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Should Menlo Park build housing on three of its eight city-owned downtown parking lots? For more than a year, that’s the question that has sparked a spirited debate among residents, mobilized its downtown business district and launched a ballot initiative: Measure P in the Nov. 3 general election. The Almanac invited members of Save Downtown Menlo, the group backing Measure P, and the No on Measure P campaign to make their cases to our readers.
This is the Pro argument from Van Kouzoujian of Save Downtown Menlo. Read the Con argument by the League of Women Voters here.
For more than four decades, I have been proud to call Menlo Park home. One of the things that has always distinguished our community is the commitment of residents, merchants and property owners who care deeply about keeping our downtown welcoming, accessible, and economically vibrant.
Measure P is a reflection of that commitment.
As a member of the Yes on P campaign, I’ve been part of discussions about what “P” should stand for: Parking? Protection? People?
But it takes more than one word to say what Measure P stands for. It takes two.
Measure P stands for Menlo Park. It’s about our downtown, and it’s about finding ways to meet our housing goals that bolster our community rather than undermine it. Measure P allows us to make a once-in-a-generation decision together as a community, rather than leaving it to City Council members who typically serve just one or two terms.
Menlo Park has demonstrated its commitment to housing. Since 2010, we’ve added more than 1,400 homes — an 11% increase in our housing stock, outpacing the countywide growth of 8%.
And we’re continuing that trend, especially near downtown. The City’s July 2026 Housing Update shows that developers are proposing roughly 1,750 homes on the former SRI and USGS sites — about 1,250 more than were anticipated when the Housing Element was prepared. This new housing would be spread over roughly 80 acres, near transit, Burgess Park, the library and downtown.
So is it really necessary to squeeze high-rises onto the downtown plazas – especially when the developers’ proposals have shown major funding gaps for replacing the lost public parking, while providing very limited parking for the new residents?
Using the downtown plazas for housing was not a requirement – it was a choice. We can correct course by amending our Housing Element, as San Mateo recently did. In fact, City Council candidate Laura Melahn has already drafted an amendment which demonstrates how Menlo Park can meet its housing goals without relying on the downtown plazas.
Measure P gives the people of Menlo Park a choice.
So, what exactly does Measure P do?
Measure P would require voter approval before the city can sell, lease, convey, designate as surplus, or permanently change the use of any of eight downtown parking plazas in a way that diminishes parking availability, access or convenience. It does not prohibit development — but if the city wants to change the use of the plazas which have served us for generations, we get to vote on it.
Equally important is what Measure P does not do. Contrary to what you may have heard, it does not require a vote for maintenance or parking-related improvements like EV chargers or even a parking structure.
Nor does it apply anywhere other than the eight downtown plazas — a mere 9 acres of public land in the middle of our town. Nothing could be more local than Measure P. Yet outside politicians and interest groups are coming out to oppose it. This saddens me, because they neither understand our town, nor are they looking out for it. Other agendas seem to be at play.
Those of us who live in Menlo Park can see that our downtown is in a full-swing recovery, with lots of people shopping and strolling, and with vacancies being quickly filled since the zoning on Santa Cruz Avenue was loosened in July. But we also know that small businesses would not survive five years of the downtown being a high-rise construction zone. Council’s reckless plan would devastate the downtown that we all share and love, just as it was coming to life.
That is why I support Measure P. Our downtown is for all of us — and we should all have a say. Vote Yes on Measure P.
Van Kouzoujian is a Menlo Park resident, a graduate of Menlo-Atherton High School and USC, works in high tech, and is a co-proponent of Measure P.
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What a great article! It captures the love of our downtown community so many of us share–a community and shopping district worth protecting and preserving. After all, it’s the heart of Menlo Park!
C’mon, it’s not a “once-in-a-generation” decision when we just held a ballot initiative vote on this exact same issue (led by the exact same supporters) on developing the downtown parking lots back in 2014 with Measure M. The outcome: it failed. I looked online and not a single current Menlo Park commissioner or city council member has come out in favor of Measure P while dozens of them (who all live in Menlo Park) have supported the No campaign, including Mr. Combs. At least Measure M had contemporary Menlo Park city councilmembers and planning commissioners on board at the time. No such luck this time for Measure P.
Let’s not fight the last war. Passing Measure P would decertify our housing element and put Russian oligarch towers in our beloved downtown.
If you love our downtown, why would you want it destroyed by 5 years of heavy construction with attendant high-decibel noise and airborne toxic particulate matter, and most, if not all, of our small businesses leaving?
Because I don’t want it destroyed by 10 years of heavy construction on Manhattan-sized skyscrapers when Measure P forces the state to overrule our zoning laws.
The Measure M folks fought at the right time to counter the downtown parking lot plan, which was 2014. The battle was lost and trying to fight it now will cost our poor city millions that we taxpayers have to cover. If Measure P wins, Attorney General Bonta will look at Menlo Park and make that 80 Willow Road project look like a bed and breakfast. Besides, this fight will come around again in 2031 for the new housing element cycle.