Officials eye San Mateo housing, office plan

According to the new project design, 44 homes are still proposed for the site bordered to the west by single-family homes and duplexes and across the street from a Safeway grocery store. The project is also slated to provide 9,809 square feet of office space on the ground-floor of the mixed-use building. Jack Matthews, the applicant, also adjusted the plans so the project’s 82 parking spaces were moved from a surface-level lot, as was planned in the previous version of the proposal, to an underground garage, according to the report.

Though neighbors of the project voiced concerns about how it would affect traffic and parking at the site where several small businesses currently stand in April before the plans were revised, those worries lingered for a smaller group of neighbors who weighed in on the new project design at a November neighborhood meeting, said city planner Wendy Lao at the Planning Commission’s Tuesday meeting.

Commissioners were largely supportive of the project’s potential to boost housing along a major transit corridor in the city, and encouraged the developer to continue meeting with neighbors of the project as a formal application for the development is prepared. In reviewing whether the proposed project could meet the city’s criteria for building up to 55 feet at the site, Commissioner Ramiro Maldonado advocated for the developer to pay for expanding Jasmine Street to help address neighbors’ concerns about a shortage of parking on the street and also create open space on the site that neighbors can use.

“This is the perfect opportunity for us to leverage commercial buildings that are there to create more residential buildings,” he said, according to a video of the meeting.

As an owner of a property at the corner of Jasmine Street and Barneson Avenue, Sam Jones voiced concern about the availability of street parking on an already congested street once the proposed project is built. He noted there’s more than one car per bedroom in the apartments his family owns, and also voiced concern about the main driveway for the underground garage facing Jasmine Street, adding the corner of Jasmine Street and Barneson Avenue is often lined with cars in the morning.

“Right now, that street’s already very busy,” he said. “Every night, the street’s full and so these people are going to park somewhere.”

To address some of the neighbor’s concerns about traffic flow, Commissioner Margaret Williams wondered if the developer could consider moving the driveway to the garage closer to the southern end of the lot, which could allow drivers to more easily make a right turn onto El Camino Real and get to State Route 92.

Though Williams didn’t think setbacks were needed for the building facing El Camino Real in part because a wider sidewalk is planned there, Commissioner John Ebneter encouraged the developer to consider setbacks for that side of the five-story building to make the building look less imposing and more inviting for pedestrians.

Acknowledging the project is slated to provide a mix of one-bedroom and two-bedroom units — of which five units will be designated below-market-rate units — Ebneter suggested Matthews consider including three-bedroom and studio units in the mix as well. He also voiced support for designating even more of the units as affordable.

“I would like to see at least a look at a variety of sizes,” he said. “I understand it’s a challenge, but I would like to see if you could have a couple more sizes thrown in here.”

Chair Mike Etheridge commended Matthews for moving the proposed project’s parking underground and encouraged him to consider where ride hailing and online delivery drop-offs and pick-ups would be coordinated at the site. Etheridge hoped traffic studies to accompany a formal application from the developer would thoroughly analyze the project’s effect on traffic in the neighborhood. He urged the developer to continue meeting with the neighborhood as the plans take shape to ensure neighbors’ concerns are weighed throughout the process.

“I really feel like this is a project that really demands a really thoughtful and comprehensive traffic study,” he said. “Both for the project itself and for that neighborhood.”

Matthews is a former San Mateo mayor and councilman.

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