Hello MP City Council,
We are house owners in Linfield Oaks and have lived in Menlo Park for 25 years. We are writing to advocate for a full-size playing field to be included as part of the SRI development, as well as other dedicated city amenities.
Our children play soccer, baseball, and pickleball and often have to split practice space with multiple other teams. We have to drive 20-30 minutes to fields and courts in Portola Valley and Palo Alto because there is not enough space in Menlo Park. Furthermore, when our kids go to Burgess on their own to play soccer or whiffle ball, they get bumped off to a small corner by people holding private events, organizations teaching sports, or simply other groups already playing on the field. There is simply not enough field space in Menlo Park as it is currently. Imagine how cramped Burgess will be with 800 more families in the neighborhood!
With the increased density of the SRI development, there will be more traffic and more children. We need full fields in Menlo Park (full-size for 11v11 soccer, turf for all-weather play, with lights so that kids can play in the evening). Adding lights to the field at Burgess would also extend the usable hours for that grass field.
Further, we want Menlo Park residents to receive more than just housing out of the SRI 60-acre development. Our understanding is that other major development agreements have included $100M+ in new city amenities. With the increase to housing density and traffic, we should increase the walkable and bikeable things to do within Menlo Park! We need to add community amenities into SRI in addition to housing. Please advocate on behalf of Menlo Park residents and ensure the quality of living does not decrease!
Thank you,
The Bonecchi Family
