Millbrae's fight over La Quinta takes turn

Millbrae, in its petition to the San Mateo County Superior Court, argues that state law prevents the county from purchasing the La Quinta Inn, a 100-room hotel at 1390 El Camino Real. The Board of Supervisors passed a resolution stating its intent to purchase the hotel for $33 million and to spend up to an additional $8 million on renovations.

That 4-1 vote, with Supervisor David Canepa opposed, came after hundreds of Millbrae residents and officials implored the county to not purchase the hotel, citing public safety and financial concerns. Specifically, the city argues it would lose between $500,000 and $1 million annually if the county were to purchase the hotel.

“The city knows that Article 34 is considered controversial and that voters statewide may be asked to vote on whether to remove Article 34 from the California Constitution as soon as the November 2024 election,” read a press release from Millbrae published Thursday. “The question before the city, however, is whether Article 34 guarantees residents a vote now. The city concluded that the most responsible course of action is to ask a court to determine if an Article 34 vote is required on the La Quinta proposal.”

When voting on the purchase of the La Quinta Inn, supervisors acknowledged the concerns raised and attempted to strike a better deal with the city. Rather than offering a one-time payment of $600,000 to help cover lost hotel tax revenue, the board agreed the city should receive three $600,000 payments over three years. It also offered to fund additional patrols by sheriff’s deputies and shared support for helping the city address homelessness issues resulting from being at the end of the BART line.

If the county completes its purchase of the hotel and another less-controversial purchase of the Ramada Inn at 721 Airport Blvd. in South San Francisco, it would have a total of seven such properties in its inventory. The hotels, most of which have been purchased with state Homekey Program dollars, are now used as either temporary or permanent shelters for at-risk populations. The county was recently left off the most recent list of Homekey grant awardees but officials are hopeful additional dollars will be found. The objective, county officials have said, is to make homelessness in the county rare and never chronic.

“We are disappointed to learn that a lawsuit has been filed against this Homekey Project that will house families and seniors. We are prepared to vigorously defend this lawsuit with the hope to prevail for those families and seniors experiencing homelessness,” board President Dave Pine said in a statement Friday, Nov. 17.

Millbrae acknowledged in its press release that Article 34 can be used to block new affordable housing development and noted that doing so is not its intent. Instead, the city argued its goal is to give a voice to its residents on the matter.

Officials also affirmed the city’s commitment to developing affordable housing, noting its newest housing element, a state-mandated plan identifying how new homes will be built in the city over the next eight years, calls for the construction of 3,861 new units by 2031. A total of 1,261 units have been approved for development in recent years, of which 143 are affordable, the press release read.

“I want to be clear: the city’s concern is not housing,” Mayor Ann Schneider said in an email statement. “The city has and will continue to demonstrate its commitment to bringing new affordable housing to market. Rather, the city’s concern is with this one project because the city simply cannot afford to lose this much funding at a time when our finances are so strained. … Millbrae is proud of our housing record, but we must balance this commitment with our duty to be strong fiscal stewards of taxpayer resources and our oath to uphold the state Constitution.”