To: Alliant Communities, Presidio Bay Ventures, and Related Companies /
Alta Housing, and the MP City Council.
Thank you for your willingness to present your proposals to the people of
Menlo Park.
I support creating more housing (especially affordable housing) in our
downtown core near public transit and amenities. But I have a few
questions.
- The parking plazas are imprtant for access and business health of our
downtown corridor. Can you confirm that all proposals will retain the
current parking capacity underground or in colocated parking plazas?
- Where will the temporary replacement public parking be located? Will
the replacement short-term public parking remain free?
- The original premise for using the parking plazas was to provide
housing for low-income residents. We have seen other such “affordable”
housing projects build on our city that are still outbid reach for most
young workers. How many actual BMR units will you commit to building, and
what is the mechanism to ensure they are indeed affordable once on the
market?
- Given the need to replace public parking and build within constrained
spaces, what is your plan to mitigate the impacts to road closures and
traffic? how long will our downtown be “under construction”?
- Will you commit to employing union labor as a consideration for the
city to award the contract?
- What is the plan to handle delivery, waste collection, and emergency
vehicles access within the new housing site layouts?
I appreciate your consideration in responding to my questions above.
Sincerely,
Skip Hilton
skiphilton@gmail.com
