Please reference: City of Menlo Park Staff Report to the Housing Commission Meeting date: 8/8/2018 Staff Report Number: 18-015-HC Subj: Recommendation of BMR proposal for 975 Florence Lane, Menlo Park Please find attached the signed petitions from 25 residents of properties near to and adjacent to the subject property that are in *OPPOSITION* to the proposed plans that would: - Cause a reduction in the number of required parking places - Allow additions that would encroach into the required setbacks - Increase the density allowed by zoning - Grant exemptions to a BMR unit that would cause any of the items in 1,2, or 3 Background: The initial proposal for 975 Florence Lane was to convert 6 rental units into 6 condominiums. Subsequent discussions between the City and the owner resulted in the revised proposal referenced above in the Staff Report to the Housing Commission to include new construction of two 560 sq ft units in the back of property - one of which would be a BMR unit. To build out the additional units requires SUBSTANTIAL variances to both the side and rear set back requirements (greater than a 40% reduction). In addition, there is a request to allow 11 parking spaces where 15 is the required number. The staff recommendation made the presumption that proximity to the downtown area would support a reduced parking requirement. Proximity to downtown should have NO bearing on the number of cars owned by residents. We presume that residents of the condominium who do not have on-site parking will use Florence Lane - which has restricted on-street overnight parking. And there is a fire hydrant directly in front of the units, thus any permitted on-street parking will be required to park in front of the neighboring residences. Also, Florence Lane is already impacted by the 'No Parking' on University Drive (requiring cars to park on the side streets) and the 'drive throughs' of both MA students and west Menlo residents trying to avoid the congestion on Santa Cruz Ave and Middle Ave during commute hours. While we are supportive of enhancing our neighborhood with improvements to the existing properties these efforts should be done within code and not cause unintended consequences. Thank you for your attention to our concerns. We look forward to working with the respective groups. Noel Smith 1017 Florence Lane Menlo Park CA Email: smithns_at_(domainremoved) Phone: 650-248-5773 Carl Vogelsang 721 University Dr Menlo Park CA Email: hibdysurf_at_(domainremoved) Phone: 650-468-3185 application/pdf attachment: 975_Florence_Lane_Petition_-_1.pdf application/pdf attachment: 975_Florence_Lane_Petition_-_2.pdf
