San Mateo’s Bay Meadows residential development has been viewed as a model in sustainable development, as the sprawling mix of apartments, homes and townhomes sits right next to the Hillsdale Caltrain station and has ample bike paths and park space, encouraging residents to rely less on single-occupancy car trips.
Last year, the development received an honorable mention for the Green Building awards, sponsored by groups such as Sustainable San Mateo County and Peninsula Clean Energy.
When the residential units first opened about a decade ago, the city implemented a two-hour restriction on street parking during the day, even for residents, as part of its vision to cut down on vehicle use.
The city stopped enforcing the rule in 2020 due to the pandemic, but recently, it announced the restriction for all residents will resume next month.
The move has angered many residents, who say the push for non-vehicle travel is laudable, but any restrictive policies or bans should be paired with sufficient planning and infrastructure. David Agranovich, 34, said that when he moved in, he was told the parking restrictions weren’t enforced.
“We’d love to see more public transit adoption … my wife takes the Caltrain to work, but I also have a newborn and a 2-year-old, and the reality is, we can’t take them to the doctor, or most places we need to take them, on the Caltrain or the bus line. The infrastructure isn't there yet.”
With enforcement beginning in February, Agranovich said his wife will likely start using the car every day.
“Our nanny will need that spot in the driveway, so the solution is to start driving,” he said. “That’s the ironic side effect.”
Agranovich hoped the city would consider implementing a permit program, or some sort of compromise that could expand visitor parking, but according to a 2005 development agreement, the city “shall at no time in the future entertain a request from the residential developments within the Bay Meadows Specific Plan Area for a residential permit program.”
Ben and Viki Tam have lived in their townhome for about a decade, when the parking restrictions were still being enforced, and assumed there was a parking permit program in place for residents when they moved in.
Ben said that residents have repeatedly been told by city staff that the area was meant to be a sustainable development encouraging residents to use public transportation or non-vehicle trips. He said he takes Caltrain to work, typically biking to the station, but said he now plans to start driving to work.
“Once the enforcement starts, I have to start driving … and I am not going to pay for parking at Caltrain every day when I’m in walking distance to it,” he said. “I really like the new Caltrain. It’s enjoyable, and they're fast and efficient, so it’s too bad I can’t do it anymore.”
San Mateo city staff said in an email that the resumption of this two-hour limit next month “is to comply with the agreement and ensure the neighborhood functions as it was envisioned in the Bay Meadows Specific Plan.” Specifically, the plan was lauded as a sustainable, transit-friendly development which would reduce reliance on single-occupancy trips, though some residents feel the move is having the opposite effect.
But one 10-year resident, who preferred to remain anonymous, said he is glad the restriction is being put back into place. He feels the car-lined streets are unsafe for his young children, especially at intersections — not to mention, most residents have two- or three-car garages.
“There are folks that have tried to convert their garage into an extra living space which was not a well thought-out move … and if you have three cars in a neighborhood like this, you’re probably living in the wrong neighborhood,” he said. “We were told when we moved in that there would never be permit programs.”
Parking permit programs are available in some parts of the city, but some other neighborhoods have also recently run into challenges implementing them. In North Central, where bike lanes removed more than 200 parking spaces in 2022, some residents called for a permit program to help mitigate the issue.
“The neighborhood has changed a lot since COVID so the policy should change with it,” Agranovich said.
(650) 344-5200 ext. 102
(650) 344-5200 ext. 102
Daily Journal staff
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(9) comments
I don't see the problem if most homes have 2 or 3 car garages. Also, some of these folks need to adult up and acknowledge that they would be making a choice to drive. As one resident explained, they knew full well the parking situation they were getting into.
Another cautionary tale… Whether “sustainable” development or any development, folks with kids, large and small, elderly folks, soccer moms, soccer dads, etc. need cars for convenience and for daily life. Maybe not for every trip, but they need the option because mass transportation isn’t convenient, nor efficient, for the majority of people.
For 200,000 years humans thrived without cars. Humans made it to every corner of the world by foot and by boat. Biggest achievement for America was the railroad, the worst might just be the freeway system.
