Tuesday: Facebook's 'Willow Village' gets closer look

There is still time for residents to write to the Council to share your thoughts about this new development. city.council@menlopark.org

Here is the Staff Report for your review
Web Link

Does the Facebook sales of advertising generate sales tax revenue for the city?

Why oh why has Facebook renamed its new monster development “Willows Village” ???
Go find your own name and stop attempting legitimacy by adopting a name that is already established as a distinct neighborhood.
Facebook Village works and is more honest

What is KK doing abroad that is more important than the future of Menlo Park?

This November voters should reject Kirsten Keith and remove her from the City Council.

Last year an editorial in Palo Alto said it best: 

"Menlo Park city officials, including Mayor Kirsten Keith, who express delight at Facebook's proposal and explain this is just what the city had in mind when it approved its new general plan last year, do a disservice to their constituents and to the region."

Web Link

Now Kirsten is skipping City Council meetings on the very same Facebook proposal!

The residents in her district in the Willows, Suburban Park, Flood Park and Lorelei Manor deserve better.

@ Susannah "Does the Facebook sales of advertising generate sales tax revenue for the city?"
No it does not. Services do not generate sales tax. This means that Menlo Park's biggest employer does not pay sales tax revenue. Neither do the realtors or the Venture Capitalists or nonprofits like Stanford (unless the use is for commercial profit).

By my crude estimate, this project will cost upwards of $2 billion. Menlo Park development fees (lots of categories for these!) will be in the tens of millions. Sequoia Union HS District will collect at least $7,500,000 before FB can pull a building permit.

No discussion of the impacts of this project can be well-informed without some estimates of all of the fees FB will pay for the project, to help offset increased community costs. I hope the presentation will address these.

Thank you @The_Willows_Deserves_Better for linking to that Palo Alto Weekly article. It links to a Guardian article (Web Link which links to a Keith tweet (Web Link where Keith describes the peninsula housing crisis and the need for mitigation of traffic concerns. The "delight" described by the Weekly may not by an accurate representation.

Fees, by state law, must have a nexus with related costs. So any fees are essentially reimbursing the city for new costs incurred. If DR or anyone else wsnts to count fees as revenue, Only do it after deducting the directly related costs. Oh, and that makes it zero net revenue at best.

Never confuse these fees with “real” revenue to the city General Fund that results from sales or hotel taxes.