Hello Menlo Park City Council,
My name is Cade Cannedy and I am the Director of Programs with Climate Resilient Communities, an environmental justice organization working with the Belle Haven neighborhood to implement tangible, community-led solutions to climate hazards.
CRC worked with more than 1800 Belle Haven residents to develop a list of priorities to address environmental injustices in the city, culminating in the creation and unanimous adoption of the Citys first Environmental Justice Element of its general plan. Throughout the process, a clear priority on safe, sanitary, and stable housing emerged, with residents voicing the need for truly affordable housing options distributed throughout the city.
The downtown parking lots are an immediate way for the city to produce the deeply affordable housing the market is unable to provide and the city should not miss this chance to provide the homes our community desperately needs. Maximizing the number of affordable units should be the top priority in this process and would be most consistent with Policy EJ5.2, EJ5.3, and Program EJ5.G in the Environmental Justice Element of the General Plan.
The lack of affordable housing in Menlo Park is the top priority of many Belle Haven residents who face a greater risk of displacement with each day of delay. Lets continue to treat this issue as the crisis it is and move forward deliberately and with a sense of urgency.
Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Cade Cannedy
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Cade Cannedy
Director of Programs
Climate Resilient Communities
3921 East Bayshore Road, Palo Alto, CA 94303-4303
https://www.climatercommunities.org/
575-776-7667
