Dear Honorable City Council and Planning Commissioners,
Can you imagine someone putting in a bar/restaurant in your backyard that would have live entertainment, alcohol, and outdoor dining until 2am? That is happening to me.
The proposed Clock Works bar/restaurant with a permit for live entertainment, alcohol and outdoor dining until 2am seven nights a week would rob my neighbors and I of the rest we need to live happy, productive lives.
Menlo Park has been my home for 35 years and I moved to 650 Live 2 ½ years ago, a haven near downtown Menlo Park. I teach kindergarten and need a quiet, peaceful home to decompress and rest so that I can give my kind and caring best to my 32 students every day. I can’t do that if there is outdoor dining and live entertainment until 2am 50 feet from my home.
I like the idea of a new bar/restaurant next to the Guild, but it needs to be done right. The last bar/restaurant in this area that was open that late, the BBC, brought many reported disturbances and violence, including rape. Does Menlo Park want more of that?
It would be far more reasonable if the bar/restaurant was permitted to be open until 9pm Sunday-Thursday and 11pm Friday-Saturday. That would allow revelers to enjoy fun nights out and residents to get the sleep they need, when they need it in their own homes. Was any thought given or research done on the environmental impacts (noise, traffic, safety) related to this project? Or was focus solely on the value of the vibrancy? All of these elements are important.
The Guild has done a fantastic job of contributing fun to its neighborhood while respecting its neighbors need for quiet. Its exceptional sound proofing allows hardly any sound to escape. The new Clock Works establishment needs to respect its neighbors too.
I moved into a peaceful home. Please let me stay in one.
Kristen
