Council Members,
I am writing IN SUPPORT of the downtown affordable housing project. Keeping downtown Menlo vibrant and young is critical for building a sustainable city. In a place where the gap between rich and poor has never been worse, downtown affordable housing assures that those that serve the community, librarians, firefighters, police officers, teachers, health care workers, the list goes on and on, can live where they actually work and be included in our community beyond 8 am to 5 pm. The housing crisis in the peninsula is only worsening and keeping surface parking lots instead of building needed housing is borderline criminal.
From what I can glean, the opposition to this plan is centered primarily on the removal of the parking lots. I would respectfully ask that the council consider building a parking structure FIRST on one of these lots (leaving the remaining lotos open), to allay this objection and remove what seems to be the most important roadblock to building the housing. Then move on to the housing units on the other lots.
Respectfully,
Sara Spivey
Vintage Oaks resident
