Dear Council,
I write as a 28 year resident of the Willows neighborhood of Menlo Park to urge you to choose the second option laid out in the Staff Report regarding the citizen petition to enact a law prohibiting the City from “selling, trading, leasing, donating, disposing or otherwise conveying all or a portion of City-owned downtown Menlo Park parking lots for any reason that would affect, or diminish the availability or convenience of parking, without voter approval, with exceptions for maintenance work and related capital improvement projects, and temporary events.”
This second option would submit this question to the voters as opposed to simply adopting the ordinance proposed.
I believe that many Menlo Park voters feel very differently from the petitioners about the City’s role in making land use decisions. I believe that we have a representational form of government so that our representatives can make these determinations on our behalf after thorough consideration of all the factors and viewpoints implicated.
A citywide vote on these types of issues is neither efficient nor cost effective. The money and time is better spent on concrete actions and solutions.
Unfortunately, we are forced to hold an election on this proposed ordinance by petitioners who believe that downtown housing will harm rather than benefit downtown businesses. This is reminiscent of the fight over the teacher housing project at the former Flood School site which also would have required voter approval of decisions to rezone existing single family districts.
That initiative was roundly defeated at the polls as I believe this one will be. For that reason, we absolutely should not accept the ordinance without a full opportunity for those in opposition to have their view counted at the ballot box.
Leah Elkins
Sent from my iPhone
