Edgewater redevelopment in Foster City back on track: Shopping center owner seeking public input

EHC took a step back from its plans in March after the owners of the blighted Charter Square retail site were confronted by negative community feedback while presenting a proposal at a City Council study session early in the year, Councilman Herb Perez said.

“When they watched what happened with Charter Square, they realized they should probably go out and get community input,” Perez said. “That’s responsible development. Those are guys that want to be community partners.”

EHC has adjusted its preliminary proposal to include 59,300 square feet of retail space with 272 parking spaces, 150 waterfront townhomes and flats with 244 parking spaces and a residential rooftop pool and garden, Community Development Director Curtis Banks said.

The new proposal has reconfigured the site by having the commercial and housing spaces primarily separated with only a small portion of the retail below a few residential units, Banks said.

Currently, the shopping center at Edgewater and Beach Park boulevards covers about 123,300 square feet split between about 35 stores and business, which includes a Lucky Supermarket, a nail salon, two tutoring centers, two dry cleaners, a bank and several restaurants.

Many of the businesses at Edgewater have long-term leases and the hope is some will be able to remain after the redevelopment, Perez said.

Perez, who runs a martial arts studio at Edgewater, said he will have to recuse himself from voting on any proposal but was happy with the way EHC is incorporating outside input and hosting meetings.

“In general terms, whether it’s [EHC] or someone else, the very first thing they should do is community outreach and the reason is, Foster City is a small community that values its quality of life,” Perez said. “Why would you come up with a plan in a vacuum and hope that it passes?”

Thus far, EHC has held at least one meeting with a neighboring Homeowners Association and will hold another this Friday and the following, said Stan Lew, lead architect on the project.

“We think it’s good that the immediate neighbors know so far what the plans are for the center and what’s being discussed and considered,” Lew said.

The plans are conceptual and preliminary and although the recent meetings are geared toward neighboring residents and businesses, EHC welcomes communitywide feedback and will likely come before council in October, Lew said.

EHC declined to comment further on the project until the process is farther along.

Perez said he attended one of the meetings and tenants were concerned about which would be able to stay after the redevelopment. The public comment varied, but generally residents expressed concerns about the impacts of additional housing such as the effects on the already overcrowded schools, Perez said.

“How many more units of housing can we reasonably absorb before it affects our quality of life? And that’s a huge concern I hear from our residents every time housing is proposed,” Perez said. “Smart growth is vertical, that’s environmentally sound. But in this city, we’re horizontal, nobody wants more people, nobody wants the traffic that goes along with it.”

Perez noted the city has received numerous redevelopment proposals in recent years, including the Marina Center, Charter Square, the 15-acre-site and Pilgrim Triton. With the expansion of Gilead and 800,000 square feet of office space proposed at Chess-Hatch, new employees will need places to live, Perez said.

“The quality of Foster City’s life comes at a cost and the question is how do we maintain that quality of life without maintain revenue sources. And the only thing we have left is property taxes and redevelopment property taxes,” Perez said. “The most successful [retail] is Edgewater Plaza. But even there, what it gets is property taxes from 30 years [ago]. Anything that gets redeveloped we get infinitely more property tax from.”

As EHC is requesting a land use amendment from commercial to mixed use, the proposal is bound by the city’s new gatekeeper ordinance by which it will first be heard by the City Council before the developer turns in a formal application, Banks said. Although there is no firm timeline, EHC could come before the City Council with its proposal as early as October, Banks said.

EHC will hold its next neighborhood meeting 2:30 p.m. Friday, at Chevys Fresh Mex Restaurant at 979 Edgewater Blvd., Foster City.

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