Dear Menlo Park City Council Members,
Please do not designate the parking plazas near Santa Cruz Avenue as exempt surplus land.
This land is not surplus land. The parking lots are heavily used to patronize the businesses located on Santa Cruz Avenue
Future Parking Problems and Harmful to Downtown Businesses
My family has lived in Menlo Park for the past 19 years, and we have used the parking plazas to patronize downtown Menlo Park businesses (Stacks, Menlo Park Academy of Dance, Susie Cakes, Chase Bank, Menlo Park Hardware, Cold Stone, Cheeky Monkey Toys,and Walgreens).
Page 27 of the document Affordable Housing on city-owned downtown parking lots feasibility study draft August 2024 says the following:
"The three lots (parking plazas 1,2,and 3) could be developed with at least 345 units
affordable to households at the very low-income level and could meet or exceed the City’s
Housing Element goals for the downtown parking lots."
"Proximity to the Caltrain station would offer convenient access to transit and may reduce
the need for residential parking as part of a development on the site;"
Building housing close to the Cal train does NOT reduce the need for residential parking.
When we visited members of our church congregation who live in East Palo Alto, the streets were lined with many cars, sometimes making it difficult to find a place to park.
Menlo Park is not a city where you can get around without a car like New York City, London, or Tokyo.
Yes, lower income families use cars too. Most will not work on Santa Cruz Avenue or near a Cal train station. They will also have children who need to get to school by a certain time and will want the convenience of getting groceries in a timely manner (Not at Draegers or Trader Joes).
If you do not provide one parking space for each unit and the same number of parking spaces originally on the parking lot, there will not be enough parking for Menlo Park residents who do not live right in the downtown area.
Not enough parking WILL harm the downtown businesses if their patrons have difficulty finding parking.
I respectfully request that you not designate the parking plazas near Santa Cruz Avenue as exempt surplus land.
Sincerely,
Janet Jennings
Menlo Park Resident
