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Menlo Park’s last auto dealership — Stanford Lincoln Mercury at 444 El Camino Real — will close on June 30, owner Robert Kopf announced late Thursday.
It is the city’s fourth auto dealership to close in the last two-and-a-half years, leaving another potential eyesore along El Camino Real. Other El Camino Real dealerships that have closed include University Ford, Cadillac Buick Pontiac GMC, and Anderson Chevrolet.
Lease and business conditions made it “impractical to maintain a single line dealership,” Mr. Kopf said in a press release.
With the closing of Stanford Lincoln Mercury, the city will garner no sales tax revenue from auto sales, but that would change if General Motors’ plans to build an auto mall at the intersection of Willow Road and Bayfront Expressway go as planned.
GM finalized the purchase of a 22-acre site from Tyco Electronics earlier this year, and GM spokespeople say they hope to sell GM brand cars on 8.5 acres of the site by late 2008 or early 2009.
Other auto dealerships or retail uses would fill the remaining 13.5 acres.
Under the auto mall proposal — which still needs environmental studies, traffic studies, and City Council approval — the city and GM would evenly split the city’s sales tax revenues generated from GM auto sales at the site. First-year revenues are estimated at $750,000 for the city.
The split would last 15 years or until GM’s share reaches $10 million.
The city would not share sales tax revenue with any non-GM dealership and other retailers.
Now that there are less than 7 years remaining on these Stanford ground leases, maybe Stanford would cut a deal like at Mayfield (PageMill/ECR) by building an artificial turf soccer field (useful life 7 years) while negotiating with Menlo Park for future high density mixed use entitlements when it’s redeveloped. Or maybe Menlo could claim “blighted” area status and use redevelopment agency eminent domain power threat to force the issue? Any council members without conflicts of interest @ Stanford, ( Fergusson, Robinson, Boyle are out) willing to take a shot on goal?
Can the city FINALLY decide that El Camino is blighted and somehow declare it to be a redevelopment area? That might help get some things done in a concerted manner.
Or can the city at least require the property owners to trim the weeds?
Our main street is an absolute disgrace. The old council did nothing, even declined to plan when staff recommended doing so, and the new one seems to be dithering itself to death before starting to plan. We need action.
The current council has really failed to get started on this effectively. They seem bogged down in excessive concern with building consensus. Although apparently there might have been a broad outline of what should be done by now, nothing has really even gotten started. City staff did not get adequate direction, and so here we are. At the last council meeting it was decided to not even start until the very end of August.
Stanford is determined to put medical office in many spots, a total loser to our city, but of great benefit to Stanford. By the time our council gets a plan together, now seeming to be at least another 18 months, the whole El Camino section of town will be under development.
Our pro development Mayor, can’t say no to any project. As more and more projects come forward, they will be approved before a plan is even in place.
Of course now, we must spend all of our effort on being Green, which is going to be our salvation.
None of us should be happy with this council.
San Carlos has an Economic Development Plan; Menlo Park doesn’t.
A copy is available at:
http://www.ci.san-carlos.ca.us/gov/depts/econ_dev/default.asp