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Sep 07, 2021
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Menlo Park residents against the Housing Element Process at Sharon Park

Dear Mayor Combs and Members of Menlo Park City Council,

We have heard through the Housing Element Process that Sharon Park has been mentioned as a possible building site. Please do not move forward with this proposal which would take away precious parkland in the city. My wife, Francesca, and I live in Sharon Heights on Monte Rosa Dr. with our two boys, Tommaso (10) and Luca (7). We moved here from San Francisco in 2014, because we wanted to raise our kids in a family friendly, safe and quiet neighborhood with beautiful parks to spend time in nature. Sharon Heights is such a place and Sharon Park a big reason why. Our kids spend countless hours at the park playing with friends and even celebrating birthdays. We love it! Losing Sharon Park would be terrible for the entire Menlo Park community, as the city can't afford further lowering the amount of active park space. We talk so much about the need to pursue a greener agenda, combat global warming and reduce pollution. Addressing the housing needs of the city by removing parklad would go in the exact opposite direction. Obviously this isn't an easy problem to solve, but solutions exist and we trust that the members of this City Council care for the environment and plan to implement responsible urban development without cutting corners. To that extent, we'd like to make you aware that we support the idea of redeveloping the Sharon Heights Shopping Center, including affordable housing, retail and services for all residents.

Sincerely
Alberto Farronato and Francesca Mazzoleni