Hillsdale Inn redevelopment gets chilly response from city

Faced with opposition from residents in the San Mateo Glendale Village neighborhood, the commission unanimously agreed the project was a hard sell unless improvements were made to the current the jam-packed intersection at Saratoga Drive and Hillsdale Boulevard.

“We’re at a critical point and I think this project is just going to get beat up,” said Commissioner Charlie Dreschler, according to a video of the meeting. “It’s just really bad timing.”

Commissioners agreed they’d be paying keen attention to a traffic study, which would be the next step should Swenson submits a formal application to the city, as well as possible improvements to the intersection. The less than 3-acre property along Hillsdale Boulevard currently houses the aged Hillsdale Inn, a self-serve car wash and a rental car company. To break ground, Swenson is looking for the city to approve new residences in a commercial-zoned area adjacent to the massive mixed-use Bay Meadows redevelopment. The former 180-acre race track property is about 60 percent complete with new residences and office space still slated to come online.

Swenson’s motel property is just south of State Route 92 along Hillsdale Boulevard, which serves as a main thoroughfare to the oft-congested Highway 101. The project served as another reminder of the city’s development trials as it strives to maintain a balance between approving new housing to address a regional need while managing the impacts of existing and future growth.

“I want to see housing in our community, we need more housing. This is a part of that, so I would like to see this project work. But that being said, there are very real safety concerns,” said Commissioner Pamela O’Leary, who noted she’d even been in a minor car accident near the busy site. “So I’d like to see the traffic study to be able to make a decision.”

Nearly a decade after buying the motel with visions of redevelopment, Swenson returned this year looking to construct a 152-unit, three-story multi-family housing complex with 291 primarily underground parking spaces. It’s scaled back from its 2013 iteration when it sought to construct 180 condominiums.

Residents from the San Mateo Glendale Village Neighborhood Association packed a recent community meeting and spoke at Tuesday’s hearing to urge the commission to heed their concerns. Noting the property is situated at the corner of Saratoga Drive and Hillsdale Boulevard, it would directly affect the main entry into their neighborhood, said association president Dennis Murphy.

“Our neighborhood has been taken over by traffic. … We want our neighborhood back,” Murphy said, during a speech with references to the Declaration of Independence. “People in San Mateo are driving angry, we don’t want to be angry. We just want to pursue our happiness and not be stuck on the corner of Hillsdale and Saratoga.”

Bill Ryan, senior vice president of development with Swenson, noted the site is currently underutilized. Having incorporated prior comments in the new proposal, he was hopeful further community outreach could help move a project forward.

“We have listened to the comments from the commission and the neighborhood and we tried to make changes reflective of those comments,” Swenson said. “There is a heightened awareness of development in the city and I think we want to include our outreach to other neighborhoods as well … so we can have further interaction with them so they can feel as though their input is incorporated in our ultimate design.”

But winning over some of the commissioners may require significant improvements to existing traffic — a regional problem for which no city has found a silver bullet.

“I really feel this is one of those intersections that our city needs to address the current situation before we can do things to make it worse,” said Commissioner Eric Rodriguez, who noted Bay Meadows hasn’t been fully built out and those effects realized yet.

In the decades since the property was once known for its honeymoon suite resembling the Seattle Space Needle that was ultimately torn down after falling into disrepair, Dreschler noted the surrounding community and resulting traffic has grown.

“I feel like this property is kind of a victim of circumstance because way back when, it kind of served its purpose. But everything has changed around it and this intersection, on one side we have some really beautiful improvements (at Bay Meadows), and some serious pressure coming from 101 and 92,” Dreschler said.

Moving forward, the commission urged Swenson and city officials to consider ways to manage the crowded Hillsdale Boulevard and problematic intersection, as well as whether housing is appropriate for the site.

In other business, the commission unanimously agreed to allow a rehabilitation and addition to a downtown commercial building. The commission upheld the city zoning administrator’s decision to approve a 7,034-square-foot addition and facade improvements to three-story property at 333-345 S. B St. The existing office and retail space is at the site of the former Baywood Theater between Third and Fourth avenues in downtown. The issue was brought to the commission’s attention following neighbors citing traffic, parking and design concerns. The commission agreed with city staff’s approval of the project but added the condition the property owner include some type of plaque as a tribute to the history of the site.

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