Dear Complete Streets Commission
The SRI/Parkline is quickly heading to the Planning Commission on August 25
for its approval. (See below). The roles and responsibilities of the
Complete Streets Commission includes “. . . provide input on major land use
and development projects as it relates to transportation” Menlo Park
residents need to be assured that large projects such as SRI/Parkline (with
1M sf of office) have been reviewed by the Complete Streets Commission. The
Planning Commission and the Council will be in a stronger position if they
can learn of your Commission’s recommendations regarding this project’s
impacts. To date, this has not occurred.
The Complete Streets Commission needs to add SRI/Parkline to its agenda for
a full review of the traffic issues related to this development.
A projected 15,000 cars a day will arrive and leave this site on Ravenswood
between Laurel and Middlefield. A VMT program claims that a project TDM
plan will give the project a dubious 28% reduction, bringing the daily car
trips down to 10,800. According to the City’s TIA policy the city must
verify the TDM program, but it has not done so. The alleged TDM plan is not
a specific plan but instead, no more than a menu of strategies that
Parkline could take. Is there an actual TDM Plan? The developer has
pointed out that the existing SRI TDM plan works well because it addresses
car trips from a single tenant. Parkline is a 1M sf office park with any
number of lease holders. Lane Partners has expressed a concern that
finding tenants who will agree to a TDM plan will be very difficult.
Ravenswood is a complicated road with El Camino Real, the Caltrain tracks,
the Civic Center and the Middlefield intersection where hundreds of Menlo
Atherton high school students travel Monday through Friday. Obviously,
there will be conflicts of different degrees throughout this corridor. The
projected traffic problems from this SRI/Parkline development, the looming
Sunset project and the future USGS plans could add 30,000 cars to our
already congested streets. These projects need to be taken seriously with
close review by the Complete Streets Commission
Please act fast and bring this 1M sf office park and 800 housing units to
your Commission for a careful review.
Steve Schmidt
Former Menlo Park Councilmember
The Planning Commission is being asked on August 25 to:
1. certify the Final EIR
2. approve General Plan, Zoning Ordinance and zoning map amendments
3. Rezone the project site from C-1x
4. Revise the Conditional Development Permit
5. approve the vesting tentative map
6. approve a Development Agreement
7. approve a below market rate housing agreement
