Council Members, This is a current comment in the "Almanac" from a Menlo Park Business owner, who will be Directly Negatively impacted by your FLAWED plan to shut down the parking lots for 2 to 5 years.
"My husband and I have been business owners in downtown Menlo Park for 17 years. Our Menlo Park shop is one of 4 locations in the Bay Area. I believe that our shop, Alys Grace, is one of the bright spots in Menlo Park along with other locally owned boutiques in the neighborhood. Parking and ease of access is critical to our business as well as our fellow local businesses. As Covid has taught us, our local in person clientele is the lifeblood of our success even though our online business continues to grow. We survived Covid, but we did it because of our clientele. We already have a problem with empty store fronts on Santa Cruz Avenue. If we build on top of our parking lots and make it harder for our clientele to shop, it will be DEVASTATING to our businesses."
It is time to: 1) ABANDON this plan, 2) try to get the lawsuit Dropped, 3) Adopt the ordinance and Stop the Ballot measure, 4) listen to the merchants and their customers, and 5) DO WHAT IS RIGHT: Look at alternative locations to build housing.
Michael C. DeMoss
Commercial Real Estate Attorney
Menlo Resident
Former Finance & Audit Commission Member.
