Honorable Council Members, Given the City Council comments at the multiple Council study sessions this year, the scope of the proposed Willow Village project EIR seems at odds with concerns raised by the Council. In the various study sessions regarding Willow Village in specific and other issues relating to land use and transportation in the city, multiple Council Members identified the increasing jobs/housing imbalance as a significant concern with the current proposal. As currently proposed, the project would add up to 9000 jobs (up to 6,000 net new jobs on the site), and up to 1700 homes. The number of housing units has been increased from an earlier proposal for up to 1500 homes. However, the amount of jobs hosted by the commercial space is still multiple times greater than the number of homes proposed. Many thanks to the Council for raising the growing imbalance as a concern. The new jobs would be over and above the ~10,000-15,000 jobs that Facebook has already brought to Menlo Park, corresponding to less than 2,000 new homes added in the Bayfront/Belle Haven area. The large and increasing imbalance is driving substantial displacement, since higher-paid new workers who wish to live near their jobs have the ability to outbid previous residents. Responses to Council questions indicated that it would be logically possible to reallocate the nearly 60 acre site to accommodate more homes and fewer jobs. The changes made to the proposal to date still leave a large imbalance, not only for the project, but for the area and the city. The Council, as the decision-making body for the EIR, would have the power to approve a development that was *smaller* than the projects studied in the EIR. But the Council couldn't come back and ask for space to be reallocated between office and housing. The creation of significantly different options would need to happen before the EIR process. Therefore, I would urge the city council to discuss whether the project's overall balance is in line with the Council's goals, and if not, to recommend changes that would better reflect the Councils' goals expressed in Council member comments. Thank you for your consideration. - Adina Adina Levin Menlo Park Resident Received on Tue Aug 20 2019 - 14:13:52 PDT
