Dear Mayor Combs and City Council members,
Please don’t make the same mistake regarding the SRI proposal that the prior Council made regarding allowing far too much office and not enough housing in the last RHNA cycle.
Now Lane Partners is playing a cynical game with you, reneging on its plan to reduce office space from a million sq ft to 713,270 sq ft, which is still enormous.
I urge you to stand firm on withholding approval until Lane commits to much more housing, including a generous component of low income housing. Do not allow them to withhold nearly 287,000 sq ft from this deal, that they could potentially later use entirely for office space. That should go for housing!
As stewards of our city, you need to consider not only our current housing needs, but also the dangers represented each time we let the jobs/housing balance tilt too far in the wrong direction.
The SRI campus offers an ideal location for low-income housing due not only to the parks and green space, but also to its proximity to Menlo Atherton High School as well as to Caltrain and the downtown. Think of the teacher’s aides who could live there in affordable apartments and walk to work! The same would be true for cafeteria workers, the janitorial staff, and more.
Council members, don’t squander this opportunity! Don’t let a developer push you around. Do the right thing for our community!
Sincerely,
Cherie Zaslawsky
