A battle that divided San Mateo nearly 15 years ago is resurfacing, with troops gathering to fight any effort by city officials to raise building heights.
About 60 members of the Beresford/Hillsdale Neighborhood Association - an enclave of resistance against changing Measure H - have signed up to collect signatures if necessary. Measure H - which limits building heights and densities - is set to expire in 2005 and city officials have discussed the possibility of tweaking it to allow growth in certain transit-oriented areas throughout the city.
The preliminary mobilization is in preparation for Monday's City Council study session on the matter. If councilmembers indicate they want to tweak the measure to allow for greater heights in new development areas, the group plans to put a competing measure on the November ballot that would keep heights at their current 55-foot limit. Homeowner groups from across the city are expected to turn out for Monday's study session.
BHNA members say they will even resurrect the citizens' group - San Mateans for Responsive Government - that lobbied to pass Measure H in 1991.
During the 1991 battle, there was "a very strong disconnect" between the City Council and the people, said Supervisor Jerry Hill. Many say Hill, one of the original authors of the measure, was elected to the City Council as a result of his position on the issue.
"A lot of people felt [the City Council] was out of touch with the wishes of the community," Hill said. "I would hate to see the city go through that type of divisive election it went through then."
These days, however, Hill said the City Council is very responsive to residents' needs.
Recommended for you
BHNA President Mike Germano also said he thinks the City Council is more sensitive today than it was 15 years ago. At the same time, he said they could still be out of touch; a survey of BHNA members recently showed more than half of members feel life in San Mateo is worse today than it was 10 and 20 years ago.
Meanwhile, Hill said he's not sure if the current building height limitations are still applicable today.
"The measure was written 14 years ago," Hill said. "Since that time, things have changed."
Although raising heights by 20 feet may not sound like much, Germano said it's the cumulative effect it might have that he opposes.
"When you raise the whole city up by 10 feet, it doesn't sound like a big deal until you see the effect it has across the city," he said.
The City Council study session will be held 4:30 p.m. March 1 at City Hall, 330 W. 20th Ave.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.