Parks a priority for eastside San Carlos

San Carlos is anticipating an influx of development and new residents to the largely industrial northeast area of the city, and the council is working to create a guiding framework to navigate the changes over the next couple decades. 

The Northeast Area Specific Plan will guide growth focused on reinvigorating the area — comprising the space north of Holly Street to Belmont Creek between Highway 101 and Old County Road — in alignment with the city’s goals. 

A draft version of the city’s Northeast Area Specific Plan was considered by council in May, but staff returned the item for further clarification on building heights, development requirements and ideas to incentivize community benefits from developers. 

A standout value is that a public park will accommodate the new residential population anticipated. 

The City Council recommended that any new development located on sites greater than 15,000 square feet must dedicate at least 15% of the total site area to publicly accessible open space, in hopes of establishing quality parks on the east side amid industrial development. 

Members of the public and councilmembers repeatedly shared their desire to establish quality open space, and hopefully a centralized park, to residents on the east side. How to do so will depend on developers working with city staff.

Councilmembers discussed how they can incentivize developers to not simply waive requirements for public space, and hope to establish an understood value for incoming projects that parks are a value for the area. 

Instead of a community benefit, such as open space, developers could also pay a community benefits fee at $20 per square foot of floor area that exceeds the base floor area. The collected fee would allow the council to possibly move forward with purchasing a property for a city-owned park, staff noted. 

The City Council also approved flexibility for those who already occupy land in the focus eastside area, allowing for grandfathering in of certain uses that are nonconforming. It also universally applied a maximum building height for certain zoned areas, including one owned by Delta Star, to allow any redevelopment to reach 155 feet tall. 

The updates discussed at length by councilmembers at their meeting Monday will require the city’s contract with the consultant working on the plan to extend beyond what was initially planned. A second draft of the plan was not previously scoped, according to a staff report. 

The updated details and contract will push out the finalization of the Northeast Area Specific Plan, which was once anticipated this fall, out to spring 2026.