Dear Mayor Nash, Vice Mayor Wise, and Members of the City Council,
I am writing as a resident of the Willows, on Marmona Court, to urge you not to approve the proposed 80 Willow Road development without a completed, independent Environmental Impact Report and a public hearing.
I support building more housing in Menlo Park, including affordable housing. My opposition is not to housing. It is to the extraordinary scale of this particular project and the cumulative impact it would have on a part of Menlo Park that is already under significant pressure.
Those of us living in the Willows experience the traffic on Willow Road every day. The corridor is already heavily congested, including traffic associated with Meta and other major employers. We are also facing substantial additional development nearby. Adding three towers of 39, 33 and 18 stories at 80 Willow would fundamentally change the density of this area.
Traffic and parking are particularly concerning to me. The proposed development would generate substantial additional vehicle traffic in an area where congestion is already a daily problem. At the same time, the project proposes far less parking than would normally be required. The inevitable concern for residents like me is that cars that cannot be accommodated on-site will spill into surrounding residential streets, including Marmona Court and the Willows.
This is not simply an inconvenience. More traffic and street parking affect neighborhood safety, emergency access, pedestrian and bicycle circulation, and residents’ ability to access their own homes. These impacts should be evaluated together with the other major developments already planned nearby, rather than considering 80 Willow in isolation.
For a project of this magnitude, I believe the City should complete a comprehensive Environmental Impact Report by independent technical experts, including a serious assessment of traffic, parking, public safety, emergency access, San Francisquito Creek, and the cumulative effects of nearby development.
I also urge the Council not to allow the developer’s October 27 deadline to dictate the City’s decision-making process. Please fully evaluate the City’s legal position in response to the Attorney General’s letter, defend that position where the City’s analysis remains sound, and hold a dedicated public hearing before making any final decision.
A project that could permanently reshape this part of Menlo Park deserves rigorous analysis and meaningful public scrutiny before, not after, an irreversible decision is made.
I respectfully ask the Council to stand firm, complete the necessary environmental review, and make its decision based on what is right for Menlo Park and its residents rather than under pressure from an artificial deadline.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Isabelle Guis & Thomas Cornely
Marmona Court, The Willows
Menlo Park
