The City's only obligation regarding an exit driveway is to guarantee ingress/egress to one's property. 1825 Santa Cruz Ave has had its driveway entrance/exit on Santa Cruz Ave. since being built in 1950. So what's changed?
Mr. Sinnott and Mr.Voskerician claim creating a new driveway that exits across the public right-of way on Louise St. would be safer than the existing one on Santa Cruz Ave.
What they don't infer in their counterargument, is that it also would increase the value of their 1825 Santa Cruz Ave. property. In addition, their safety inference essentially says the other 100+ residents that share Santa Cruz Ave. addresses are unsafe - yet we know that real estate values on homes with Santa Cruz Ave. addresses reflect being on a street that is considered a main artery in Menlo Park.
General Plan or not, it seems the residents on Louise Street should win out over developers.

Upon purchase of the property, Mr. Sinnott and his co-investor had a historical permit to have a driveway that already existed, even though it was used infrequently, on Louise Street. The Louise Street neighbors enjoyed free parking (no parking tickets!) for many years on the area in question. Too bad Menlo Park can't bill these folks retroactively, as parking tickets would have raised a considerable amount of money for the city. It seems like these neighbors want to keep their street parking area. Sam Sinnott and his family have served Menlo Park for decades, and has always stood up for the best interests of Menlo Park. The Louise Street neighbors should be thankful that Sam is the builder and not someone else, who would have finished the driveway and landscaping long ago! Check out San Mateo Drive if you want to see what developers do without asking anyone!

Menlo Park should not be giving public land away to private land owners for free. The city should consider leasing the land for private use to generate revenue. Even selling the land with a minimum purchase price to a highest bidder is more preferable than giving it away for free.

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