For more than a year Menlo Park photographer Mark Tuschman interviewed and photographed over 100 immigrants spanning the entire spectrum: from the undocumented, to those seeking asylum, to DACA recipients, and finally, to those with full citizenship. The photo survey spans immigrant communiti, and includes people of all skills, from those doing manual labor to those highly skilled in medicine, law, and hi-tech.
The exhibit - at ArtVenture Gallery on Santa Cruz Avenue,is Thursday May 16 7-9 pm, Friday May 17 7-9 pm, Saturday May 18 5-7pm. Mark will be on site May 16, 17 and 18.
No on AB 50
The local consensus is that giving the state power to override locally elected officials local zoning is a bad idea. It isn’t only the zoning proposed today – it also, if I’m not mistaken, gives the future modifications of zoning and density away from localities. Tonight the Menlo Park, Palo Alto and East Palo Alto Councils are meeting jointly to arrive are a concerted approach.
State senate bill SB50 trumps local zoning within a ½ mile radius of train and bus centers to encourage higher density housing. Menlo Park’s Linfield Oaks neighborhood gets a double shot of density latte as we are situated with ½ mile of Palo Alto’s transit center in addition to Menlo Park’s train stop.
No on Cuckoos Nest’s Outdoor Patio Events
Once again Boot Up Ventures seeks a use permit for catering and amplified sound in their outdoor patio. The patio faces not only Willow Road, but also Palo Alto houses across the creek. This was traversed and declaimed during their original office use permit. The use is incompatible with a neighborhood.
We have a history of intrusion into quiet neighborhoods. For years the former Sunset Magazine sequestered Willow Road itself for a weekend each year. Private Use of a Public Facility (Willow Road). The neighbors originally tolerated. However the thrill of free tickets wore off over time, and the event became more a nuisance than benefit.
There was another example of adapting party uses in q quiet neighborhood. Allied Arts Guild center on Arbor Drive has restaurant services whose proceeds help support their charitable mission. I was Chair of the Planning Commission at the time. We agonized over how to protect a good resource for Menlo Park, and at the same protect a neighborhood known for its tranquility. This was the most contentious zoning effort I’ve seen, and it strained friendships. But the basic rule we wanted to preserve was the ability of residents to have quiet weekends.
Our work went on for months – with no consensus. One night a representative of the Women’s Auxiliary (who operated Allied Arts Guild) rose and asked, “why don’t you guys just turn this down so that we can appeal to the council.” Whereupon I asked, “Is there a motion?” So moved; seconded; voting passed. We exhaled. An unhappy process and denouement.
