Dear Members of the Menlo Park City Council,

My wife, Michele and I are one of the applicants for the plan line abandonment at 337/345 Willow Road (Staff Report #07-184). We are writing to you because of the frustrating experience we have gone through with this process. While we understand that the City Council is just a part of the overall process we feel it is important to share our experience with this body so that you may better understand how homeowners/residents of this City can come forth in good faith to participate in a process and still end up in the unenviable position we find ourselves in today. The issues raised in this email have already been sent to the Director of Public Works and is also being copied to the City Manager and other City government employees in hopes that someone in Menlo Park can intervene and assist us to resolve the problems that we have encountered. In August of 2007 we submitted this application requesting the abandonment of the Plan Line at our home because we are preparing to demolish the house and replace it with a new pre-fab modular "green" residence. The house is a Sunset Breezehouse which received a great deal of fanfare in our City back in May of 2005 at the Sunset Celebration Weekend. We made the abandonment request because we wanted to place our garage setback from the front property line so that it would act as a buffer to Willow Road traffic noise. Also to allow for the creation of a useable backyard, which on Willow Road is the only way our children can safely play within view. Our property is less than a quarter acre and the proposed home is the same size as the existing structure. Back in August it seemed to be very simple as to what we were going to be encountering. At the time we submitted this application, we were told that the process would take 2 to 4 months to complete; that Engineering will be recommending that the request be granted; that the request had precedence for our street and that it would be a simple consent item on the City Council agenda. This was 9 months in advance of starting demolition. Unfortunately, it has been anything but what we were told to expect. As you know, this body in early November of 2007 had asked that further information be provided, and while a couple members of the Council had noted at the session that they are inclined to grant our request, the resolution was to proceed with a continuation on the matter. We wish to make it clear that we don't have an issue with the Council requesting additional information as it is your duty to see that things have been thoroughly addressed. We do have issue with how terribly long it took for this information to be prepared so that our application can be put back on the Council Agenda. We have only one window of opportunity from a logistics and financial standpoint for this project: to be completed by the end of this summer with the truck delivery date of the modular house set in stone. We understand that Council may not be obliged to take into account such circumstances, but we would like to think that real-world situations for Menlo Park's residents do matter to some extent when this Council is involved. We proceeded with our project after being informed that the item would likely be back on Council's agenda in late January; well in advance of our project start date. Instead, we received one delay notification after another. A target for March 26th was also set, resulting in yet another delay because Engineering decided to perform additional studies even though they were prepared to recommend that the request be granted. We ultimately have gone through so many delays that apparently it is now extremely difficult if not impossible to get our application fully processed and approved before the setting of our foundation and underground utilities, which will occur in early June. Even if we obtain Council approval, the timing is such that we may still be forced to locate the home back from the plan line, leaving us with a very small backyard. As a practicing Architect/Planner for over 20 years, I understand what's involved in these types of studies, and yet I find it hard to believe that it had to take this long and that our pleas to address our project schedule could not be reviewed by Engineering so as to explore any means to expedite. It has been extremely frustrating and nerve-wracking knowing that we were so diligent in submitting 9 months in advance; paying $5,000 and waiting through all these additional studies. The Engineering staff has always maintained a favorable position of recommending our request, yet our window of opportunity has been vanishing. We understand that we are on the agenda for May 20th and that even if Council approves the abandonment, a 3 month process is required to complete the request, which again effectively forces us to miss our opportunity to create a residence with a viable backyard. We are asking the Council, Planning Commission, Building and Engineering Departments to make an effort to propose and provide any means by which the process can be expedited. If Council approves the request on May 20th, one solution we suggest would be to continue with the subsequent 3 month process if the City can allow the Building and Engineering Departments' to conduct their field inspections with the setback of the residence taken from the property line. We have no doubt that the nature of our application is rather straightforward from the standpoint of those who will review the request after Council's vote. From the Planning Commission to the various other agencies...this request is truly straightforward. We are not asking for a variance, or that utilities or a sidewalk be re-routed. We are asking for what several other properties on this street have already been granted! We ask that you please give this matter special consideration and attention. Michele and I along with our neighbors would like to think that City Government is not an immobile monolith incapable of adopting modifications to bureaucratic processes when those processes don't consistently address the residents' needs.

Sincerely Yours,
José Cotto & Michele Chadwick
337 Willow Road
650-428-2506
jose@casarch.com Received on Thu May 1 16:04:28 2008