Measure P Protects Our Downtown from a Reckless Plan.
Vote YES! on P to give residents a say before City Council give aways downtown parking plazas for high-rise housing — without any real plan to replace the parking.
There are better alternatives to meet our housing goals. We do not need to sacrifice our downtown.
Palo Alto Daily Post Endorses Yes on Measure P
“Menlo Park voters face a critical decision regarding the economic survival of our local businesses and the long-term character of our community.
Measure P offers a common-sense solution to a poorly conceived city initiative. By requiring voter approval before the city can sell, lease, or permanently alter our eight downtown parking lots, this measure establishes a vital safeguard for our vibrant commercial core.”
People Downtown say YES! on Measure P
135 downtown businesses have spoken out against the City’s plan. Watch their stories.
Without Measure P, Downtown Gets Handed Over
The City Council plans to declare three downtown parking plazas as “surplus land” and give them to a developer for high-density housing. 5+ years of construction would drive out local businesses and jobs. And no one knows how a replacement public parking garage would be paid for.
There are better sites for housing and better ways to develop the downtown.
The City Council should not be able to dictate a complete transformation of our downtown without community consent.
Overwhelming opposition to the Council’s plan fell on deaf ears.
MEASURE P
WHAT IT DOES
Measure P would establish an ordinance prohibiting the City of Menlo Park from selling, leasing, or repurposing any of the eight downtown parking plazas without voter approval. Sensible development approved by voters could still happen.
If the measure passes and the City Council wants to pursue its current plan, or something like it, voters would have the final say on a later ballot.
WHAT IT DOES NOT DO
MEASURE P DOES NOT prohibit housing or development.
MEASURE P DOES NOT require a vote for improvements to parking (parking structures, EV charging, paving & striping, etc.)
MEASURE P DOES NOT apply anywhere other than the eight downtown public parking plazas.
VOTE YES! BECAUSE
The Council’s Plan:
COSTS MENLO PARK
TENS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS
DRIVES OUT LOCAL BUSINESSES & JOBS
IGNORES BETTER HOUSING OPTIONS
MEASURE P IS NEEDED BECAUSE:
The Council’s Plan
COSTS MENLO PARK
TENS OF MILLIONS
The original idea (pushed by housing advocacy groups) was for the City to provide the parking plazas for $1/year, and in return, developers would build low-income housing and replace the lost public parking.
But things changed.
The prospective developers are now saying they can't replace the public parking without City taxpayer money:
· Related/Alta is asking the City to contribute $26 million to build an 8-story parking garage at the edge of downtown. (see proposal)
· Presidio Bay — which isn't providing any of the requested low-income housing — still wants the City to kick in $15 million. (see proposal)
· Alliant Communities says the only way they can afford replacement parking is if they don’t pay prevailing wages. No other developer dared suggest that. (see proposal)
And it gets worse. The developers are asking the City to delay or waive millions in impact fees, which would have otherwise gone to fund city services. According to the City’s commissioned financial review, the proposals have funding shortfalls ranging from $19-45 million.
Menlo Park cannot afford this plan. The City’s worsening budget deficit is already forcing difficult cuts.
MEASURE P IS NEEDED BECAUSE:
The Council’s Plan
DRIVES OUT LOCAL
BUSINESSES & JOBS
Downtown Menlo Park serves 380,000 people who live within a 20 minute drive. It only functions because of the easy access provided by the parking plazas.
Easy access to surface parking is what makes our downtown work. Drone footage of downtown plazas 1, 2, 3.
And small businesses are unlikely to survive the downtown being a 5+ year construction zone.
That is why 135 downtown businesses have publicly stated that the plan threatens their businesses - and the jobs they provide.
Our downtown needs thoughtful development, not this.
MEASURE P IS NEEDED BECAUSE:
The Council’s Plan
IGNORES BETTER HOUSING OPTIONS
The cost to replace the public parking is only one of the reasons why the Council’s plan may ultimately fail. Others include fire safety, emergency access, and infrastructure issues, soil contamination from decades of dry cleaners, legal challenges from the surrounding property owners who originally paid for the land to be parking lots, and a dependence on state funding for which there is a bottleneck.
By clinging to this doomed plan, the City Council is wasting time that could be spent on more viable housing sites.
Bohannon Park - One of the Alternatives
To meet our housing goals, the City can amend its Housing Element and add more sites, just like San Mateo did.
