Why a Citizens’ Initiative?
Menlo Park’s city leaders claim these parking lots are “underutilized.”
Drone footage of parking Lots 1, 2 and 3, going from El Camino to University Dr. on June 5, 2025 (2x speed)
They plan to declare the lots “surplus land” and lease them to housing developers for a dollar a year.
Drone footage of parking Lots 1, 2 and 3, going from University Dr. to El Camino on June 5, 2025 (3x speed)
They’d squeeze a minimum of 345 apartments on the 3 parking lots. The buildings could be up to 10 stories tall.
There have been no studies to assess the potential impact on traffic congestion or fire saftey.
The housing developers say the public parking spaces will either be relocated to a large parking garage or would be shared with residents using a validation system.
And as for providing additional parking for residents, the proposals call for only 1/2 space per unit. So hundreds of residents will be competing with customers for the public spaces.
Parking Lot 3 as seen from the current link on Google Earth
Our downtown serves tens of thousands of customers who drive from miles away. If it’s difficult to park, they will go elsewhere. Our downtown businesses would not survive.
Parking Lot 3 as seen KPIX story.
The loss of businesses would mean fewer jobs and less sales tax revenue. The loss of a vibrant business district and community hub would mean decreased property values throughout Menlo Park.
(The current vacancies are not due to a lack of people. They are because of overly restrictive retail-only zoning along Santa Cruz Ave. If the City would just loosen the zoning to include personal services, like fitness studios, then the vacancies would be filled immediately.)
And yet the plans to put housing in the parking lots keep moving forward - despite overwhelming opposition from the people of Menlo Park and surrounding communities.
This decision is too important, and too irreversible, to be left in the hands of a 3 person majority of the City Council.
And so we are launching a Citizens’ Initiative. If passed, any change in use of the downtown parking lots would have to first be approved by Menlo Park voters.
The initiative applies only to the 8 publicly owned, downtown parking plazas.
It’s not about what. It’s about where. There are nearby locations that are much more suitable for housing, such as the 64-acre SRI site which is ready for redevelopment.
New housing should have access to the downtown without obstructing the downtown.
WE CAN DO BETTER.
And that is why we’re doing a Citizens’ Initiative.
And please make a small donation to the campaign to show your support.