A developer fed up with delays in an attempt to rebuild the El Rancho Inn into a sweeping residential project filed a lawsuit against the city of Millbrae seeking to push the project ahead.
Anton Development Company sued those in Millbrae City Hall over frustrations with issues holding back a proposal to redevelop the site at 1100 El Camino Real into an apartment complex featuring 384 units.
The legal maneuver is the latest chapter in an ongoing spat between the builder and city officials, and the threat of a lawsuit was raised late last year when the development was discussed by the Millbrae City Council.
Paul Rose, a spokesman for the developer, detailed the frustration his client is experiencing in their attempt to get plans approved.
“We just want the city to work with us with a transparent set of rules. Everybody knows Millbrae needs more housing — but we're like Charlie Brown trying to kick the football, and the city of Millbrae keeps moving the ball,” he said in an email.
Mayor Ann Schneider maintained a different position, claiming the city has clearly communicated its expectations and Anton Development Company is unique in its inability to comply.
“All the other developers have followed the same rules and Anton has chosen not to,” she said.
The crux of the disagreement boils down to whether the development plans to rebuild the landmark hotel are complete. The developer filed its proposal to rebuild the site, which requires a zoning change approval from officials who have yet to grant the request.
The developer contends it has jumped through every hoop presented by city officials and finished all the requisite tasks needed to complete the application, yet the process has not advanced.
Leaning on new regulations designed to facilitate residential construction in the effort to combat the state’s housing crisis, Anton Development claimed Millbrae officials are skirting state law by not moving the proposal ahead.
What’s more, the builder maintained that Millbrae officials are unfairly requesting roughly $15 million in development impact fees not established when plans were filed.
“Respondents have continuously refused to recognize the applicability of the Housing Crisis Act, and have attempted to require the project to comply with standards and fees adopted well after petitioner was deemed to have submitted a preliminary application,” said the lawsuit.
Original plans called for 384 apartments spanning in size between studios to two-bedroom units spread across five floors. Nineteen of the units were to be set aside at an affordable rate. There were 560 parking stalls proposed on the site as well.
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The developer also intended to subdivide the nearly 7-acre lot into two parcels, reserving roughly 1 acre for the new hotel, featuring as many as 200 rooms.
For her part, Schneider said Millbrae has welcomed development and pointed to sweeping mixed-use projects approved near the city’s train station as evidence of the city’s interest in building housing.
Regarding the impact fees, Schneider claimed other developers have paid the costs without such firm opposition. Moreover, Schneider said the fees are critical to offset the financial loss that Millbrae faces with the redevelopment of a hotel that generated significant transient occupant tax.
“Community benefits are not the icing on the cake,” she said. “They are how we take care of people, they are how we keep them safe.”
She also noted Anton Development Company has taken a different approach to building the hotel than other developers with projects in Millbrae that wished to push the commercial project ahead of the residential component.
“Businesses have different ways of doing things,” she said.
In previous discussions of the project, officials sought a guarantee that a new hotel would be built. The builder meanwhile claimed it cannot find an operator for the site until development entitlements are granted.
The developer is seeking the court intervene and compel Millbrae officials to move the project ahead, while seeking assorted amounts of cost recovery and additional financial relief.
“We have tremendous respect for the city of Millbrae, its staff, its residents and our local partners, but unfortunately, legal action is the only option available to us right now,” said Rose. “We aren’t trying to bury the city in legal fees or staff time, nor are we suing for damages.”
Meanwhile, Schneider remained optimistic the two sides could smooth over their differences in a more constructive fashion.
“I am hopeful we can work this out. But at the same time, we represent the needs of our people,” she said.
(1) comment
Anton Development references the “Housing Crisis Act” as one of the reasons they should be allowed to move ahead with their project in Millbrae. I’m sure it is expensive to build in this area and this development company needs to stay profitable. I would probably be more sympathetic though if they hadn’t put aside a measly 19 of 384 units as affordable housing. Wondering what the cost will be to rent the “market rate” units?
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