Dear City Council,
Despite years of City neglect, our downtown is starting to thrive. This year alone, Santa Cruz Ave. is welcoming four new restaurants and bars — prompting a May San Francisco Chronicle article titled: “Forget San Francisco. Restaurants see ‘huge opportunity’ in this quiet suburb.”
Downtown is busy. It’s thriving.
Yes, vacancies remain — but that is solvable. If Council would loosen the “retail-only” zoning on Santa Cruz Ave. to allow personal services, like fitness studios, those spaces would quickly fill. Los Altos solved its own vacancy challenge the same way, and economic vitality followed.
Meanwhile, a new group — Downtown Menlo Fund — is raising money to beautify our streets and support local businesses.
Downtown Menlo Park could be on the verge of a Renaissance. But if the plan to repurpose the parking lots goes forward, years of construction and the permanent loss of convenient parking would turn that Renaissance into the Dark Ages.
I urge City Council to keep our downtown moving in the right direction.
Thank you,
Alex Beltramo
Menlo Park resident
