Hi City Council
I can't make the meeting this evening with the public but wanted to submit comments.
I think I am too late at this point to stop this development but want the city to note strong disappointment in this decision from
yet another tax-paying, voting member of the community. From a philosophical perspective, I don't appreciate how this city has
just handed over a large part of the area to one company, carte-blanche. Did Belle Haven need development and udpates and
investment? Yes. Did that mean you needed to let Mark Zuckerberg take the lead on all of that single-handedly? No. Development is
a reality in this area but we should all be held accountable to focus on sustainable development that makes sense.
So, the project is underway and the world gets to read about our new company-town in the New York Times. But at this point, you
need to take some responsibility to move forward wisely. Two big considerations that must be addressed for this community:
1) Traffic. I realize that the assumption is that most of the people that will live in this development will just walk to work.
But what about when they don't? Traffic sucks in Menlo Park now - how will you handle this influx of new workers? They won't just
always sit in their apartments and Willow Road is not a solution for this many new residents, as its currently constructed. You
need to focus, in partnership with Facebook, on transit solutions and how you will not clog the streets further.
3) Schools. MA can't handle such an influx of students without additional funding. Again, please don't be naive to think that all
these new workers will just be young and childless forever. Maybe they will at first but what if they like it here? What if they
stay? How can MA handle such an influx since it is the only high school for all of MA and East Palo Alto? Mark Zuckerberg/Facebook
must contribute to the school system or any resident of this new complex is barred from having any offspring attend a Menlo Park
school. Or think of something....
There is a lot of work to be done but please don't avoid the hard issues.
Sincerely,
Sarah Reilly
