Marissa Mayer, the former Yahoo CEO, made a pitch Monday to a Northern California city council to transform a local mortuary into a private club for working women and families. But her idea drew mixed reactions, reports said.
Mayer, 43, bought the former Roller & Hapgood & Tinney funeral home -- the oldest mortuary in Palo Alto -- five years ago, the East Bay Times reported. Now she is seeking to convert it into "The Corner House," a club that would offer programs "of interest to mothers, children and families," according to city records.
The working mother of three children has requested a zoning change to allow her to create collaborative workspaces, a play area, a cafeteria and a gym, among other amenities, in a space where families previously mourned loved ones, Palo Alto Online reported.
Her proposal to the city described her proposed center as "a vibrant welcoming space for traditional and non-traditional professionals to collaborate, work, learn, find support, build comunity, and spend time with their families, friends, and neighbors," the city records said.
Around two dozen residents addresed the Palo Alto City Council to voice their thoughts, the local paper reported.
Supporters of Mayer's proposal included female entrepreneurs, the report said.
"If we had one local community center where I can both do my work and at the very same time, my children can do their enrichment opportunities each week, in return we'd have extra time each day in being present and doing what's most important in our lives -- being with our family," said Nicole Pollock, a former Google employee, according to Palo Alto Online.
Coral Chung told the city council that being an entrepreneur is "not glamorous and full of parties every day," the paper reported.
"I feel like there are no community centers or options for me as a young mother with a 5-year-old to go and have support -- and to potentially nurse, if I have a new baby," she said.
"I feel like there are no community centers or options for me as a young mother with a 5-year-old to go and have support -- and to potentially nurse, if I have a new baby."
Residents who opposed Mayer's project said Palo Alto's "severe parking shortage" would get worse with the private club.
"This is a neighborhood already fighting for parking spaces," Peter Steinhart, a resident, told Palo Alto Online. "There are signs on Middlefield now warning Addison School neighbors not to park here and block driveways."
Mayer said the traffic impacts of "The Corner House" would be lower than when the funeral home was in operation, but some residents disagreed, the report said.
"If allowed, it would reduce the stock for affordable housing while massively increasing the demand for traffic and parking in surrounding neighborhoods," Tom Mees, another resident, told the paper.
Mayer, who left Yahoo last year with a $23 million golden parachute, has to convince the council to approve a "planned community" zone, which is a significant hurdle, according to Palo Alto Online. She would need to make the case that "public benefits" outweigh the negative effects.
Palo Alto is about 35 miles south of San Francisco.
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