Humans are optimized for walking.
But now it's all about "convenience" and we have grown lazy and fat and have a failing health care system to show for that. And these socialist snowflakes want us to pay for their freeways, their free car storage, their health care, their "convenience". This is a capitalistic country, create a market for driving and parking and see who really is willing to pay for "convenience" and let the rest get healthier.
Make America Healthy Again!
eGerd, TBot here – humans may be optimized for walking but in this day and age, when’s the last time you saw a pedestrian lugging 10 bags of groceries down the street? Or a case of bottled water? Uphill, both ways, I imagine some would say. I appreciate your attempt at a guilt trip but you’ve forgotten the most important issue in your argument, if anyone wants to walk somewhere, nobody is stopping them. Again, convenience and for daily life.
TBot - Whenever I go shopping, I'm the one with 4 bags of groceries on my pedelec, while the guys with the monster trucks get a six pack and chips. Then they drive away and come back 10 minutes later to buy the butter and the milk they forgot the first time around.
Don't you recognize "freeloading"? What are you promoting next: Free healthcare? Free Housing? Free Education? Freeways? Free Car Storage?
Where does the grift end?
eGerd, TBot here – if you’re going to stereotype, at least get it right… Guys with monster trucks would not just get one six-pack. They’re more likely to get a few six-packs and more than one bag of chips. If they drive away and come back 10 minutes later for forgotten items, they’re also likely to get another six-pack or two. But the problem remains… you carry only 4 bags of groceries and I’m assuming none of the items is a case of bottled water or a super-sized bottle of laundry detergent. How many times have you seen someone lugging those while riding any form of bike? How many bikes have you seen parked outside Costco? I’ve seen a few because they stopped by the food court for their $1.50 hot dog and soda.
As for freeloading, how about mass transit operating at 100% with only 50% or less ridership. Sounds like many employees are freeloading (on taxpayer money). As for free healthcare, free housing, and free education, if you’re an invader from the south, you’re getting those (again, taxpayer money), unlike most American citizens. You tell me, eGerd, where does the grift end?
TBot Cargo bikes can do it all and better. Public Transportation is less subsidized than private cars and private car storage - that is a fact.
https://www.smartcitiesdive.com/ex/sustainablecitiescollective/planes-trains-and-automobiles/52996/
No one has to ditch their car for a bike, it's your choice to get smarter and healthier at the same time.
There are millions of miles of car streets, there is four times more parking spots than cars, there are more registered cars in America than licensed drivers. You are just promoting mental and physical laziness. People are ingenious. If they really NEED parking, they will find it, they will have to walk a little and they will get healthier at the same time.
I understand you HAVE TO argue for car-centric development hard even though it makes little to no sense. Elon Musk is now your president. And btw. he likes cheap, undocumented, non-union labor even more so than others. It's Florida and Texas that have the most new, undocumented labor force now and that is where President Musk has moved to have better access to that workforce.
eGerd –TBot here. Nice try but most cargo bikes I’ve seen (and I haven’t seen many) carry even less “stuff” than cyclists wearing backpacks so it’s obvious cargo bikes can’t do it all. They could do it better if the cargo bikes were inside cargo vans or pickup trucks. No one has to ride a bike to get smarter and healthier at the same time. There are four times more parking spots than cars? Apparently, not in North Central. And please don’t begin repeating leftist garbage about Musk being president. Instead, take a break to cool off and realize that cars are more convenient for daily life than bicycles.
We will have a lot of fun with Musk - now that EV, batteries, cryptocurrencies, and renewable energies have become a Republican Agenda. They are rewriting Project 2026 as we speak and will roll it out on China-owned tik-tok..
Cargo vans are great, modern pickup trucks are expensive and have become useless. You get more stuff into a station wagon or minivan and don't have to tie it down, protect stuff from rain or being stolen right from the flatbed.
They were fun when cheap, now they are just ridiculous. Just look at the cybertruck.
Do this with a pickup truck: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/bicycle-transport-awesome--351912461647916/
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