City to rethink El Camino Real: Marijuana and Docktown on Redwood City Council’s early agendas

At its first meeting of the new year Jan. 11, the council is set to enter into a professional services agreement with Dyett & Bhatia for the preparation of the El Camino Real Corridor Plan.

As with downtown and the Inner Harbor, the plan will likely allow for denser uses along El Camino Real, including the construction of high-density transit-oriented development.

The Downtown Precise Plan has led to an unprecedented building boom with the construction of several new office buildings. The Inner Harbor Specific Plan also allows for the construction of new offices east of Highway 101.

Although Redwood City has approved a considerable number of new housing units downtown, the creation of new office space in taller buildings has dwarfed the creation of new apartments and was made possible by zoning changes brought on by the precise plan.

The firm the council is slated to pick to develop the plan for the corridor also assisted Menlo Park as it developed new zoning rules for El Camino Real and downtown. It also prepared a report on the effects high-speed rail will have on Redwood City.

At its Jan. 25 meeting, the council is tentatively scheduled to consider an urgency ordinance related to medical marijuana and a new policy on removal and storage of unauthorized watercraft at the Docktown Marina.

Staff reports are not yet prepared for the two items, however.

The city operates Docktown, which has about 70 liveaboards and 17 recreational boating berths.

It is currently suing a Docktown resident, Tania Solé, for failing to sign a lease agreement. She has been ordered to remove her house boat from Docktown and pay storage fees but she has yet to do so as she waits to have a judge decide her case early in the year.

The council is also set to establish a storage fee for any watercraft that remains at the marina illegally.

When it comes to marijuana, Redwood City banned medical marijuana dispensaries from operating in the city nearly four years ago. The state Supreme Court ruled in 2013 that cities and counties have the right to ban medical marijuana dispensaries despite state law that protects patients who use the drug.

Redwood City was among 193 California cities — including Millbrae, San Bruno, South San Francisco and East Palo Alto — that banned the dispensaries at the time.

All three items are on the council’s tentative items for future agendas, meaning the agendas for the Jan. 11 and Jan. 25 meetings are not yet set in stone.

bill@smdailyjournal.com

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