Resources > Letters to the Editor

Your opinion counts, and the papers and other media want to know what you think. The letter below is excerpted from an actual published letter which appeared in the Daily News (8/10/04) and covers the most important points of our campaign. We urge you to put your thoughts into a letter and send it to your favorite local news and opinion outlet. If you'd like our help in contacting the media, please put YOUR contact information, along with the text of your letter into an email to: stopmarinashores@yahoo.com.

Dear Editor,

My objections (to the Marina Shores project) are based on these points:

The previous zoning allowed for low-rise buildings. The developer, who plans to build 17 towers of 200 feet didn't want to follow the zoning laws that apply to you and me. He went to the Planning Commission and the City Council to get major zoning changes that an individual business owner or homeowner could never get.

I object to the fact that he plans to fill in 10 acres of the Bay.

How the Marina Shores project looks has nothing to do with the amount of water the project will use. Redwood City already uses 10 percent more than it is allotted. At a cost of $40 million, Redwood City is putting in a recycled water system. Now there will be enough water so the City council approved the Marina Shores project. Is the developer paying most of the $40 million? No. The people who use Redwood City water are. And council is raising our rates.

How the project looks has nothing to do with the increase in traffic, the cost of widening Highway 101 at Whipple Avenue and the cost of putting in another access road. Is the developer paying for this? No. We the taxpayers are paying for most of it.

A developer should be able to develop his own property if he follows the same rules as the rest of us and if he pays for the entire project himself.

M. Parkhurst
Redwood City