Dear Menlo Park City Council,
I am writing as a resident to urge you to reject the 80 Willow Road proposal in its current form.
The project is housing-negative, adding roughly 3,000 jobs but only about 665 homes, with just around 100 of those affordable. At three towers of 39, 33, and 19 stories on only 6.7 acres, it is dramatically out of scale for a low-density residential neighborhood, and no independent Environmental Impact Report has evaluated its effects on traffic, parking, or emergency access. Estimates point to over 7,000 additional car trips a day on Middlefield and Willow, both designated evacuation routes and paths emergency vehicles use to reach our neighborhood schools, while the plan provides only a fraction of the parking the Citys code requires.
I understand the City has issued multiple consistency review letters finding the application inconsistent with local standards, and that the developer is pressuring for approval by a self-imposed deadline. I ask the Council not to let that deadline dictate the outcome.
I request that the Council:
1. Decline to approve the application as currently proposed.
2. Require a full, independent Environmental Impact Report before further consideration.
3. Hold firm on the Citys own review process and prioritize resident input.
Thank you for your attention to this important decision for our community.
Sincerely,
Orville Cortez
1205 Woodland Avenue
Menlo Park, CA
94025
