Dear Menlo Park City Council Members,
I had hope to send this letter to you before tonight’s council meeting, but still feel it is important to share my views as a Menlo Park resident on a couple of issues that I believe were on the agenda.
The first being taking three of our downtown parking lots to build housing! I had written you with my concerns about this when I first read the city’s housing element plan. We have a wonderful downtown that I shop and dine in every week. Besides the great restaurants, grocery stores and shops, there is also parking, unlike other Peninsula cities where I choose not to go. Since COVID we still have several empty storefronts. The city should be doing everything in its power to support the businesses that have invested in our city and be enticing new businesses to come here. How is taking away half of downtown’s parking helping with either of those things? There is of course a need for affordable housing in California, but I think it is imperative that there be a sensible balance with the economic needs of the community. A vibrant downtown only enhances our city for all its residents. There has to be other better and creative alternatives to our housing issues.
The other issue I want to write about is the obscene builder’s remedy project at 80 Willow Rd. As a homeowner in the Linfield Oaks neighborhood I can’t believe the project that has been proposed could actually be allowed! Can you just imagine the amount of traffic and congestion a project of that size will bring to our community! Multiple high-rises better suited for much larger cities are completely inappropriate. There was clearly no attempt on the builder’s part to consider the neighborhood that they are coming into. There has to be something the city can do to stop this from happening. I have no problem with a high density residential project being built there, but it needs to be along the lines of something like the Middle Plaza project that was built on El Camino. It is possible to add more housing to an existing community without destroying what makes it such a wonderful neighborhood to begin with. Finally, I also have issues with the loss of the Sunset buildings that are excellent examples of midcentury architecture and should be protected. Losing them would be losing a part of Menlo Park history. It you are looking at the need for affordable housing, with the proper interior renovations, they would make excellent affordable senior residences, which is greatly needed in our area. That is the creative type of solution I was taking about earlier.
I’m counting on you, our elected leaders to help Menlo Park meet its housing needs in a thoughtful way that helps our community not harms it!
Thank you!
David Eckert
