To all Members of the Menlo Park City Council (copies to Menlo Park Park and Recreation Commission members):
Re: the proposed all-abilities playground in Flood Park: The walking pathways and playground are the main amenities in Flood Park that are used every day by all ages and are important assets to the communities surrounding the park as well as to those farther away. According to the SMCo. Reimagine Flood Park Plan 2020, they will be demolished in Phase I which will begin in 2022. The new pathways will be built in Phase I, but the new all-abilities playground is listed for Phase II and who knows when that will begin? The SMCo Parks Dept. has said that additional funding may be needed for the new playground, thus delaying its construction.
I read in InMenlo that the Menlo Park budget will be addressed at the June 1st City Council meeting and that input from residents will be considered. (See phases I, II, and III attached.)I live adjacent to Flood Park and I know that all day every day of the week people come from nearby neighborhoods, often walking, with strollers and children - parents, grandparents, and nannies. Having no local playground will be a big hardship. Since Flood Park is entirely within the city limits of Menlo Park and serves many Menlo Park residents, I think that it would be appropriate to consider offering some funding to the SMCo Parks Dept. specifically to help design and build the new playground and, hopefully, to advance its construction to Phase I. I hope this will be considered in the discussions regarding our city budget allocations.
Re: Invitation:Flood Park Tree Advocates 2021, a local ad hoc group, launched the following petition on April 19th that now has 350 signatures. The petition states: "The San Mateo County Parks Department's Landscape Plan 2020 preserves 92% of the trees in Flood Park. Among the remaining 8% (72 trees) planned for removal in Flood Park to build new amenities, over half are healthy native trees of various sizes, many quite old and large. We, the undersigned, value these trees for their beauty, their importance in the ecosystem of the park, and their role in combating global warming. We request that new amenities be built under and around native trees, and that the reason for each of the 72 trees slated for removal be published on the SMC Reimagine Flood Park website prior to the first public input meeting." To sign, go to:https://www.change.org/SaveFloodParkTrees. We will host our 5th information meeting on June 6, 4:00, at the cement checkerboard tables in front of the central adobe building followed by a walk in the park to identify trees slated for removal. We hope you can come, but if you can't, the attached map by Kenneth Lajoie will enable you to identify the oaks slated for removal. For more information, email floodparktrees@gmail.com.
Note: The 4/23/21 article in the Almanac stated that our group is opposed to Plan 2020 for Flood Park which is not true. Our purpose is to inform the public of which trees are planned to be removed and our goal is to save as many of them as possible, especially large oaks, by tweaking the design a bit.
Thank you,
Alice Newton
Menlo Park homeowner since 1987
