A residential development in South San Francisco is moving ahead in the public planning process, despite fears the proposal to rebuild a popular car wash at a key intersection would lead to increased traffic congestion.
The South San Francisco Planning Commission voted 5-1, with commission Chair Mark Nagales dissenting, to recommend the City Council approve redeveloping the South City Car Wash, 988 El Camino Real, into 172 apartments.
Officials expressed an appreciation for the opportunity to build new homes needed to address the regional affordability crunch, while also recognizing community traffic concerns, according to video of the Thursday, Feb. 1, meeting.
“The housing is sorely needed. And traffic has been brought up here multiple times. As you are going through the project, be as mindful of that as you can,” said commissioner Alan Wong.
On the 1.67-acre site spread across four parcels at the intersection of El Camino Real and Chestnut Avenue, SummerHill Apartment Communities is proposing a six-story building that would include 172 units spanning in size between studios and two-bedroom units.
The ground floor of the building would include more than 10,900 square feet of commercial space, plus a variety of surrounding amenities such as a lounge and fitness studio as well as an outdoor recreational area along adjacent to Centennial Way.
Considering the size and scope of the project proposed only a short distance from the city’s BART station, neighbors raised fears of compounding existing traffic and parking issues.
“I don’t think you’ve really thought about how much more this will clog the area,” said resident Teresa Benavides, who characterized the receptiveness of city officials to the proposal as a mistake.
The traffic near the intersection frequently backs up during peak commute hours, said Benavides, who added congestion stands to worsen with the city’s proposed nearby Civic Center development.
Adjacent to the car wash property, South San Francisco officials are planning to build new community and recreation centers, a library and fire as well as police stations. The development is expected to include new homes as well, though the size and scope of the residential component is yet to be determined.
Officials have said the car wash property could be a catalyst for development in the area, which Wong acknowledged when expressing his support for the proposal.
“You guys are the first project in that area, which in the future will be a big, new area with the civic center community,” he said. “So you guys are the first, and you are dealing with the issues.”
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However, some suggested the developer was not doing enough to address the concerns raised by residents. Commissioner Sam Shihadeh said he felt the project should include more parking to support the proposed commercial space, and Nagales shared similar concerns regarding potential traffic impacts.
Ultimately, Nagales said he felt the potential quality of life threats posed by the development were too great to support with his vote.
“Living in South City, and I understand the traffic is a concern for a lot of people, it’s a concern for me,” he said. “I’m not sure if the mitigating factors will still be enough.”
Officials said plans are in place to coordinate with Caltrans, which oversees traffic calming along El Camino Real, to better synchronize signals in the area and hopefully clear congestion.
Developers have also expressed an interest in incentivizing reliance on public transportation to alleviate congestion by building homes near the train station, and offering $100 in introductory Clipper cards to residents, plus a $35 subsidy over three months to use carpool or bike sharing services.
The builder also expressed a willingness to pay $1.83 million in park acquisition and construction fees to the city, plus a combined nearly $1 million in child care and school fees, plus more. An outdoor fitness park will be constructed near the BART station, available to the public, comprised of seven fitness stations which would be accessible from Centennial Way trail.
Under the recommendation from commissioners, the proposal will go onto the City Council for a final vote. Assuming it is approved, representatives from the developer said the popular car wash will be allowed to keep operating at the site until construction is slated to start in roughly one year.
In response to the issues raised by commissioners, the builder will keep an eye to the perspectives as the project moves ahead, said Elaine Breeze, vice president of development for SummerHill.
“We are very excited to have received a strong recommendation for approval from the Planning Commission,” she said in an email. “We really appreciated the commissioners’ compliments regarding our responsiveness to feedback we had received from the other city commissions, staff and the community through the design process — and their recognition of the challenging nature of the site. We look forward to presenting our proposed project to the City Council.”
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(9) comments
Great news. Get that housing stock built!
"TRAFFIC, TRAFFIC, TRAFFIC" is all you hear from NIMBYs who don't want any new housing to be built. The reality is that this and other TOD projects will reduce traffic by allowing people to live close to where they work so they don't clog the congested freeways with more cars. BUILD IT!
That's complete BS, and while I do support more housing, I think we should resolve the current traffic issues before we add more. FYI most young people don't want to live in the burbs no matter how close it is to work and people who live close to public transit are still using their cars.
In what way is that BS? Tom's right on the money. If anything, your statement that young people don't want to live in the 'burbs is BS. As a young(ish) person, you couldn't be more wrong. Young people want to live anywhere they can afford to, which isn't most places in the Bay Area these days (as skyrocketing rents due to a dramatically underbuilt housing supply preclude them from doing so).
This is exactly the kind of development we need. Kudos to the council in making the right decision here.
Traffic will increase. We need solid solutions to the anticipated problem. Not hopeful ones.
People who will occupy the new units are married to their cars.
I'm a little perplexed as to the one commissioner who said that that place needed MORE parking spaces. If you really want people to change their behavior, take transit and not clog streets, you need FEWER parking spaces.
There have been thousands of residential units approved starting with Bay Meadows Phases 1 and 2, the city approved TOD corridor and numerous other residential projects within the city built over the last few years....Additionally, the city has approved literally hundreds of thousands of sq.ft of commercial building, including both office and retail space within the city...So it's somewhat factually incorrect and misleading to say that the citizens of San Mateo are Nimby's.... rather I often see statements in the Journal taken from those characterized as Nimby's saying they are not anti-development, but rather they are simply asking for some kind of mitigation for the negative impacts of that development...To date, I have seen little mitigation from developers for local schools or roads and parking spaces or any of the additionally needed public services that these highly profitable developments induce.... Just look around you it's pretty clear, and oh yes, wait for the next tax increase proposition....
Quite honestly, I live in SSF and that intersection at Chestnut & El Camino is already a nightmare for drivers and pedestrians alike. Adding more apartments as well as the new Civic Center is just going to make it worse because it will greatly increase the foot and car traffic and will increase the wait time at the traffic lights, which is already significant. It looka like most of the new residential buildings are going up in SSF and Daly City, while the more pristine areas such as Foster City, Belmont, Millbrae and Hillsborough are keeping the status quo. Its seems like this is San Mateo County's answer to the governor's call for more housing by sacrificing the less affluent areas.
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