Dear Menlo Park City Council,
Having worked and lived in and around Menlo Park since the spring of 1986, I have come to know and appreciate many of the local businesspeople. Carpaccio is one of the places my family frequents. Although we miss the parking spaces that were taken away from Crane Street near Santa Cruz Avenue for a bike lane, we are usually able to find parking in the lot across the street from the restaurant. If that parking lot is replaced with housing, Carpaccio and the other businesses nearby will surely fail.
Please take a hard look and find other options. Those parking lots may be labeled as "surplus" on some city map, but they are essential to the businesses that operate near them. As you know, the Santa Cruz Avenue business district is already struggling. Taking away the parking lots would be the death knell to those businesses. Also, despite the environmental benefits of transit-based communities, the many lower income families I know have more cars, not fewer.
May I suggest that the properties along El Camino Real (across from Keplers, or across from Menlo School) be replaced with mixed use buildings, as has been done on other blocks on El Camino Real? Is it that the City of Menlo Park does not own those properties? There are many ways to combine parking, business, office, and housing, especially with the generous height allowances that are available. Combining uses also would improve the diversity of the community, both for housing and for jobs.
Taking away three parking lots and replacing them with three projects of very low-income affordable housing will not help local businesses to thrive,and it will certainly reduce Menlo Parks sales tax revenue in the long-run. Many residents of Menlo Park and the surrounding areas will simply choose to shop and dine elsewhere. Check out the successes of San Carlos, Redwood City, and even Los Altos. There must be a better way. Please work tirelessly to find other options.
Sincerely,
/Lovinda
Lovinda Beal
PO Box 1215
Menlo Park, CA 94026-1215
