Dear Menlo Park City Council -
I am writing to express my continued opposition to the conversion of the
downtown parking lots to housing. I am a Menlo Park property and
business owner. My office is on Crane Street directly across the street
from one of the 3 proposed lot conversions. I am in real estate myself and
I am certainly pro-housing. However, housing needs to be placed in areas
that dont tear apart the fabric of our downtown corridor and jeopardize
many associated small businesses. If this project moves forward, I will
most certainly relocate my office our of downtown Menlo Park. The impact of
construction on my business and staff would be unbearable from traffic to
noise. Many downtown businesses would not survive the closure and limited
parking that would result. In addition, I have attended the past meetings
and as I understand it, there is still no proposal for replacement parking.
As I type this note, I look across at a parking lot that is 100% without a
single open space - far from "surplus parking lots."
The alternative housing sites have not been fully addressed - most notably
the Civic Center site. Changing the fabric of downtown Menlo Park is a rush
decision when we still have 6 years under the housing element to find the
right solution and build the right affordable housing in the right
location. Menlo Park needs more affordable housing but not at the expense
of losing our downtown.
Sincerely,
Billy McNair
