New housing planned for South B Street in San Mateo

San Mateo has made having more developments that offer housing, particularly affordable housing, a priority as it plans for the future. Downtown is a key part of that plan, as the city wants to build housing near public transit, which could increase walking and biking options along the El Camino Real corridor. The project is 0.4 miles from the downtown Caltrain station, with the city planning to have more developments in the area.

“I know that we have to plan to build 7,100 units in the next eight years, and a large number of our sites in our inventory are downtown, partially because we are trying to push this transit-oriented development,” Commissioner Seema Patel said.

A Feb. 8 Planning Commission study session looked at its design, street setbacks and meeting city housing ordinances. The project does meet state density bonus law but doesn’t comply with the city’s Below Market Rate Inclusionary Program. The city program requires 15% of units to be designated low-income or moderate-income for ownership. The city policy will not accept very-low-income units to satisfy its requirements unless a monetary reserve is established to address future costs. The city said the financial burden for very low-income units is so high that people can’t often meet it, and the units sit empty. The rule means the development can either retain the 48 units but change the unit types to either eight low-income units or 15 moderate-income units or reduce units. The commission favored keeping the 48 units to help address the housing shortage.

“While we do have very limited rental options in our city that are very low or low, I don’t know that we have any or many ownership options that are very low income, and I would love to see that be increased as an option for folks in our community,” Patel said.

The commission also recommended further setback design for the building. Setbacks refer to distance from sidewalks and the property. Commissioner Adam Nugent suggested looking at further setbacks on Sixth Avenue and noted the building design should be tailored to a more urban setting than the area is and will continue to become.

“We need to treat the city as a growing city, and it is going to be growing. The addition of people will actually improve the city substantially, especially in this area,” Nugent said.

Vice Chair Margaret Williams agreed, noting further setbacks at Sixth and Seventh avenues benefit restaurants and stores in the area.

“It’s an opportunity to use those spaces for the front of your restaurant and also an opportunity for landscaping. I think the side setbacks are very important,” Williams said.

The commission was open to different design options other than the current contemporary style.

“I would hope the developers would start to look at the city as receptive to different types of architecture and pushing the envelope a little bit,” Commissioner John Ebneter said.

Some community members expressed concerns about having enough parking. However, others were worried about the parking to housing ratio and wanted less and emphasized other forms of transit. Others wanted to see a deeper building setback to ensure a wider sidewalk. The Stradbally Court Homeowners Association wanted to preserve existing maple trees on the northwest side of the proposed building site that is beloved by those on Sixth Avenue. The group said it would also serve as a natural barrier between the building and other properties.

curtis@smdailyjournal.com

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