not be impacted by this holiday.

San Mateo County Libraries will close early and Customer Care will not be available beginning Wednesday, November 22, at 5:00 PM. The libraries and Customer Care will remain closed on Thursday, November 23, and Friday, November 24 resuming normal business hours Saturday 25th!

Housing Updates: Joint Study Session with Planning Commission and City Council on November 27

The Town is currently in a community outreach and engagement process to receive input on standards that will apply to multifamily development. This commenced with a workshop on October 23, 2023, and has continued with a joint study session between the City Council and Planning Commissioners on November 1, 2023, as well as a second workshop on November 13, 2023. The discussion at the joint study session has not concluded and will also carry over to a second study session on November 27, 2023, at 3PM in Council Chambers and via Zoom. Get the Zoom link and agenda 72-hours prior to the meeting here.

The goal of these outreach efforts is to receive feedback that will facilitate an initial draft of standards. These standards will then require consideration by both the Planning Commission and City Council for adoption. Because these standards reflect the implementation of the addition of a zoning overlay, currently under evaluation in the CEQA process, adoption of the standards must occur at the completion of the CEQA process.  

Meet HIP Housing at the Library on 

November 21

Renting ADUs is an important part of the Town's plan to increase housing opportunities. Be a part of the housing solution by renting your ADU through the Town's special program with HIP Housing. Learn more about how you can participate at a workshop at the Library on November 21 from 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM.

The Home Sharing and ADU Match Program uses existing housing stock to help renters and those in need find housing at an affordable price. The Home Sharing Program is advantageous to potential renters, as well as those who have a spare room or ADU to rent out, as home providers can significantly reduce their cost of living while also helping alleviate the housing shortage problem in the region. The program can also allow older adults to age in place, significantly reduce commute times of workers, and more.

Click here to register for this in-person workshop at the Atherton Library on Tuesday, November 21 from 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM. 

New Bay Area Emergency Alert System

The California Office of Emergency Services has a new alert system to help you stay informed of emergencies in the Bay Area. Sign up here to receive emergency alerts here: www.ALERTtheBay.org 

Reduce Food Waste this Thanksgiving

Enjoy a bountiful feast while avoiding excess waste. Here are some quick tips from the USDA for a sustainable holiday:

• While preparing dishes, save the scraps for future cooking
  Freeze scraps like vegetable peelings and meat trimmings for your future culinary creations. Use them later in savory broths and hearty soups to provide comforting warmth on cold days. Or cook the scraps to make other foods or ingredients. You can season potato peelings and bake them into chips, or sauté extra chopped onions to make recipe-ready caramelized onions.
• Store or give away leftovers
  Place food in clear containers marked with the contents and date. That can increase the chances that the leftovers in the fridge will be remembered and actually eaten.
• Donate
  If you have extra cans of pumpkin pie filling, green beans, or cranberry sauce, consider donating them to your local food bank to help those in need. Visit the Feeding America website or EPA’s Excess Food Opportunities Map to find a food bank.
• Don’t let your leftovers end up in a landfill
  The food on your table is the result of many resources. Fresh water, energy, land, and labor are used to create, process, transport, store, market, and prepare that food. Do what you can to keep your food out of landfills so that all of those resources are not wasted. Food rotting in landfills emits methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, so by keeping food out of landfills you are helping the climate.
  A great tool that you can use in your home to reduce food waste is the FoodKeeper App, which provides guidance on storage (e.g., in a refrigerator or freezer) for more than 650 food and beverage items and helps you track storage times for different foods. For example, for freshness and quality, rotisserie chicken should be consumed within three to four days when stored in refrigerator or within four months if stored frozen. This app also provides guidance on safe handling and preparation with helpful cooking tips, such as how to thaw and roast a turkey by weight. FoodKeeper is available free as a mobile application for Android and Apple devices, or via desktop at FoodSafety.gov.

...and, a reminder about composting food scraps with GreenWaste:

Organic material (such as food scraps) should be placed in the gray mixed compostable bin. Organics are sorted out of the mixed compostable/gray bin at GreenWaste’s Material Recovery Facility (MRF) in San Jose and then arrive at their state of the art composting facility in Gilroy. 

Learn to Cook in a New Way with PG&E's Induction Cooktop Loaner Program

Interested in testing out a countertop induction cooktop at home? You can do so through PG&E’s Induction Cooktop Loaner Program! If you’re a PG&E customer, you’re invited to try a plug-in countertop induction unit for two-weeks, at no cost. Learn more and reserve an induction unit ?

Want more information about induction cooking?

• Watch this 1 minute video
• View this Residential Induction Cooking course

Induction cooktops are more energy efficient than traditional gas or electric resistance cooktops. They also heat food faster, offer improved temperature control, and are easier to clean!