Dear Mayor and Members of the Menlo Park City Council,
I am a longtime Willows neighborhood resident and a daily user of Willow
Road with my children. I am writing regarding the proposed development at
80 Willow Road.
This proposal is deeply personal to me—not simply because I live in the
neighborhood, but because Willow Road and the Sunset campus have been part
of my life for decades.
I use Willow Road every day. I drive it and ride my bicycle on it to take
my children to school and to get to work. I know the road, the surrounding
neighborhoods, and the character of this part of Menlo Park intimately. I
experience the traffic, the intersections, the pedestrian activity, and the
transition between the Willows and the surrounding neighborhoods as part of
my everyday life.
That is why the scale of this proposal is so concerning to me.
The proposed development would place approximately 665 residential units,
more than 330,000 square feet of office space, retail, a 130-room hotel,
and a preschool on approximately 6.7 acres, with buildings reaching
approximately 300, 397, and 458–461 feet.
That is an extraordinary amount of development concentrated on a very small
and very visible site.
I understand that Menlo Park has housing obligations and that the City must
operate within state housing law. I also understand that the City is facing
significant legal pressure surrounding this application.
But none of that changes what this project would mean on the ground for the
people who actually live here.
For me, the question is not whether Menlo Park should build housing. The
question is whether a project of this particular scale and configuration is
appropriate for this particular place, and whether the long-term
consequences have been adequately understood before decisions become
irreversible.
This is also a place from my childhood.
My family has a particularly meaningful connection to the Sunset campus.
When I was a child, I used to visit the Sunset Magazine campus while my
mother was working there. I remember it as a beautiful and distinctive
place. The campus, gardens, architecture, and landscape were not
interchangeable with any other office property. It had a sense of place
that has stayed with me for decades.
It is difficult for me to reconcile that memory with the prospect of
replacing the campus with buildings approaching 460 feet in height.
The significance of the property is not simply sentimental. The National
Park Service determined in 2025 that the property is eligible for the
National Register of Historic Places, and the site is consequently listed
in the California Register of Historical Resources.
That history deserves more than a passing consideration in the development
process.
I am deeply concerned about what happens to the Willows and surrounding
neighborhoods.
The Willows has a character that cannot simply be recreated after it is
lost.
It is a neighborhood of relatively modest scale, mature trees, homes,
pedestrians, bicycles, families, and streets that function at a
neighborhood level. The adjacent neighborhoods share many of those
qualities.
A development containing hundreds of residences, substantial office space,
a hotel, retail, and buildings approaching 460 feet would represent an
enormous change in scale.
I am particularly concerned about the cumulative effect on Willow Road.
I already use this corridor every day with my children. Adding this
magnitude of residential and commercial activity raises very practical
questions for families who depend on these streets:
How will traffic move through Willow Road and its intersections?
How will pedestrian and bicycle safety be affected?
What will emergency access look like?
Where will construction traffic go?
What will the construction period mean for families using Willow Road every
day?
What are the impacts of the projects height and massing on neighboring
properties and public spaces?
What infrastructure improvements will actually be required to support the
additional population and activity?
And what happens to parking and traffic on surrounding residential streets
if the projects demand exceeds what can be accommodated on site?
These are not abstract planning questions for me. They are part of my
familys daily life.
Please do not allow the legal complexity to overshadow the physical reality.
I recognize that the City is navigating complicated state housing laws,
including the Housing Accountability Act, Builders Remedy, and AB 2011,
and that the City has received a notice from the California Attorney
General concerning the projects processing.
But legal constraints should make the Citys factual and environmental
analysis more important—not less.
The project is sufficiently consequential that residents deserve a complete
understanding of its impacts before the City makes an irreversible decision.
I ask that the Council ensure that the environmental review thoroughly
examines the projects transportation, infrastructure, emergency-access,
historic-resource, biological, hydrological, noise, air-quality,
greenhouse-gas, and construction impacts, including cumulative impacts.
I also ask that the Council preserve a genuinely transparent public process
and make the underlying analysis and supporting documents accessible to
residents.
Most importantly, I ask that you consider what is being changed here—not
simply what is being built.
The Sunset campus is part of Menlo Parks history. The Willows is part of
its present. And the character of these neighborhoods will be inherited by
our children.
I would hate for my children to grow up in a Menlo Park where the places
that gave this community its particular character were treated as
disposable simply because they occupied valuable land.
I am not asking the City to ignore its housing responsibilities or its
obligations under state law. I am asking you to recognize that *where and
how we build matters*.
Once the Sunset campus is gone and buildings of this scale are constructed,
there is no meaningful way to undo the decision.
Please give this project the extraordinary level of scrutiny that its
extraordinary scale requires, and please remember that behind every
planning document and development application are families who live here
every day and who will live with the consequences for generations.
I hope you will consider my familys experience, the history of this site,
and the everyday realities of the Willows neighborhood as you continue your
review of 80 Willow Road.
Sincerely,
Marguerite Goguely
Longtime Willows Resident
Menlo Park, CA
