Dear City Council Members,
I’m hoping that you will please reconsider where you want to build the low income housing that the state of California has mandated. I work at the Stephen Miller Gallery at 800 Santa Cruz Avenue. Stephen has been here for over 30 years on Santa Cruz Avenue and is an important member of the business community. Our business would be decimated if you move forward with putting up housing in our back parking lot. The land is not surplus land. The entire downtown area would collapse from lack of business, putting so many people out of business. This would devastate the downtown area and be a huge blow to all of the businesses. Also, millions of dollars in property on Santa Cruz Avenue would lose value as would the beautiful housing in all of Menlo Park.
We all want homes so that people who work in this community can afford in this area. Our school teachers, firemen, policemen and low income workers deserve decent housing. There are other locations in Menlo Park that would work so much better, and would meet the state mandate. As of now the rents in this area are exorbitant as is the greed.
Please reconsider. We do not need to fund studies of this plan, it’s a complete waste of money and time. It’s such a bad idea. We know that you have huge pressure to fulfill the state’s mandate, but you must be courageous and do the right thing for the downtown community. Please put yourselves in our shoes and imagine how you would feel if you sunk your life savings into a business, hired employees that you paid great wages to and provided health insurance. The results of this decision will impact thousands of people’s livelihood.
Sincerely,
Lainey Pizanis
Lainey Pizanis
lainey@stephenmillergallery.com
Stephen Miller Gallery
800 Santa Cruz Avenue
Menlo Park, CA 94025
650-327-5040
www.stephenmillergallery.com
