Mayor Combs and Menlo Park City Council,
I am writing to express my strong support for the Downtown Parking Plazas
Citizens’ Initiative.
As a business owner in downtown Menlo Park, I see every day how essential
convenient, accessible parking is to the health and survival of our local
downtown businesses. Many of our customers come from neighboring
communities such as Atherton, Woodside, and Portola Valley—areas with
little or no commercial centers of their own. These visitors rely on the
ability to park easily when they come to shop, dine, or access services in
our downtown. Their patronage is not optional; it is a critical part of the
economic ecosystem that sustains all of our small businesses.
Eliminating or substantially reducing downtown parking—even
temporarily—would cause severe and lasting harm. The proposed housing plan,
which would replace existing parking, comes with a construction timeline of
roughly five years. During that time, access to parking would be
drastically limited, and many long-standing mom-and-pop businesses would
simply not survive the disruption. The outcome is predictable: customers
will go elsewhere. This fact alone highlights the critical importance of
this initiative.
We cannot afford to gamble with the economic core of our city.
I urge the city to redirect development toward locations that are more
practical, less disruptive, and consistently identified by residents and
business owners as better suited for meeting our Housing Element
requirements. Sites such as the Civic Center, SRI, and the Sharon Heights
parcels provide opportunities for meaningful development without
jeopardizing the vitality of our downtown or displacing the businesses that
have served this community for decades. Additionally, rezoning areas along
the El Camino corridor for higher density, similar to Mountain View’s
proposals for Moffett Boulevard, could encourage private redevelopment of
underutilized parcels—all without sacrificing critical downtown parking.
By pursuing these more feasible alternatives, Menlo Park can meet its state
obligations while preserving a vibrant, thriving downtown—not creating a
ghost town.
I respectfully ask you to consider the long-term wellbeing of our community
by supporting the Downtown Parking Plazas Citizens’ Initiative.
Keith Quiggins
844 Santa Cruz Ave. • Menlo Park, CA 94025
Office: 650.308.9690 <16503089690> • Cell: 650.242.6804 <16502426804>
