In 2000 the Menlo Park City Council tasked Safeway and the local neighborhood to work together to come up with a plan for a new store at Middle Ave and El Camino Real. The Safeway Working Group was formed and Safeway hired a mediator to facilitate the process. I have been an active member of the working group since its inception and leveraged my project and team management skills to enable "new ways of working together" in an effort to create a resolution acceptable to all participants.

Eight core Working Group Members, several alternates, and dozens of concerned residents, spent countless hours over the last 10 years in many Working Group, Sub-group, Neighborhood, and City meetings, and came up with a successful project plan and Conditions of Development (CoD) as endorsed to the City Council in 2005. Countless more hours were spent in addressing many issues including demolition, construction, and operations including, trash, pedestrian access, aggressive panhandling, and security. The culmination of all the meetings and discussion resulted in a Conditions of Development document, which I firmly believe is not being adhered to by either Safeway or the City.

I appealed the new use permit for Safeway (that would effectively increase the square footage of the retail stores by hundreds of square feet,) on grounds that they have not complied with their own Conditions of Development (CoD) in the following areas:

* Safeway Van Parking.  The City Planner negated the CoD by allowing Safeway to park the Safeway.com delivery vans in customer parking - the CoD calls for them to be parked there limited hours.  The City Planner should not change the CoD regarding parking until all the retail space is full for a holiday period, to understand potential impacts before changing CoD.
* On-site Banking:  CoD calls for on-site banking, currently there is only an ATM machine and the ability for employees to cash paychecks at the service desk.
* Safeway is two years in arrears on Transportation Demand Management Program reporting, and the current plan they submitted (Dec. '09) has no checks and balances, or employee surveys attached.
* CEQA Exemption.  California Environmental Quality Act.  Sometime in 2007 Safeway slipped in CEQA exemption into the project.  This is simply unacceptable and should be revoked.
* In addition I would like to see the addition of a "smoking area" and have all the store fronts be non-smoking.

I am not anti-development, I support outdoor seating for both Peet's and Rubio's.  And, while the above has little to do with outdoor seating, I simply want Safeway to keep the promises they made.

http://safewayphotos.blogspot.com/
http://moresafewayphotos.blogspot.com/

Starbucks on El Camino

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Hi Steve,

Thanks for your time on the phone this afternoon, sorry I had to rush off.

To follow up on our conversation, I made a quick stop by the Starbucks 3 doors down from Safeway to snap a photo showing how how they have ash cans and nice flowers/benches. Unfortunately, I noticed a methhead, complete with the itching/scratching of his bare arms walking into the Safeway parking lot only to get lost amongst the crowd while my eye was taken to a 'TV Tray, Ammo Can Clan" Solicitation Station outside the entry. AGAIN. This was set up there BUT, interestingly enough the person was not manning the table - where were they? They didn't
show up by the time I left about 10 minutes later.

I went in the store, the customer service line was very long, so I asked the Carmen (checker) to call Mgr. on Duty. At least five minutes later, Neil took one look at me and nearly went in the other direction, I showed him the deserted Solicitation Station and asked if anyone was 'on the schedule for today, and if they were could I find out the group." Neil informed me no group was on the calendar for today... I had to go, but he said he would take care of it.

The Ammo Can Clan, the disenfranchised youth, the kids hawking candy with no parent in sight, but most importantly aggressive, unsanctioned solicitation going on in front of the store and in the parking lot. Like I said, outdoor seating might help. I don't care so much if a Safeway employee is dealing drugs.
I care that Methheads are coming into MY neighborhood to buy drugs.

The associated activities - loitering, gang turf claiming, tweekers with pit bulls, itchy methheads, or people asking for 'cash donations' for a worthy cause, is just peachy too. This activity is like hanging out the 'drugs for sale' shingle. No one is watching the store; sidewalks need to be cleaned or steamed more often, carts need shagging, trash should be picked up, smoking discouraged. Big two hour only parking signs with lots of legal verbiage will just add to the strip mall look of the place - IMHO.

While I realize there has to be balance with corporate policy, someone from Safeway - be it corporate, district, local, or Menlo Park has to set a policy that can be implemented, followed, measured and matured.

Thanks again for your time.

Elizabeth
*Pictures attached - let me know if you'd like to see more...
Starbucks - three doors up from Safeway - nice landscaping and seating, no huge ashcans, lots of flowers
Aggressive solicitor following customer in blue shirt carrying groceries in both hands out to the parking lot from the exit.
Abandoned Ammo Can TV stand (and chair) - please note the dirty sidewalks and cart storage areas.