More East San Carlos life science approved

The mini storage building would need to be demolished to make way for the new structure, which, once built, will stand about 16 feet taller than the PAMF building. The structure would include four floors of office space and two above-ground and two below-ground parking levels consisting of 474 parking stalls.

Community members pushed back on the project Monday, arguing the structure is too tall and bulky for the area and didn’t comply with city code which requires projects to retain at least 15% of the lot for open green space. Only 8% of the lot would be dedicated to greenery, a reduction caused by the need for an emergency access lane surrounding the building, the developer, Menlo Equities, argued.

Dimitri Vandellos, president of the Greater East San Carlos Neighborhood Association, implored the council to not approve the project, arguing that if they did, it would set a bad precedent for other commercial developers. To date, 10 commercial projects, mostly from life science developers, have been proposed on the east side.

The 405 Industrial Road project is one of the first to gain council approval following the city’s East Side Innovation District Vision Plan process, an initiative meant to gauge community priorities and codify those goals into a single document. Project reviews were paused during the plan development process.

“Frankly, I just don’t see how this project could be approved as it’s currently proposed. The height, the bulk, the overall size of this development is just too large and out of character with the GESC single-family neighborhood,” Vandellos said.

Those in support of the project argued Monday that Menlo Equities has lived up to the plan’s expectations. Tim Ryan and Harrison Reece, two residents who live in the GESC neighborhood, said the project was aesthetically pleasing and developed after a sufficient number of community meetings.

Similarly, Councilmember Ron Collins said he also supported the project and felt it aligned with the East Side Innovation District Vision Plan. In addition to about $7.5 million in fees the city will receive from the developer and about $10.6 million in property tax revenue over the next 20 years, Collins noted Menlo Equities has offered an additional $4.2 million to be spent on community benefits.

“There’s no question that the impact of this project is very real in many ways, … but to me, the impacts, the positive impacts, are really astounding, going forward,” Collins said. “In general, I think this is one of the best projects that we can move forward with.”

Councilmembers agreed those funds should be used to fund improvements on the east side which would be determined after holding meetings with residents in the area.

Not all councilmembers were as supportive of the proposal though. Mayor Sara McDowell and Vice Mayor Adam Rak said they felt uncomfortable with approving the project without clearer traffic calming tools in place.

As proposed, visitors to the site would have only one entrance and exit from Industrial Road and would be permitted to make a left turn from the lot. The street is typically busy and often impacted by traffic to In-N-Out. Jane Vaughan with Menlo Equities said PAMF representatives were not interested in sharing access to their lot which has a traffic light guiding vehicles out of its nearby exit, a decision she said she understood given that property owners are reluctant to give up land control.

McDowell said she was disappointed to learn an agreement to share the light was not made, adding that she will remember the matter when considering providing traffic lights to private properties in the future.

As a workaround, the council agreed to approve the plan with the condition that left turns be prohibited from the site until further studies could be conducted. Rak was the lone vote against the project, citing remaining concerns for the project’s size and massing, traffic implications and potential precedent.

“I think some of the things in this project are great and I appreciate them trying to work around things,” Rak said in his closing remarks. “It’s precedent-setting and I’m concerned about some of the exceptions we’re making on this at this time.”

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