March 7, 2025
City of Menlo Park Council Members,
Our family has lived in Menlo Park for over 53 years. I have served on the Planning Commission during 10 of those years through pro-development administration and anti-development administration. My children and grandchildren have been fortunate to live in and attend the Menlo Park Schools and work within the City of Menlo Park. We are aware of the changes that have occurred over the years.
With each council administration, the issue has been brought to the attention of the council members by the public that we have a jobs to housing imbalances. With many of the approved projects, the thought is that the new commercial developments will magically help our downtown revival by providing more traffic or adding promised bus shuttles to the downtown Menlo Park area during lunch hours and bus shuttles to the train stations at commute times. Have these promises ever been quantified with before and after results? Has anyone been tasked to review whether or not the bus shuttles have been created and continued?
Yet, with each approval of a new commercial project, the imbalance has become greater. Downtown is still suffering. No matter how much money is charged to the developer to fix the number of problems the new project creates, the money gathered does not ever cover the number of homes required to be built to improve the living conditions of the workers seeking to live close to their jobs and it certainly does not fix our downtown. Stop approving commercial projects until we completely fix our housing.
The new project proposed at 80 Willow Road, aka Willow Park further exacerbates the issue and adds to the already obvious problem. We do not have enough housing to meet the needs of our working population. Adding on a few homes for the low-income population is an insult to our intelligence. Placing them in locations that are not at the same floors or orientation and not the same size at the for-market homes is taking advantage of the label. We are smarter than this.
This project is not just a 5-day-a-week traffic problem, it will be a 7 day a week traffic and noise problem with the added hotel, restaurants, and housing combined. The traffic noise will extend over 24 hours depending on the use of the hotel and the amenities. These items belong in our downtown area.
Prior to reviewing the proposed project at this site, please vote to conduct an EIR for the proposed project on this site. Note the following in your EIR:
• Traffic into and out of Menlo Park along the morning and evening transit routes as well as weekends including:
o Valparaiso
o Menlo Avenue
o Santa Cruz Avenue
o Middle Avenue
o El Camino
o Ravenswood Avenue
o Ringwood Avenue
o Coleman
o Bay Road
o Middlefield (North and South of Willow Road)
o Woodland Avenue
o Gilbert Avenue
o Willow Road (East and West of Middlefield)
o Alma
• Safe Routes to School along those same streets before and after school.
• Added commercial traffic to support the proposed projects, food delivery, linens, paper products, cleaning products etc.
• Added maintenance traffic to maintain and repair these proposed projects including janitorial, gardening, and mechanics.
• Impacts to residential communities within 1-2 weeks surrounding all four sides of the development (Palo Alto, Menlo Park and Atherton).
• Impacts to drainage into San Francisquito Creek with the increase in hardscape and buildings.
• Noise impacts including traffic to and from the site, the noise generated by the required mechanical equipment for heating, cooling and ventilation during normal operation and during the added events including parties, weddings and meetings.
• Air Quality impacts from garage exhaust, mechanical equipment exhaust, outgassing of new furniture, carpeting and finishes.
• Loss of access to sunlight due to the height of the structure.
• Reflectance due to the height of the glass surfaces on all sides of the structure.
• Change in air patterns due to the height of the planned structure.
• Increased sewer requirements with the increased number of occupants.
• Increased water demands and increased water main delivery requirements under daily operation.
• Increased traffic and pollution.
• Increased air traffic coordination with Emergency Helicopters traveling this path to Stanford Hospital.
• The size of the roads entering and leaving the site in an emergency to get to hospitals, put out fires etc.
• Access of emergency vehicles to fight fires within the structure. The size of water mains required to serve a structure of this size in a fire.
• Added cost to the city of Menlo park to maintain the streets into and out of the project due to the increase in traffic.
Do not just look at this project being developed by itself and placed onto this site. Please look at the cumulative effects of this project and the Parkline Project at SRI and the potential development of the USGS site on our entire city.
A former City Attorney noted that it is not Councils’ responsibility to enable real estate developers to profit from their investments through the development of their properties. Certainly, this process should also not be completed at the expense of our residents. We are the ones who have voted for you in the office you serve to represent us.
Melody Pagee - Menlo Park Resident
