Downtown Developments—What’s Next?

Will the City push forward with the proposed , pocket parks and sidewalk widening?

We’re hoping that the Staff and Council will proceed with caution.  Removing any parking spaces in the Downtown without having replacement parking will hurt our local businesses – not help them.

The City of Los Altos recently made some changes to its downtown and learned about the effects of reducing parking the hard way.

They caused a reduction in available parking in their downtown by widening sidewalks and other “improvements”.   They also allowed two 3-story buildings to be constructed.   A professional survey recently revealed that the roughly 1/3 of residents polled, who indicated that they were not even somewhat satisfied with their downtown, said that the lack of store variety and difficult parking were to blame for their unhappiness.

Now, two Los Altos council members are pushing to limit buildings in the heart of the downtown to a maximum of 2 stories.   A recent proposal by Passerelle Investment Co., which wants to create a gathering space for outdoor dining, including seating, dining tables, etc. on two of the downtown plazas, is being viewed with skepticism by the Assistant City Manager, James Walgren.   Walgren says “we won’t consider the proposals unless an equal amount of public parking is given back.”

Menlo Park’s , pocket parks, Market Place/Paseo are also intended as “gathering spaces.”  Is this beginning to sound familiar?   What benefits will be gained if parking for our restaurants, service and retail businesses, as well as the , is eliminated where it is most needed?

In any case, on Tuesday, July 31, the Menlo Park City Manager, Alex McIntyre, will report back to the City Council with a mission statement for the Downtown Task Force.   The City Council agreed at the final meeting on to create a task force to help advise and make recommendations for the phasing and implementation of the “trials.”  Some representation of the business community will be included in the membership of the Downtown Task Force.

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