14.5-acre site gets City of San Mateo Planning Commission nod

The project seeks to redevelop the 14.5-acre Concar Shopping Center and surface parking on Concar Drive lot into a mix of homes — there are 880 market-rate units and 73 very-low income ones — 40,000 square feet of commercial space and 4.67 acres of publicly accessible open space.

The applicant also originally proposed 38 moderate-income units instead of market rate, but the council in June decided to forgo those units and instead redirect the $5.16 million that would’ve been used for them toward traffic improvements, including along the congested 19th Avenue/Fashion Island Boulevard corridor. The applicant is contributing a total of $7.5 million toward traffic improvements.

The council’s decision was made in response to concerns about increasing traffic congestion among the neighbors of the project site.

“We must keep our commitment to neighborhood residents and do everything we possibly can to mitigate new traffic impacts,” said Deputy Mayor Eric Rodriguez at the council’s June 29 meeting. “The [moderate] units will only be slightly more affordable than market rate and they’ll still get built.”

During Tuesday’s Planning Commission meeting, Housing Manager Sandy Council said moderate-income units have been “difficult to rent frankly for the past 10 years.”

“They’re not very useful now on the rental side,” she said.

Moderate-income housing is reserved for those earning 120% of area median income, which comes out to $120,200 a year for one person or $171,700 a year for a family of four. Very low-income units, on the other hand, are for those earning 50% of area median income, which is $60,900 for an individual or $87,000 for a family of four.

Commissioners did not agree with the council on the removal of the 38 moderate-income units and felt it should find a way to at least include some of them in the project.

“Our housing market needs more inventory. … [The City Council should] rethink what that would look like to add more moderate-income housing,” said Vice Chair Ramiro Maldonado.   

Maldonado said his only other concern with the project is the additional traffic it will bring, and noted the proposed traffic improvements won’t actually improve current circumstances.

“The improvements of the $7.5 million that the developer is putting into traffic enhancements — it’s not going to deter or lower the traffic congestion, but just maintain it at the current levels it is now,” he said.

Representing the Fiesta Gardens Neighborhood Association, resident Richard Neve noted plans to address traffic congestion on the 19th Avenue/Fashion Island Boulevard corridor have been in the works for years and argued that effort should be paid for by the city. He wants the developer’s contribution to traffic improvements to instead be spent on future impacts associated with the project.

“We would like to think about this money as being put in reserve for future mitigation of the impact that this will have on our area,” he said. “We need to be very careful about understanding what the future impact is going to be on our neighborhoods. We’re very concerned about it, especially on this corridor.”

Another resident claiming to represent 30 homeowners on Concar Drive raised concerns about noise and privacy and said a sound wall should be constructed along the street to mitigate those impacts.

Aside from the loss of the moderate-income units and traffic impacts, commissioners were otherwise enthusiastically supportive of the project as proposed.  

“This project has so many amazing amenities and a prime location and just no doubt this is going to be a workable and livable community with pedestrian and bike access,” said Chair Ellen Mallory. “It really is an opportunity to have San Mateo show as a leader in developing positive communities.”

zachary@smdailyjournal.com

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