US Bows to Menlo Land Plea

United States Geological Survey will not oppose Menlo Park’s street right-of-way through its property, the city council learned this week.

In a letter forwarded to the council by the American Municipal Association, the U.S.G.S. said that it does not oppose the extension of Burgess drive to Middlefield road, which would in effect separate the main section of its property from the newly acquired five-acre site to the north. The city has held this right-of-way since the conception of the "master" plan.

The letter added that the survey has no intentions of abandoning its plans for the development of the five acres and that although the city would be deprived of this taxable land it believed the more than $5 million which the Survey would put into the area in salaries each year would more than compensate for the loss.

In another letter from the General Service Administration forwarded by Congressman J. Arthur Younger, the council learned that the GSA would be agreeable to an exchange of land sites for the proposed National Guard Armory.

The federal government originally reserved the five acre parcel on the corner of Ravenswood and Middlefield road for the Guard.

The city has recently discussed the possibility of other sites with local Guard officers who have indicated a willingness to accept another site. If an exchange is made, the GSA indicated it would dispose of the land originally reserved for the armory.

Other letters read to the council by Assistant City Manager John R. Johnson revealed that the Department of the Interior, as well as the GSA and U.S.G.S. is aware of Menlo Park’s stand on the issue and the city’s wishes have been given full consideration.

Mayor William R. Lawson said there seems to be "some hope of working this thing out.

Menlo Park Recorder
March 20, 1958

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