Dear Honorable City Council Members: There are a few thoughts I wanted to express to you before tonight's meeting. With respect to property values for residential properties abutting the train corridor, it is my opinion as a local real estate agent for 11 years that improvements to property values could actually be achieved if the following were executed: 1) Buy out the right of way of the freight line so no more freight trains will travel along this corridor. 2) If elevating the passenger train, ensure very tall trees are maintained or planted to obscure the structure and the train. Redwoods should work well as they are fast growing and provide good screening. 3) Electrify the train. What keeps these residential properties at lower values than other properties is the noise and the aesthetics and to some degree lack of privacy. Should the blasting horns from freight and passenger trains go away, this will be a huge improvement for the owners of these homes. If there is a way to screen a raised train with thickly branched trees such as Redwoods, I believe this will also improve these property values. If we are implementing electric trains, the noise of the diesel cars will also disappear. I think it's a win as long as execution is performed intelligently and sensitively. Sincerely, Mary [Mary Gilles Photo for Email Signature] Mary N. Gilles, Realtor 650.814.0858 MaryGillesRealEstate.com BRE# 01789710 Alain Pinel Realtors 1550 El Camino Real - Suite 100 Menlo Park, CA 94025 (image/jpeg attachment: image003.jpg )
