Menlo Park to Develop Parking Lots Into Housing

Three parking lots in downtown Menlo Park, California, will be developed into affordable housing, according to an article from the Palo Alto Daily Post.

The article notes that the plan is only a “vague outline” to develop between one and three of the lots, but details remain unclear. Officials in the Silicon Valley community plan to issue a Request for Qualifications to solicit proposals. “The council opted not to declare the parking lots as surplus land, which would have made it easier for the city to hand off one of the parking lots to a developer.”

Opponents of the plan say reducing parking will further harm the already struggling commercial area (though any existing decline points to causes other than a lack of parking). “The developers’ proposals are expected to come back to council to review in the spring, said city Principal Planner Tom Smith.”