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. . . ., individuals who park on the streets from churches. This place of worship has been in constant use at its present location since 1950... we have endeavored to respect the - wishes of our neighbors to the extent that we can." Mr. Vassallo said the congregations had considered relocating, but it was still too expensive. He said they had data showing the cost of housing in that area had not gone down. He said the improvements to their properties were done by volunteers and they did not have large financial resources. Mr. Vassallo said this proposal was approved by Planning because it makes sense, it benefits the neighborhood. He asked that Council support this plan and treat this place of worship as it treated all others. In response to Councilman Claire's question regarding the precise reason the Hall wanted the parking lot, Mr. Vassallo said, "We have over the years heard the complaints about the fact we park on the street. We do have a parking lot. We made efforts to mitigate that problem, alleviate that problem. We purchased the lot next door in anticipation of being able to build a parking lot that would eliminate off-street parking. It will not completely eliminate it, because of some of the restrictions, but it will make a great impact. In fact for two of the three congregations it will completely eliminate it. For the one congregation which is a little larger, we will be very close with the four parking spaces in front of the two pieces of property we own." - Philip Yackel, 834 Bay View Way, Redwood City, said this Hall was not a regional Kingdom Hall as asserted earlier. Mr. Yackel said, "We have congregations in Belmont, we have them in Foster City, we have them in Menlo Park, Palo Alto and we have another one on Second A venue in Redwood City.... This is a local congregation. Our boundaries are from a portion of San Carlos to Woodside Road.... If their fear is that we are going to be bringing people as some churches do, from miles around... that is not so." Mr. Yackel said it is absolutely false that they intend to tear down their residence. He said they are not a conspiring group of cultists. Mr. Yackel said the purpose of buying that property, "was for a parking lot. We had no intention of tearing that house down. We are paying taxes on that house as any good local citizens do. The purpose was to alleviate the congestion. We agree with the neighbors. It is a congested area." Mr. Yackel said he had been with the congregation since 1950 and he agreed the traffic problem has worsened over the years. He said they do think of their neighbors, "We wouldn't have spent all that money, hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy that property if we hadn't been interested in our neighbors welfare. Common sense would dictate, that wouldn't it be far better to have a beautiful landscaped parking lot that contained 29 automobiles than have them spread out in the street? I can't understand why the neighbors want the parking lot turned down. It just doesn't make sense to me." Mr. Yackel thanked Mayor Hartnett for his comments of a year and half ago and said, "We have been there, we have been good citizens. We have '-- been there long before most of the neighbors and will be there long after they move away. They have to learn to live with us.... We want to be good neighbors..... We REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING M1NlI'l't: HOOK NO. ~~ ruNE 2, 1997 MINUTES Page No. 375 PAGE 19