To protect affordable housing in Menlo Park, Greenbelt Alliance urges voters to say NO on Measure P, the Downtown Parking Plazas Ordinance. We join a strong coalition of advocates that support more homes in the City’s downtown.
As part of California’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation process (learn more here), Menlo Park decided in its Housing Element (a state-mandated housing plan) to prioritize converting three downtown surface parking lots into affordable housing by partnering with nonprofit affordable housing developers, something that Greenbelt Alliance supported and advocated for with many partner organizations. Additional parking would then be added in a new parking structure to ensure adequate supply. However, some downtown businesses and residents are opposed to this plan and have gathered signatures to place a referendum on the ballot that would require a citywide vote for any changes to parking lots, preventing affordable housing from being built at a time when Menlo Park needs to prioritize it.
If Measure P were to win at the ballot box, it would knock the city out of compliance with state regulations and open Menlo Park up to numerous financial and other penalties, including the Builder’s Remedy, which nullifies local laws around height and density.
Learn more about the campaign here.
Why It Matters
Like many cities across the Bay Area, Menlo Park has a severe housing shortage, particularly when it comes to affordable homes for lower-income families. This has been the case for many years, but significant job growth in the tech sector over the last decade has caused prices to skyrocket, both regionally and locally.
The extreme housing shortage also impacts the climate and environment. Because job and housing growth has not been balanced, thousands of people commute into Menlo Park every day, spending hours in their cars driving many miles to get there. To reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and greenhouse gas emissions, Menlo Park and other cities like it on the peninsula and the western half of the Bay Area must seriously commit to building affordable housing, particularly near transit and in their downtowns.
Menlo Park should simply make good on its promise to the state: recommit to building affordable housing on the downtown surface parking lots. Rejecting Measure P will benefit local families struggling with housing affordability, help ensure a thriving downtown by creating more customers for local businesses, and protect our climate and environment. Vote NO on Measure P.
