Dear Commissioners - I live on Buckthorn Way in the Buckthorn Park development. I’m writing to express the views of several residents in our HOA, along with Park Forest. We have studied Mr. Patel's proposal to build an expanded Hampton Inn since the fall of 2016. I’ve spoken at one meeting and relayed our concerns about noise, density, privacy, traffic and design and signed the petition along side the Park Forest residents. We as neighbors have proactively campaigned, against size and design of the development, considering it will replace a large oak tree and lots of greenery with an unobtrusive business. We tried working with Mr. Patel, but received less consideration than our more populous neighboring HOA, but tried to work with them to reach a compromise. We shared our concerns and desire for underground parking, property line set backs, and a visual set back to the Forest Lane and Buckthorn sides of the hotel, in addition to tall trees that would shield the building from view. We were concerned about the unreasonableness of the Public Benefit Bonus for the Low Density NE area, in which we reside, and continue to strongly protest its application. Mr. Patel's change to his plans in 2018, moving the underground parking to the ground level, changing the setback, and increasing the bulk and the proposing blinding color of the building, etc., showed his total lack of concern about the issues we raised. I have spoken at a meeting, and continue to oppose that plan. As some of my neighbors have mentioned and I would like to echo herein, we need to question the application of this Public Benefit Bonus for the Low Density NE area. The traffic congestion seems to have quadrupled, so that turning into and from El Camino or Middlefield takes several minutes, due to lack of stop lights or stop signs. A large hotel in this area would significantly exacerbate the situation. The city needs to revisit the circumstances for granting a right to high density in a low-density zoned district, especially since the hotel location is not on El Camino Real, but several hundred feet back from the road. Furthermore, it is unclear that the Transit Occupancy Tax will be collected as expected and that will not resolve any of the traffic, noise, and size/decor issues that would result if this project is approved. In addition, the large mature trees that are "diseased" or "dying" should be examined by a third party, before they are removed. Thank you in advance for considering my concerns. Kind regards, Suzan Liao 132 Buckthorn Way Menlo Park Received on Wed Jun 19 2019 - 16:12:27 PDT
