The developer of a proposed grocery store, office building and parking garage at 800 San Mateo Drive is appealing a unanimous rejection of his project to the City Council.
The plan was rejected by the San Mateo Planning Commission July 13. Commissioners said the architecture was flawed and the layout would not work. In a brief one page summary of the reason for the appeal, developer representative Salvator Caruso wrote, "We request to know what it is and to what size of development is acceptable to the city of San Mateo. We are open as we have been to most any design change but we need your participation to know your input."
The appeal has yet to be scheduled for council review because Caruso has not paid for the additional staff time needed, said Associate Planner Darcy Forsell. In fact, Caruso has provided very little information to the city despite a request from the Community Development Director, Forsell said.
"We would love to get more information from him, we just haven't yet," Forsell said.
Caruso was not available for comment.
The three-acre site is located on the corner of San Mateo Drive and Peninsula Avenue, where the Shen Chevrolet Auto Dealership was formerly located. In the past several years, numerous proposals for office buildings on the site have gone before the city, but so far none have come to fruition.
The latest incarnation called for a remodel of the two existing structures and the construction of a new three-story building and a 312-space parking garage in between. A 20,000-square-foot grocery store like a Trader Joe's would be the project's centerpiece. However, planning commissioners said the plan was completely unacceptable and refused to look at it again unless it was dramatically different. Now, it is up to the City Council.
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
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