Dear Menlo Park City Council,
I am not one of your constituents, but your Palo Alto neighbor in the 200
block of Middlefield, just south of the Sunset site. I know you are under
immense pressure to approve N17s proposal for their absurd, monstrous
project. And Im going to beg you not to, but rather to continue to process
their application in the hope it can eventually be quashed.
You certainly understand how this project, submitted under a provision
naively intended to increase housing, will make Menlo Parks housing
deficit significantly worse. N17 took advantage of loopholes in a process
Menlo Park was trying to engage in, but which the state was handling
clumsily. It will put huge stress on utilities, traffic, and surrounding
neighborhoods.
My understanding is that Sacramento recognized this project was an
unintended and negative consequence of how the rules had been written and
revised them -- but was unwilling to make the revision retroactive. *Oops,
I guess we screwed up, but youll just have to live with that forever -- WE
dont want to get sued...*
As a resident of Middlefield, who was very involved in its reconfiguration
some years back, Im intimately aware of the traffic flows and loads in the
area. The notion of adding 7000 more car trips per day (as projected) is
unthinkable. I also envision the implications for traffic from what will
have to be years of construction, hauling the materials for three
skyscrapers through those already-busy roads.
You are now facing an extraordinarily difficult decision. But the right
answer is not to make the immediate problem go away.
Approving the proposal now likely would make the project unstoppable,
forever locking Menlo Park -- and Palo Alto -- into a nightmare of
gridlock, destroying the Willows neighborhood, and undoing progress toward
housing goals. The nontrivial risks of the developers lawsuit pale against
the costs of their success. Please dont give up prematurely.
Good luck, and Ill be following these proceedings closely.
Tim Lindholm
218 Middlefield Rd
Palo Alto, CA 94301
