Please take their advice and Vote No On Measure T
Visit
www.FactsNotHype.org
for more information
Morris Brown
------------------
(copy of letter)
Former Officials Urge "No" on T
Dear Neighbor,
As former Menlo Park mayors and Fire District Board members, we urge Menlo Park voters to withhold approval for the Bohannon office/hotel project and vote No on Measure T.
For these reasons we question whether the current approvals are in the long-term best interests of Menlo Park.
Some of us believe the approvals shortchanged other impacted agencies, such as the fire district and school districts, of fair fees and reimbursements.
Some of us believe the project is too large and should be reduced in size to one of the less impactful alternatives studied in the EIR. This could eliminate traffic impacts and allow nearby property owners to develop their properties as well.
Some of us believe that the project mix needs to be changed. There should be housing with jobs, and tenants should be technology companies that produce sales tax; otherwise, developers should
pay a sales-in-lieu fee to compensate the city for rezoning areas currently zoned to encourage sales tax.
We also question the citys planning practices. Why did council stop its scheduled plan for this area to approve a project that cannot be built until many years after the scheduled planning process can be finished? We fear this council rushed to make a decision that should be made by a future generation of leaders after better planning.
For voters rightly concerned about potential loss of project opportunities we point to the recently opened Rosewood Hotel on Sand Hill Road. Before proposing that hotel, Stanford proposed a larger Westin hotel that was correctly rejected by Menlo Park. We urge voters to reject the proposed Bohannon Project approvals with the same understanding.
Menlo Park voters are reasonable. They have always embraced truly sustainable development projects that benefit the city financially. This one does not yet rise to that level.
Sincerely,
/s/ Mary Jo Borak, Former Mayor
/s/ Peter Carpenter, Former Fire District Board Member
/s/ Andy Cohen, Council Member and Former Mayor
/s/ Paul Collacchi, Former Mayor
/s/ Calvin Jones, Former Mayor
/s/ Jack Morris, Former Mayor
