Hi City Council Members,
Ive lived at the corner of Ringwood and Van Buren for almost 40 years. Over the years, I have seen a lot of changes to this corner, particularly traffic, both vehicular and pedestrian.
On this Tuesday agenda is an item about 320 Sheridan and an appeal to the planning commissions approval for a use permit. I have read the staffs report and urge you to follow the staffs recommendation to adopt a resolution denying the appeal.
While the appeal brings up everything and the kitchen sink, obviously, in the hopes something will stick, it really comes down to Subarban Park not wanting more traffic.
While I sympathize with the residences of Suburban Park and wanting to have less traffic. All residents of Menlo Park want less traffic, particularly in their neighborhood. As you well know, that just isnt always possible. I would argue that most of the history of Suburban Park there was a school on this site which over time generated a lot of traffic through their streets. It is/was a given to people buying houses in this neighborhood. The proposed project will generate considerable less traffic than the school, and it will likely be more spread out, not just at the beginning and end of the school day.
Those of us who live in the Flood Triangle also bought our houses knowing the Flood Park generates traffic and parking concerns. While, weve had a reprieve during reconstruction of the park, we fully expect it to be much worse after the reconstruction is complete. Because of the open nature of the roads in the Flood Triangle, we get a lot of cut through traffic, particularly on Van Buren and Ringwood presumable to avoid Bay Rd. Suburban Park has no cut through traffic so we already have more traffic than Suburban Park on our residential streets.
Allowing for a second entrance from the Sheridan site to Van Buren will increase traffic in the Flood Triangle. There have been several car vs bike/pedestrian accidents at the corner of Ringwood and Van Buren and many close calls, hence, relatively recently making it a 3 way stop. This is the primary bike and pedestrian route from Belle Haven to Menlo Atherton High School. Also, there are a fair number of biking commuters to the Facebook campus. Adding more car trips through this intersection will only make it more dangerous.
Thank you for your consideration.
Paul Hugo
650 575-1001
Ringwood and Van Buren
