As former Mayor of Menlo Park, I support Save Downtown Menlo because there are better sites for housing and this monumental decision to impact downtown belongs to the residents of Menlo Park, not simply 5 representatives from disparate areas of our city.

The plan favored by City Council is not realistic, will end up costing the City tens of millions, put local businesses out of business due to construction disruptions, and change the character of downtown forever. There are less expensive and less disruptive ways to meet low income housing goals.

The future of our downtown will long be determined by such dramatic projects. The vital issues of livability and retail viability should not be glossed over with developer presentation boards.

We believe that the vitality of the businesses in Downtown Menlo park depends on the ability to have easy, available parking. This is especially true for medical offices like ours!

A substantial loss of parking results in a substantial loss of business and viability.

There are better alternative locations for housing than taking away our existing limited parking lots. Even if they are replaced (eventually) with a (less-convenient) parking garage, the multi-year construction period will devastate our downtown businesses.

I've lived in Menlo Park for 38 years. The disastrous impact of a massive construction project over several years for additional housing on our already crowded parking lots will be irreparable to our small businesses downtown. This location for additional housing in our city was ill conceived. There are many other locations that could be utilized without having such a negative impact on the downtown.

I believe Menlo Park is a great city because we have a vibrant downtown and a small town feel. We need to insure our businesses can survive and provide low income housing but not all clustered downtown. We propose other viable locations. Save our city.

Adding residential units, residents of which will bring autos, while reducing current parking downtown will severely impact local business. Parking is already a problem. Residential units should be built outside of the downtown area.

Downtown Menlo Park's unique mix of businesses is not to be found anywhere else in the Bay Area, and the ability to park is crucial in keeping it vital. Going forward with the proposal to declare the parking lots as surplus land to develop 8 to 10 story buildings with no parking would be the death knell for the downtown area. It's also not necessary, given the options the city has refused to consider.