Dear Mayor Nash and the Menlo Park City Council members,
I hope you have come to realize that a multi-story Parking Ramp, even with below street level parking, is a waste of money and will NOT replace OUR existing street level parking spaces.
The attached photos prove that Shoppers do not want to use levels "above level 2" and "below street level" (see attached photos)
If the developers are proposing a Parking Ramp as a substitute for OUR Street level parking lots, you must challenge them to drive through the ramp at 350 Sherman (as I have on 3 different days, with the same vacancy rate) and they will see that it will not work.
Furthermore, as a real estate professional, I am telling you that in order to honestly provide parking for the merchants, shopper, visitors and 345 apartment dwellers, the project must replace all 565 (fully used) existing parking spaces (as promised) AND provide 1.5 parking spaces for each of the 345 apartment resident units (as real estate reality demands)
Which equals 🟰 1,100 parking spaces.
None of the developers are meeting this minimum demand, especially when only ramp levels 1 and 2 are effectively used!
Do NOT rely on the States "waiver" of the requirement to provide adequate parking.
The legislators in Sacramento are making "parking exceptions" to common logic, for political reasons; and IF you permit this mistake, the voters will end up paying for your mistake, not just financially; but more importantly by the damage to our "Downtown Vitality"
(One of your High Priorities).
Warning: Remember the San Jose Apartment Building that went Bankrupt because they failed to provide enough parking for their tenants.
Your plans have all the same problems.
This is not feasible in so many areas.
You have a public duty to abandon this plan and pursue other locations.
Do your due diligence and exercise your fiduciary duty.
Respectfully,
Michael DeMoss, Resident
Commercial Real Estate Attorney
Former member of the Menlo Park Finance & Audit Commission
Photos taken on a busy Tuesday afternoon
(July 21, 2026)
350 Sherman, Palo Alto, CA
Lower levels B1 & B2
Levels above 2
Sent from my iPhone
