Dear Mayor Combs, Vice-Mayor Nash and Council Members,
Im writing to urge the council to proceed with an RFP for affordable
housing downtown, implementing the fixes recommended by Housing Leadership
Council to ensure that infeasible requirements are not included in the RFP.
I live on Willow Road. Every day I bike home past a stream of stalled cars
waiting to cross the Dumbarton Bridge. (Thank you for the bike lane on
Willow!) Until two years ago, I lived downtown, right opposite the proposed
building site; I didnt have a car, so I walked and biked everywhere. There
are things I love about Menlo Park: the two fantastic bookstores, the
parks, and Mama Cocos. Theres also one thing I really hate about it,
which is how loudly some of its business owners are campaigning against a
sensible proposal that would reduce congestion and enable more people to
live here.
Its hard for me to understand the virulence of the opposition to this
project, but one argument Ive heard from the Save Downtown Menlo crowd is
that by reducing on-street parking, wed lose all the people who come from
out of town to shop here. Im not saying that Menlo Parks businesses
shouldnt attract out-of-town customers, but shouldnt our first priority
be the people who live here? Shouldnt we be building a livable town for
ourselves and our neighbors, rather than a glorified strip mall for the
residents of Atherton and Los Altos to visit on weekends?
Since so much of the opposition to the project comes from people who dont
actually live in Menlo Park, I am hopeful that if it comes to a vote, well
vote to support it, the same way weve done for other housing proposals
(although some of those have been mired in the same red tape and
disingenuous opposition that promise to plague the downtown project). Ive
also been hopeful that the mayor and council will fight doggedly for a
project that will bring life and opportunity to our town. More recently,
the impossible requirements included in the staff report have made me worry
that thats not the case, and that the project will die before we have a
chance to prove how much it will benefit all of us. I urge you all to
continue to work in the best interests of our city and the people who live
here.
Thank you,
Emma Stanford
